Battle of Miyajima

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Battle of Miyajima
Part of the Sengoku period
The island shrine of Itsukushima is famous for its distinctive torii.
Date 1555 Location Miyajima, Aki Province (just off the coast of Hiroshima) Result Mōri victory
Combatants
forces of Ōuchi family	forces of Mōri clan
Commanders
Sue Harukata	Mōri Motonari
Strength
20,000	10,000

The 1555 battle of Miyajima (厳島合戦, Itsukushima Gassen^?) was the first and only battle to be fought on the sacred island of Miyajima; the entire island is considered to be a Shinto shrine, and no birth or death is allowed on the island. Extensive purification rituals took place after the battle, to cleanse the shrine of the deaths that had occurred there. In Japanese this battle is known as "Itsukushima Gassen" or "Itsukushima-no Tatakai".

Sue Harukata, having taken the holdings of the Ōuchi family, was taken in by a trap set by Mōri Motonari. Mōri had attacked Sue a year earlier, at Oshikibata, and was now building a fort on Miyajima while proclaiming publicly his woe that the fort would not hold out long against an attack. Sue moved his forces to take the fort, and Mōri seized Sakurao, one of Sue's forts on the mainland.

The following day, their approach obscured by a thunderstorm, Mōri Motonari and his two sons Kikkawa Motoharu and Mōri Takamoto attacked the island from the rear. Meanwhile, a third son, Kobayakawa Takakage, sailed straight at Sue's fort and then doubled back so he could return at dawn, his attack synchronized with the rear assault.

This victory brought the Mōri into a preeminent position in western Japan, and established their reputation for strategy and naval tactics.

[edit] References

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
• West, C.E. and F.W. Seal (2005). 'Battle of Miyajima.' Samurai Archives, Accessed 28 July 2005.