INTERACTIVE BATTLE
Osaka Summer Campaign
May 1615 (Keichō 20 / Genna 1) · Osaka Castle, Settsu Province; Dōmyōji, Yao, and Wakae areas, Kawachi Province
The Toyotomi sortied from Osaka Castle, now bereft of its moat, to engage the Tokugawa forces, resulting in collisions in Kawachi. On May 6, Gotō Mototsugu fell at Dōmyōji and Tamateyama, and Kimura Shigenari at Yao and Wakae; on May 8, Osaka Castle fell, Hideyori and Yodo-dono took their own lives, and the Toyotomi main line was extinguished.
Background
The truce in the winter campaign had left Osaka Castle with its Ninomaru and Sannomaru demolished and moat filled in, making siege defense difficult. The Toyotomi adopted a strategy to sortie from the castle to meet the Tokugawa forces in the summer campaign, which began on April 25, deploying detachments at various points to counter the Tokugawa advance along the Yamato and Kawachi routes.
Outcome
On May 6, Gotō Mototsugu's contingent was surrounded by Tokugawa forces at Dōmyōji and Tamateyama, where Mototsugu fell; simultaneously in the Yao and Wakae area, the Kimura Shigenari and Chōsokabe Morichika forces engaged the Tokugawa, with Shigenari killed. Osaka Castle burned, and on May 8, Hideyori and Yodo-dono took their own lives, ending the Toyotomi main line.
Course of the battle
1 May 6
Battle of Dōmyōji and Tamateyama
Gotō Motosugu (Matabesayemon) and about 2,800 troops departed from Hirano, but thick fog delayed the units scheduled to rendezvous, causing Motosugu's force to advance toward Tamateyama (Komatsuyama) alone. Surrounded on three sides by Tokugawa units under Mizuno Katsunari, Honda Tadamasa, Matsudaira Tadaaki, and Date Masamune (totaling about 23,000), after six hours of intense fighting, Motosugu was killed.
Date Masamune — joins coalition at Dōmyōji with Katakura Shigenaga's unit
Sources25·Certainty: High
2 May 6
Battle of Yao and Wakae
Kimura Shigenari, who had established his position at Wakae, met the Tokugawa forces in battle but was killed. In the Yao area, the main Tōdō unit engaged Chōsokabe Morichika's forces near Jōkōji temple and the Kyūhōji temple town, where Tōdō Takakei, Tōdō Yoshikatsu, and Yamaguchi Shigenobu, among others, fell.
Points of debate
The exact date of the Battle of Yao and Wakae is not explicitly stated in Yao's records themselves; it is often assumed to be May 6, the same day as the Battle of Dōmyōji.
Chōsokabe Morichika — engages Tōdō clan's main force at Yao
Sources4·Certainty: High
3 May 8
Osaka Castle Falls
As Osaka Castle burned, Hideyori and Yodo-dono took their own lives, and the Toyotomi clan was extinguished.
Toyotomi Hideyori — commits suicide at Osaka Castle's fall
Sources16·Certainty: High
Historical significance
Fifteen years after the Battle of Sekigahara, the Toyotomi perished with Osaka Castle, and Tokugawa shogunal rule was established. Thereafter, the shogunate put in place the framework for Edo period governance, including edicts such as the One Castle per Province law.
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Key figures
徳川方
3
Commander-in-chief of the Tokugawa forces
Tokugawa commander-in-chief who directed the entire Summer Campaign of Osaka
Sources1·Certainty: High
Commander of the Tokugawa force in the Dōmyōji sector
Positioned at Katayama with forces under Katakura Shigenaga and joined the Tokugawa coalition that encircled Gotō Mototsugu's unit
Sources2·Certainty: Medium
Other events of 1615
Notes on the data
Battles in the Tennōji and Okayama areas (May 7) and in the Konda area, as well as the location of Hideyori and Yodo-dono's self-inflicted deaths (traditionally said to be Yamanosato-maru), lack corroboration from public institutions, museums, or local government materials found in this research, so they are not included in the battle phases or map locations.
Sources consulted
- 国立公文書館「大坂冬の陣・夏の陣」
- 柏原市「玉手山と大坂夏の陣」
- 藤井寺市「コース(2) 大坂夏の陣道明寺合戦コース」
- 八尾市「三一巻 続・河内名所図会を訪ねて(3) 大坂夏の陣と八尾」
- 大阪歴史博物館「大坂の陣 激戦地を歩く」
- 城郭マスタ（shiro.geojson）
The numbers in the text refer to the list above. Certainty indicates how far a statement is supported by the cited sources; it does not refer to the precision of the coordinates or the dating.
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