10 questions · History
Sanada Yukimura, whose real name was Sanada Nobushige, was born in 1567 as the second son of the cunning warlord Sanada Masayuki. The Sanada were a small family from the mountains of Shinano who survived among the great powers only because they changed sides cleverly and defended their castles stubbornly. In 1600 father and son held up the army of Tokugawa Hidetada at Ueda Castle for so long that the Tokugawa heir reached the decisive battle too late. His elder brother Nobuyuki, by contrast, had joined the Tokugawa, so the family would survive whoever won. The victor Ieyasu did not have father and son executed but exiled them to Kudoyama at the foot of Mount Kōya, the holy mountain of the Shingon monks. They lived there in poverty for some fourteen years, and the father died in exile. Only when the Toyotomi were recruiting warriors for Osaka Castle in 1614 did Yukimura return to the stage. In front of the walls he had his own bastion built, the Sanada-maru, and from there he threw back the attackers with heavy losses during the winter. In the summer of 1615 he led troops in bright red armour into the last battle. Their banners bore the Sanada crest: six coins, the ferry fare across the river of the underworld, a sign that the wearers were ready to die. At Tennōji he charged straight at the headquarters of Tokugawa Ieyasu and is said to have put him in real danger. Then he fell, exhausted, on 3 June 1615. Later legend gave him ten loyal companions, among them the ninja Sarutobi Sasuke, and turned him into the very image of the brave loser.
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Osaka Castle
Toyotomi Hideyori and his mother Yodo-dono had entrenched themselves there; Yukimura was one of the commanders they recruited for its defence.
💡 Did you know? In front of the walls he placed a bastion of his own, the Sanada-maru, where the attackers suffered heavy losses in the winter.
Ueda Castle
Sanada Masayuki had already repelled a Tokugawa army there in 1585; in 1600 father and son did it a second time.
💡 Did you know? After 1600 the Tokugawa had the castle razed; only years later was it rebuilt under a new lord.
Tokugawa Hidetada
Ieyasu’s son besieged the Sanada in vain with a large part of the Tokugawa troops and arrived only after the battle.
💡 Did you know? Ieyasu is said to have been so angry about the delay that he refused to see his son for days.
Mount Kōya
The mountain is the centre of Shingon Buddhism; Kudoyama, the place of exile, lies at its foot in Kii Province.
💡 Did you know? His father Masayuki died there in 1611 without ever leaving exile.
Red
The “red troops of the Sanada” (Sanada no akazonae) made his unit easy to spot on the battlefield.
💡 Did you know? Red armour had already been worn by units of the Takeda, whom the Sanada had once served.
6
The six coins stood for the ferry fare across the Sanzu, the river of the underworld in Japanese Buddhism.
💡 Did you know? Wearing the sign showed that you had already made your peace with death.
Battle of Tennōji
It was the last great battle of the summer campaign; the next day the castle fell and the Toyotomi were wiped out.
💡 Did you know? According to tradition he was resting, exhausted, at a shrine when a warrior of the Echizen troops found and killed him.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
His attack is said to have been so fierce that Ieyasu’s standard fell and the old commander thought of taking his own life.
💡 Did you know? The lord Shimazu Tadatsune later called Yukimura the finest warrior in Japan in a letter.
1615
He was about 48; with the fall of Osaka the age of wars that had torn Japan apart for a century and a half came to an end.
💡 Did you know? His eldest son Daisuke died the next day beside Toyotomi Hideyori in the burning castle.
10
Most of the figures come from popular storybooks of around 1910; a few have historical models, most are invented.
💡 Did you know? The ninja Sarutobi Sasuke from this band became one of Japan’s best-known ninja characters.
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