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Sanada Saemon-no-Suke Yukimura (真田 左衛門佐 幸村, Sanada Yukimura?, 1567–June 3, 1615) was a
Japanese samurai, second son of the
Sengoku period daimyo Sanada Masayuki (1544–1611). His proper name was
Sanada Nobushige (真田信繁), named after
Takeda Shingen's younger brother
Takeda Nobushige (武田信繁), who was a brave and respected warrior. He and his father were known as being excellent military tacticians. Though their army was very small, they won many battles in which they were outnumbered. Through these feats he would gain fame and forever a place in Japanese history. Sanada Yukimura was called "A Hero who may appear once in hundred years" and "crimson demon of war", and
Shimazu Tadatsune (島津忠恒, arguably the best performer in the
invasion of Korea) called him the "number one warrior in Japan"
(日本一の兵?).
Life
He was the second son of Sanada Masayuki, his elder brother being
Sanada Nobuyuki. He was married to Akihime (Chikurinin) a foster-daughter of
Ōtani Yoshitsugu. They had two sons, Daisuke (Yukimasa) and Daihachi (Morinobu).
In 1575, the
Battle of Nagashino claimed the lives of two of Sanada Masayuki's elder brothers. Masayuki, previously serving Takeda Shingen (武田信玄) and
Takeda Katsuyori (武田勝頼) as a retainer, inherited the Sanada clan and left for
Ueda Castle. Yukimura also went, taking the Sanada name as well.
By 1582, the
Oda-
Tokugawa forces had destroyed the
Takeda clan. The Sanada initially surrendered to
Oda Nobunaga (織田信長), but, after the
Incident at Honnōji (本能寺の変), it became independent again, drifting between stronger daimyo such as the
Uesugi clan, the
Late Hōjō clan, and the Tokugawa clan. Eventually, the Sanada clan became a vassal of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉). During this period, Hideyoshi treated Yukimura with extreme care and hospitality. Hideyoshi's fondness is shown by the fact that Yukimura was given the right to use the surname of Toyotomi Clan, which was the clan of the Kanpaku (関白) during that period. Thus, he is sometimes referred to (even by Yukimura himself) as Toyotomi Saemon-no-suke Nobushige (豊臣左衛門佐信繁).
[citation needed]
In 1600, at the Battle of Sekigahara
Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康) rallied various daimyo to attack
Uesugi Kagekatsu (上杉景勝). The Sanada clan complied as well, but when
Ishida Mitsunari decided to challenge Ieyasu, Masayuki and Yukimura joined the western forces, parting ways with Masayuki's eldest son and Yukimura's brother, Nobuyuki (真田信之, originally 真田信幸), who joined the eastern forces. It has been said at first Yukimura followed Ieyasu but, after Ieyasu tried to seize his territory he betrayed Ieyasu. The true motive of Masayuki and Yukimura's decision is disputed with many theories, but there are two main schools of thought: In one, Masayuki made the decision (and Yukimura agreed); he expressed the willingness to take a gamble, so that if he were to join the weak side and win the battle, the Sanada would gain much more power. The other theory is the opposite where they planned a safety net; Masayuki, Yukimura, and Nobuyuki discussed the situation when Ieyasu asked them to state their allegiance clearly, and they decided to join both sides separately, so that, regardless of the outcome of the battle, the Sanada clan would survive.
The Sanada retreated to and fortified Ueda Castle. When
Tokugawa Hidetada marched a sizeable army on the
Nakasendō, the Sanada resisted and were able to fight back Hidetada's 40,000 men with only 2,000. However, as it took much longer to take the castle than was expected, Hidetada lost focus and never showed up on the battlefield during the
Battle of Sekigahara where the main force was awaiting the arrival of his crucial army, a mistake that put the Tokugawa clan in jeopardy. After the battle, his territory was seized but he gathered an army in secret and rose when the Winter Battle of Castle Osaka broke out in 1615.
Siege of Osaka Castle
Statue of Sanada Yukimura at Sanko Shrine, Osaka.
The siege of Osaka Castle (Osaka no Eki or more commonly Osaka no Jin) was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shougunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan’s destruction. Divided into two stages (Winter Campaign and Summer Campaign), lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate’s establishment. The end of the conflict is sometimes referred to as the Genna Armistice (Genna Enbu), because the era name was changed from Keicho to Genna immediately following the siege.
Winter siege of Osaka Castle
The siege began on November 19, 1614 and lasted until January 22, 1615, when Ieyasu led three thousand men across the Kizu River, destroying the fort there. A week later, he attacked the village of Imafuku with 1,500 men against a defending force of 600. With the aid of a squad of arquebuses, the shogun forces claimed victory once again. Several more small forts and villages were attacked before the siege on Osaka Castle itself began on December 4, 1614. Yukimura built a small fortress called Sanada-maru in the southwest of the Osaka Castle. The Sanada-maru was an earthwork barbician defended by Sanada Yukimura and approximately 7000 men, on the behalf of Toyotomi Hideyori. From there, he defeated the Tokugawa forces (approximately 30,000 men) with groups of 6000 arquebusiers. The Shogun's forces were repeatedly repelled, and Sanada and his men launched a number of attacks against the siege lines, breaking through three times. Ieyasu then resorted to artillery (including 17 imported European cannons and domestic wrought iron cannons) as well as men employed to dig under the walls of the fortress. The fortress was impregnable; the leysau army suffered much losses. So Ieyasu gave up trying to destroy the castle during this battle, and proposed a reconciliation with Toyotomi Hideyori. This was Ieyasu’s insidious strategy. He proposed a condition for the reconciliation, i.e. to destroy the outer moat of the castle. When his envoy came into the castle, they destroyed not only the outer moat but the inner moat as well.
Summer siege of Osaka Castle
In the next year April 1615, Ieyasu received information that
Toyotomi Hideyori was gathering forces to rebuild the castle moat. Toyotomi forces (often referred to as the western army) began to attack contingents of the Shogun's forces (often referred to as the eastern army) near Osaka. On April 29, 1615 Commanded by
Ban Danemon they raided
Wakayama Castle, a coastal fortress belonging to [Asano Nagakira], an ally of the Shogun. Asano's men came forth from the castle and drove off the invaders. Ieyasu gathered his vast armies, and attack the castle again. Yukimura fought the army of
Date Masamune on May 6, 1615. Though Yukimura's army was out numbered, he succeeded in defeating Masamune's army. The next day he and a few soldiers assaulted the camp of Ieyasu directly. He closed in on Ieyasu only to have his assault stopped at the last minute. By early June, the Eastern army had arrived, before Hideyori managed to secure any land to use against them. On June 2, 1615, at the
Battle of Domyoji 2,600 men from the western army ecountered 23,000 of the eastern army. Hideyori's commander at the castle,
Goto Matabei attempted to retreat into the fog, but the battle was lost and he was killed. After this, Tokugawa forces intercepted those of Sanada Yukimura at Honta-Ryo. Sanada tried to force a battle with
Date Masamune, but Date's retainer
Katakura Shigenaga retreated since his troops were exhausted; Sanada's forces followed suit. On June 3, 1615, at the
Battle of Domyoji (also known as the battle of the tombs) Sanada Yukimura was in command of the Western army on the right side of
Susukida Kanesuke and was taken on by
Date Masamune in the area of Emperor Ojin's Tomb and Konda Hachiman Shrine. Later into the fight Sanada Yukimura made the decision to begin a retreat towards Osaka Castle having already lost a powerful commander earlier in the day.
Tokugawa Tadateru the sixth son of [Tokugawa Ieysau] was given the order to pursue Sanada but, he refused. This action would later lead to his exile at
Koyasan. After being allowed to return to the Eastern army, he would die later during another assault on
Osaka Castle. Given the time he needed Sanada's forces were able to successfully retreat from the Eastern army.
Battle of Tennoji-guchi
The Battle of Tennoji(guchi) was fought on June 4, 1615. This would be the last battle of the
Siege of Osaka and the final battle for Sanada Yukimura. It is said that during this battle Sanada Yukimura engaged
Tokugawa Ieyasu directly in single combat and wounded him in the side with a spear thrust. Another story has been told that [Sanada Yukimura] actually slew Ieyasu on the battle field and his body was replace by a body double (
kagemusha) so as not to hurt the morale of the men.
Nanshoji Temple in Sakai is said to hold the real body of [Tokugawa Ieysau] while the [Toshogo Shrine] in [Nikko] is the place of a body double. If Ieyasu met his end in this battle or not has never been confirmed and is still the subject today among Japanese historians. However there is no question that Sanada Yukimura perished during this battle as there were many witnesses. Greatly outnumbered by Tokugawa forces, Yukimura's forces were eventually defeated. According to "The Life of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu" by A.L. Sadler, in his intense fight against the wavering Echizen troops, Yukimura was badly wounded, leaving him exhausted. Soldiers from the Echizen army quickly went to Sanada. Now too tired to fight back, Yukimura allowed the men to kill him, reportedly saying, "Go on, take my head as your trophy". A man by the name of Nishio Nizaemon chopped off Sanada’s head and rode off triumphantly. Sanada died honorably, leaving behind a legend. His grave is now located in Osaka, marked by the
Yasui Shrine located to the west of
Shitennoji Temple.
Legend and popular depiction
A fact about Sanada Yukimura is that, in primary historical sources and personal letters penned by himself, he was never referred to as Yukimura. That name surfaced in a military novel written during the
Edo period and has since been popularized in modern plays, books, novels, and different media of entertainment. The historical documents use his historical name "Nobushige", but his pen name "Yukimura" was never mentioned. One theory is that the name
Yukimura is a
portmanteau of Masa
yuki (his father) and
Date Tsunamura.
A legend says that Yukimura had ten heroes who took an active role at the battles of Osaka Castle. They were called the
Sanada Ten Braves (真田十勇士,
Sanada Jūyūshi), a group of ninja, and consisted of the following members:
