Battle of Hetsugigawa 1587
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1587 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Japan | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 33.1389, 131.6583 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Hetsugigawa (戸次川の戦い, Hetsugigawa no Tatakai) was the last battle before the Toyotomi main army's arrival on Kyūshū during Japan's Sengoku period.
In 1586 at Hetsugigawa (present Ōnogawa) in Bungo province Toyotomi's vanguard divisions under Chōsokabe Motochika and Sengoku Hidehisa landed on Kyūshū with orders to act defensively until further troops were able to join them. But the advance party decided to disobey Hideyoshi's commands and relieve the castle of Toshimitsu. The Shimazu besieging army noted their approach, and redoubled their efforts to take Toshimitsu castle, so that when the invaders arrived at the Hetsugi river, which flowed within sight of the castle, they could see the flags of Shimazu flying from its towers.
Motochika proposed a withdrawal, but his companions, Yoshimune and Hidehisa, insisted on doing battle, so the Shimazu set their trap.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Hetsugigawa (revision 1381178859), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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