"Mitsunari I applaud your boldness. Your loyalty to the Toyotomi is admirable... but honor alone will not bring what you seek. I will triumph and forge a new world... of my own design my world!" Tokugawa Ieyasu
@@iliaskontochristos5757 it was what got me heavily invested in the Sengoku Jidai. The soundtrack is still incredible and the voice acting is very good for its time. The gameplay hasn't aged very well, but for a game over two decades old, it holds up better than its sequels I find.
The battle itself is quite epic added with your narration it become even more grand. Love it. Hope you carry on to the siege of Osaka and beyond,would love to see it. Also,it would be interesting to focus on the Tokugawa's solidification of power after the siege since it's rarely discussed, where Ieyasu installed several of his kids,relatives,longtime vassals and their descendants as Daimyo in many key strategic position throughout Japan.
Finally ! Waited long to say this - Never piss off people when you are the yes man of the boss because when the time arrives half your army Will defect on the battlefield ! That’s a living nightmare …. Ishida Mitsunari
Another excellent video, a lot of great details once again. As always I'd like to share a few more: Otani Yoshitsugu's leprocy is well known, but some sources say he arrived to the battlefield practically on his deathbed. His illness was such that he was nearly blind and relied on the sight of his bodyguards to relay the situation of the battle to him. In spite of his blindness (or perhaps because of it) Yoshitsugu had a better grasp of what was going on than nearly anyone else in the Western army. He not only predicted the defection of Kobayakawa Hideaki and several other key officers of the Western army, but in fact he predicted the victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu as well. It was out of sheer personal friendship to Ishida Mitsunari that kept him fighting for the Western army, and what a magnificent effort he put forth on the battlefield. Not only did he fend off two famed officers of the Eastern army, but even after Hideaki's defection he successfully held against the massive surge of forces closing in behind him, briefly halting the push from both sides before eventually capitulating to the inevitable. After his death Tokugawa Ieyasu honored the man and his name became synonymous with deep loyalty and true friendship. Minor note but the story of the famed samurai Miyamoto Musashi supposedly saw his first battlefield action here at Sekigahara. A very young ronin samurai under the banner of Ukita Hideie in the Western army, historically little is known about his role other than that he was part of the army. Legend says he emerged from the pile of Western samurai bodies a survivor of the battle. There are rumors that Kobayakawa Hideaki's decision may have been romantically motivated, due to an infatuation he had of a Tokugawa officer. Whether that influenced his decision or he sought such romance as a form of reward for his defection is unclear, but it leads to some depictions of him being quite effeminate. These depictions are likely exaggerated regardless of whether his infatuation had any impact on his defection. While the battlefield itself saw around 170k men, Sekigahara was more than just a single battlefield as battles and skirmishes occurred elsewhere around Japan in conjunction with Sekigahara. I have to double check numbers, but I want to say all in all it was around 350k men in total fighting in connection with the battle. Given the largest medieval battles in Europe between 2 or more countries were around 80k men in total and that Sekigahara is remarkably well documented with highly accurate troop counts, yeah this battle was massive.
@@TheIlustrado Yeah I'm aware there are conflicting reports of what he was doing at this time. In fact that sums up a lot of his life. Regardless this is where his legend begins, whether it is historically accurate or not.
I heard that part of the reason hideaki sided with ieyasu was because ieyasu had personally intervened at his behest when mitsunari was badmouthing him to hideyoshi during the war in Korea
@@james-97209 Oops sorry, this got a bit buried in notifications. You're partly correct but it was a bit more complex an issue than that. During the Korea campaign Hideaki personally led reinforcements to rescue a castle under siege by Ming forces. And when I mean he personally led it I mean he himself fought on the frontline, capturing an enemy commander and successfully breaking the siege. Hideyoshi however saw this behavior as reckless and unfitting of a lord of Hideaki's stature. After the campaign he stripped him of his province of Chikugo. Tokugawa Ieyasu (who was known for leading from the front often close to the frontlines) spread rumors that Ishida Mitsunari was responsible for Hideaki's punishment. Given Mitsunari's strict adherence to samurai proprietary the claims were all too believable and Hideaki fully bought them. *edit I should clarify a bit about Hideyoshi's decision to punish Hideaki. While we don't know the particulars of why Hideyoshi chose to punish Hideaki we do know in Hideaki's zeal to win the battle and prove his worth he attacked women and children along with Ming soldiers. This deplorable action led to complaints from many within Hideaki's own camp and almost certainly was a factor in Hideyoshi's decision to punish him. Hideaki however didn't see things that way and the incident was undeniably a big factor in why he betrayed Ishida Mitsunari.
@@Naraku-no-Hana-WE so it boils down to basically a difference in commanding styles along with potential hurting women and children ? If so I find it at least a bit hypocritical in regards to hideyoshi because his forces were killing korean civilians everywhere and nobody cared
The Kanto King comes out on top which solidifies his path to uncontested power for centuries to come. To think, the Battle of Sekigahara was decided by a 21 year old and many other turncoats. Tokugawa ieyasus gamble to shoot at Mount Matsuo in that moment is probably one of the biggest gambles in war history because it is not like he knew what would happen right then and there but no doubt it did decide who would rule the country uncontested.
Shimazu Yoshihiro with the original "No, I don't think I will". And this is how the boy who grew up as a hostage became the most powerful man in Japan. What a ride it's been.
Masanori : "'right lads, here's what we're gonna do...." Ii Naomasa and his troops : *advance past Masanori* Masanori : "hey, that's not in script" 😁😁😁
though it is decided as to who the vanguard is, the Tokugawa will be shamed if he relied too much on Toyotomi vassals, such as Fukushima Masanori, to execute the first charge. Naomasa protecting his lord's reputation.
(Ishida Mitsunari and the terrible horrible no good bad day) "What can he be doing? Why doesn't he move?! Kobayakawa must rise and attack!" "Mori, Anko and Kikkawa...why don't they move?! Are they afraid?! Have they lost their nerve?!" "What?! Lord Kobayakawa's defected?! This cannot be! He is Lord Taiko's nephew! This is impossible...this cannot be!!!" Kessen
Oh wow! This really is the best and most epic re-telling of Sekigahara that I have ever come across! Once the combat sequence began it made me hold my breath for long periods because of the sheer suspense! I felt the tiredness at the end of the video! Ooooh it was very well worth the wait for this episode to finally be released! Very well done indeed, The Shogunate! Your channel really is one of the very best out there and I and my teenage son are loyal subscribers. He loves your channel even more than I do! Great work indeed! Now I hope you will continue to tell the history until after the battle of Tennoji and the final fall of the Toyotomi and the end of the Summer Campaign at Osaka (Osaka Natsu no jin as my father-in-law would call it). Thank you for this amazing channel and all your awesome very hard work! 🙏🏾🙏🏾
The Western Army should have had Mori Terumoto as their supreme commander at the battle of Sekigahara because he most likely did have prestige to command other daimyos like the Mori vassals and Shimazu Yoshihiro. Ishida Mitsunari and his men should have been Mori´s advisors because Mitsunari himself wasn´t a seasoned general and he didn´t have the prestige to command other warlords.
I think so too, it would've changed the battle in favor of the western army had Terumoto been present, I think respected generals and capable warriors should've taken the lead at Sekigahara, not Mitsunari who couldn't even successfully lay siege one of the Hojo castles during the Siege of Odawara 10 years prior to Sekigahara
Ishida would never take a back seat to another powerful Daimyo. & on another note: Ishida is doing it, in the name of the Toyotomi, but if he hands over the reigns of high command(he will look incredible weak with that action), would they continue to fight for the same outcome as him, or would that Daimyo(Shimazu, Mori etc.), see his own chance to take over? Would that be a chance, that Ishida could take?
@@Rackhark You have a point. However, the Tokugawa was the greatest threat to the Toyotomi regime because Ieyasu himself was both highly skilled military commander and the richest man in Japan who could maintain large and high quality army. In addition to that Ishida being too blunt was able insult both the Mori and the Shimazu, his key allies which weakened his position. What options did he have if he was a shrewd political operator?
Mori Terumoto only had the Prestige, not the Strategic mind to defeat Ieyasu. Shimazu Yoshihiro would have been a better leader. A Veteran of the Korean Invasions, Shimazu was quite a brilliant tactician compared to the other leaders in the Western Army
This episode was beautiful! It has been a fun educational experience over a topic we skimmed through in school (only bringing up that Japan had a war) I love how this video went into deep detail about Sekigahara!
Not only is it the biggest battle but also the one that generated the most exciting video to follow in the series. Many of us already know the outcome, but even so every minute of the video was extremely captivating to watch. Glad no one tried to ride a horse in front of me while I watched haha congratulations for the video
This was one of your best episodes yet! Perhaps I'm a little biased towards Team Ninja games, but one of my favorite depictions of this battle was in Nioh 1, the first half at least. Putting aside all the obviously fantastical elements, it seemed to perfectly capture the sheer chaos and bloodshed I imagine those at Sekigahara must've witnessed. The atmosphere of that particular version of the battle definitely helped.
Probably the best fictional depiction of the battle is the opening (double length) episode of the Aoi Tokugawa taiga (it's on dramacool with subs). Explains everything really well and it's surprisingly grand for a tv budget. More epic than the recent-ish movie.
That series is one of my absolute favorite but the best one for me is Takeda Shingen, the actor Kiichi Nakai did the character of Harunobu (Shingen) justice, it made me feel like I was looking at the life of the great warlord himself who is undoubtedly my favorite. What I love about Aoi Tokugawa 3 generations is that it's basically a rundown of the first 3 Tokugawa Shoguns since it was founded as a military government before it transitioned into something more civil in order to deal with governing a country. From ieyasu before he even entered Osaka castle in 1599, his writ of censure due to his actions in breaking various rules, basically opposing the Toyotomi to the Siege of Fushimi and Gifu and then Sekigahara The establishment of the Shogunate and so much more. And of course, the Siege of Osaka
Very descriptive. You painted this scene so well. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this. Like the Tokugawa you commanded the field. I look forward to how you deal with and described the two head viewing sites.
Thank you so much for this series so far man! I've been playing Warriors Orochi 4 lately and pretty much skip all the story stuff, but there's this side mission I was playing just earlier today where several hotheaded generals, including Fukushima Masanori and Ii Naomasa in particular, are vying to be the vanguard in a battle. It was cool to this exact rivalry come full circle lol, now I see there was actual historical consideration for the character relationships in that silly little mission.
You know this is what is fascinating in retrospect. The samurai is always displayed as honorable and loyal, but a lot of important moments in Japanese history were decided by samurai betraying others. From Mitsuhide's betrayal to Nobunaga, to all the betrayals at Sekigahara. The depiction of samurai in popular culture is really far from the truth.
That is basically a summary of the entire Sengoku Jidai right there. The descent of samurai from "honor is everything" to "victory justifies everything".
@@Naraku-no-Hana-WE Heck (spoilers) even the end of the Tokugawa shogunate was due to the people betraying the shogun and supporting the Emperor Meiji.
Popular culture has always given people an extremely skewed view of both the samurai and Japanese culture in general. It's why so many people still believe that samurai refused to use guns because they saw them as dishonorable. At the end of the day we're all humans and sometimes in life our own greed, desire for power and standing or just outright pettiness gets the better of us. You can see countless examples of this both in the east and the west. People have been willing to sacrifice even whole countries just to stick it to that one guy they really hate.
Don't remember exactly where a read this but, Hideyoshi pay a important role trying to get the Saito Retainers do defect to Oda side after the death of Dosan Saito.
I've finally caught up. The whole series has been fascinating and I've always wondered how Mitsunari ended up as commander of such a disobedient group of people. 10 year old me got very angry when no one would listen to orders in Kessen but now it all makes sense. 'The right was with me. How was I defeated?!'
If only he let another daimyo with proven combat skills take the rein, the outcome would've been different. Mitsunari is an administrator, a pen pusher, writing reports back to Hideyoshi. Not a seasoned general.
I honestly wonder how much his lack of social skills was a problem, since it seems most of the veterans were looking for any reason to hate him due to him not being like them. It would definitely explain the complete lack of charity extended to him by all but his closest friends.
I was watching this episode and had to stop and start from the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai series, still in the middle, but is fascinating for someone who always loved Japanese history and culture to watch your videos. Specially when I hear the names of the places this huge battle happened and think that I live in Ogaki, in Akasaka, and Sekigahara is so close, a few minutes away by car.... Thank you!
Wow! It looks like you used the Sekigahara Campaign mod for Shogun 2 for the battle scenes! Thats so awesome! I hope the changes from vanilla and extra content (heraldry and units) was ok. The team was working in the early days of Shogun 2 modding and it was kinda the first Overhaul mod that changed 1545 clans.
I went on to watch other content creators' videos about the battle to see if there were any differences but I think I like your and Metatron's renditions of the battle a lot more than the rest. This video has something called "soul", instead of mashing something as big and significant as THE Batte of Sekigahara in the span of 10-15 minutes(5 minutes for the battle sequence and 10 for context) and glance over the cooler details of the battle. This video and your channel as a whole is something special.
Mitsunari was doomed. The events leading up to Sekigahara on the western side was like if this scenario was a visual novel and he constantly chose the evil option (i.e. when he slighted the Shimazu which led them to not help in the battle, or when he almost got Hideaki executed during the Second invasion of Korea). As for the chance of a Western Army victory, IDK what would have happened (and goes into my first statement). Let's just say that out of some miracle he won and the Tokugawa were defeated. That doesn't easily eliminate the other people that hated him. Kiyomasa would still be alive, Masanori would probably be alive, others would still be around which hated him. If Mitsunari won somehow it wouldn't be an easy path to the end of the chaos. Instead, I would imagine there to be several more years of war because of the one fact he wasn't a well liked figure. So in that sense, even in the scenario he won, he would still be doomed because I can't say how many more mistakes he would have made which would cost him more allies.
It looks like Mitsunari lost the battle before it started. It was like a set up for elimination of Tokugawa opposition. I belive Mori and Tokugawa agreement is real, it just looks that way. Despite all that odds Mitsunari was really well but I belive even if he won couldn't bring peace. In my opinion, alternative route if Mitsunari won battle after that these loose coalition turn each other. If Mitsunari won the battle without Kobayakawa, Mori and Shimazu, he would get more arrogant and it strain his relationship with them and eventually cause new fight. If he won with help of the others in the end remnants of Tokugawa and other clans like Date and Mogami would cause him trouble and probably some of the winning side join new coalition as well. Whether you like or dislike Tokugawa, he was the top dog of the his side, he had full loyalty and his autority was absolute. This battle is really one of the most interesting battle in the history. All that infights, glory seeking, little details are so fashinating. Ii Naomasa is my favorite during that dacade. Ii clan has an interesting story as well he died shortly after this battle because of wounds during famous Shimazu charge.
Oh there was definitely collusion between the Mori and the Tokugawa. It was documented and I have no doubt it will be discussed more in the next video that covers the aftermath of the battle. The fate of the Mori and Shimazu clans following the battle (and Tokugawa's reasoning for each) had a significant impact on the Boshin wars (which led to the Meiji restoration) two and a half centuries later.
Oh, I also think that a western army victory would result on the Sengoku era being prolonged, though I can't even think for how long that would be. Could be months, or centuries.
Me after watching this:Just imagine what it would have been like if they had won. Mitsunari is one of my favorite leaders, although he wasn't the best general, what made me really like him is after all those things people said to him he was the first and ONLY one to actually to stand up to Ieyasu. If only he'd let Yoshihiro do out his plan or at least say it just wasn't the time or we could do it later. Or if only he had the social skills needed to be able to convince hediaki that although Ieyasu was a former friend he trusted, he was against everything that Hedeyoshi had tried to do for the country. This battle really could've been won, but talk about a tragic ending for the Western Army. Good vid.
I read somewhere that ieyasu had personally saved hideaki from being stripped of his lands during the imjin war under allegations from guess who? Ishida mitsunari so hideaki and mitsunari had a bad as it gets relationship
Please make some videos about the economics of this time period such as: production in different areas, social behaviors, natural resources, trade, technology, currency, and population in different regions. Economics is the root and engine of history.
The Buddha said "One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times on the battlefield." Tokugawa did not himself subdue Japan like his predecessors. He was fortunate to inherit the fruits of their struggles for unification largely to meticulous planning, legendary patience and cunning diplomacy. Oda was formidable and Toyotomi had immense charisma. But only Tokugawa conquered the people, because of the three great warlords, only he had first conquered himself.
@@Hilversumborn That's a nice to way to put it and that story was taught to us early in my childhood education. As I grew older, I feel that it's quite unfair to Tokugawa as we as a people tend to favor underdogs and the vanquished. He ate the cake but only he knew when to go for it and that is almost as important as having the cake at all.
I always wondered what would have happened if Ishida had brought Hideyori with him to Sekigahara. Yes he was a seven year old boy, but he was the head of the Toyotomi. A boy that many lords on the eastern side swore alleigance to. Would Toyotomi vassals like Kuroda and Fukushima defect to the west? Would Kobayakawa and the Mori attack the East?
For the Toyotomi, their clan's survival is all that matters, regardless of who will emerge victorious as both armies claim to fight under Hideyori's banner. It was a war of vassals. Both Ishida and Tokugawa were vassals. So the Toyotomi does not interfere nor openly support either one. Whoever wins, he will still be a vassal of the Toyotomi. So, No. Hideyori will never go to Sekigahara.
@@itsrye8001 A shame. In my eyes a war between vassals only shows how weak the Toyotomi had become. I would've thought that they wanted to remove Ieyasu seeing as how he was the strongest daimyo among the vassals and could be very dangerous to the Toyotomi clan.
For anyone curious about a movie about the battle other than the 2017 version, there is a Tokyo Broadcast System miniseries on it floating around TH-cam. It stars Toshiro Mifune and Hiroshi Fujioka. No subs, but I think Shogunate's videos should provide enough context on it.
Let's be honest, Ishida's plan and battle strategy/prowess was amazing. Only a special set case of misfortunes could have cost him the win. Turns out, even back then, having friends in the right places was stronger than being the better men, and Ishida payed for that.
That's the reason of Ieyasu of sparing Mitsunari after the failed assassination attempt. He is a hatred magnet and if people rally to him, it's easier to break them and not many hold him in high regard.
@@shaik4122 its not that he was a hate magnet, Ieyasu probably had more haters. Ishida was seen as a bureaucrat, not a fighter, that meant that he couldnt really command respect amongst the more veteran . In the battle itself Hideie was probably seen as the figure of the western army. Heck, Terumoto was the leader and senior of the Toyotomi loyalists, had he been outside Osaka and done something probably history wouldve been different. History did Mitsunari dirty, specially because it was written by the winners but with historians actually looking up what had actually happened Mitsunari did the best he could with what he had.
@@SilvaaFabio Oh, he was indeed a hatred magnet. Hideaki, Lady Nene, the 7 lords who were chasing down on him after the failed assassination on Ieyasu weren't in good terms with him. Even Kuroda Kanbe didn't like him. Some believe that he has played some role in the annihilation of Hidetsugu and family. Ieyasu might have haters but not as significant as Mitsunari but if he did, it would have been manifested at Sekigahara. Couldn't command respect doesn't mean they can't fight along him. He slighted Mori by giving Terumoto babysitting role. He blamed Korean Invasion warlords and highlighted only their failures to Hideyoshi thus making himself their enemies in general. He was always playing into the favourable role for Cha Cha and this gives him some advantage in politics as well as hatred for him among those who view him as sly and dirty politician such as Nene. Mitsunari had more advantage to convince people to rally for the Toyotomi but this hatred and his attitude prevented that.
Mitsunari's plan was good on paper, but in execution it relied almost completely on the loyalty of his generals, which was the biggest flaw of the Western Army.
Turning on your allies at the most critical moment of the battle has to be down there with friends who turn on you at your lowest moment and your own children seeking to end your life. It's one of the lowest of the low.
I speculate that Kobayakawa's defection was already agreed even before both armies got into formation. Tokugawa riflemen firing towards Mt. Matsuo is the "signal" for Kobayakawa to make their move, masked as an "attack". Flares are used to signal/convey a message or command to an ally. But in this case, gunshots were used because Kobayakawa was with the opposing army.
The Eastern army were able to send messengers directly to him to ask if he was going to move. Why would they need to risk a rifle barrage in an era where matchlock rifles were so prone to malfunctions in order to covertly signal him? No he along with quite a few other officers were trying to bide their time so they could know for certain who would win before they picked a side. Tokugawa Ieyasu at that point chose to force his hand because he needed to know whether he should deploy against Kobayakawa as well, or even potentially withdraw. One way or another he couldn't sit around waiting any longer.
@Wretched Egg 1. The Mori, Shimazu and the Kobayakawa clans was a continuing concern for the Western Army leadership. Mt. Matsuo was supposed to be occupied by other clan from the Western Army but Hideaki moved there specifically and on purpose. Even Otani Gyobu, from the moment Kobayakawa set up their camp, had doubts and wasn't certain if Kobayakawa will remain on their side, thus placing himself "in between" incase his worries about him materialize. 2. Among the clans that defected. Only the Kobayakawa was rewarded. Making me think that it was pre arranged. Wakisaka et al, landholdings either remained the same or was reduced. 3. While it is true that the Eastern Army can openly send messengers to Hideaki, please remember that Mitsunari and other Western daimyo (and Tokugawa) had spies inside Hideaki's camp, ready to pounce on him should he defect to the other side. Until that threat is neutralized, he neither can respond nor give clues about his defection. Hideaki openly communicating/responding to the Eastern Army during the battle will only solidify(for lack of better term) the doubts against him thus putting his life in grave danger. @Paul Yim, Kobayakawa Hideaki fought in the Imjin War among other battles. He fought in the front lines(which angered Hideyoshi btw). Though he is young, He is not scared, effeminate or as confused as they portray him to be.
This is so interesting. I am finally getting to understand the battle. I have a stop over in Tokyo on my way to Bangkok , Im planing on 4 days in Japan . Maybe i can go see the battle site .
WHAAAAT A CHANNEL!!!! BRO!! Your channel and videos are so fucking good, These need to be on curiosity-stream. How on earth is content like this free? 11/10 youtubes.
A few years later, the Tokugawa would end up losing in a battle that would decide the fate of Japan and it would be defeated by the descendants of the Mori, Shimazu and Chosokabe Clans
Chosokabe is dying at the battle of Osaka Castle in 1615.(Chosokabe Motochika's fourth son) Chosokabe clan as a daimyo ends at this time However, the descendants of the Chosokabe clan's servants became the central force in overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate. One of them is the founder of the Mitsubishi Group
Chosokabe clan is over as a daimyo. However, the fifth child of Chosokabe Motochika(and Motochika's younger brother) survives and descendants still alive. In 2014, a talk show was held by the descendants of Tokugawa and Chosokabe.
I heard that Japanese historians had conducted an experiment, which showed Kobayakawa actually could not even hear Ieyasu's gun fire from such distance as the entire scene alreay full of other gun fire and more then a hundred thousand soldier s' shouting. Betraying western army was more likely to be Kobayakawa's own decision rather then forced by Ieyasu's gun fire.
That could very well be true. But even then there still may have been bullets hitting his position or troops under his command that could have also prompted the betrayal. In some wild stories it was actually a canon that Ieyasu used on the Kobayakawa.
Let me say this in my native Costa Rican Spanish: ¡Shogunate, eres toda, qué carga! (roughly traslated as "Shogunate, you rock, amazing!"). Really, the edition in this video was surprising, and your narration was quite good. Have you read "The Battle of Sekigahara: The Greatest Samurai Battle in History" by Chris Glenn? It is probably until now the most complete book about this battle in English, I recommend this book n_n Also, you could write also a book about Sengoku Era, it would be a success. I can't wait how you will handle Siege of Osaka if this video was this good! The Battle of Sekigahara, also known as the Battle of the Many Ifs XD XD Really, what would happened if Yoshihiro wouldn't be insulted the night previous, if Hideaki either hadn't joined the battle at all, or did join the Western army, if Mouri and Chousokabe would have joined, if Naomasa would successfully slained Shimazu, if Hidetada joined Tokugawa on time, if Tachibana Muneshige or the Sanada would have joined on time, or even if the Shimazu, Mouri and Chousokabe could have learnt what would happen to their clans the next years and decades for not acting for the Toyotomi... I actually feel sorry for Mitsunari. He just lacked social skills and was probably too honest for his own good, but he was actually loyal to Toyotomi and stood for what he thought it was right, while Ieyasu just betrayed the Toyotomi in plain sight (really, I can't stand that fat tanuki). Seeing this video was somewhat painful to see if you are a Toyotomi fan: imagine to be that optimistic that you have planned an actually good strategy to reach your goal, only to be betrayed by those you trusted, those you thought shared your values... Contrast with Ieyasu who was actually quite anxious and irritated at the start. I would like to go to Sekigahara one day, until now I have visited Ueda Castle, Osaka Castle, three little shrines in Osaka dedicated to Sanada Yukimura (even Yasui Shrine, where Yukimura died), Honnouji Temple in Kyoto, Itsukushima Shrine and the lovely Kudoyama in Kii peninsule, where Yukimura and Masayuki were exiled after Sekigahara. I think the historical attractiveness Sekigahara posses is quite hard to imagine.
I’m curious about the part when you mentioned that Ii Naomasa took the initiative to initiate the battle. I alway understood that ieyasu orchestrated the move from behind the scenes and Nagamasa was simply following the plan as he was introduced to do.. is there any clear indication of how that played out in the sources?
A little advice for you Shogunate, if you could redo another eposiode on Sekigahara to the audience. explain in another way. Kobayakawa Hideaki's betrayed was called "問鉄炮"which is a fiction created in Edo period, There is no such story in real the battle. The first record of 問鉄炮 was first record in Ii clan in 1672. which was 70 years after the battle. Many stories in fact were created in edo period to make it sounds more fascinating. In history Kobayakawa Hideaki wasn't defected to eastern army because Ieyasu shot his camps and threaten him. He was belong to the Eastern army at first and he defected at just at the start of the battle which Otani Yoshitsugu was first defeated quickly. Many people believe that Otani Yoshitsugu clamed to took Hideaki's life as a ghost after his death. And Hideaki died two years later, But fact Hideaki was big alcoholism drink to much alcohol which caused his death. The total numbers of troops which actually involved in the battle of Sekigahara was less than the fiction depicted. You got half of the Western army(most importantly Mori Hidemoto and Kikkawa Hiroie) were not involve in the battle. The battle only lasted for 4 hours with a total victory of Ieyasu, it wasn't that excited people expected. He had overwhelming troops and daimyo who support him rather than Mitsunari because Sengoku era was a authoritarianism period and Mitsunari had bad relationship with so many Daimyo such as Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori. etc Normal story told that the Western army's formed Cranes wing array（鶴翼の陣), while the Eastern army formed Fish scales formation(魚鱗の陣), But in real history in most occasion there was no time to prepare a battle formation, Normally army just took the fight directly like have a gang war. There were not exactly people recorded what was happening during the battle. In the Normal story Ishida Mitsunari was encamp at Mount Sasao, However new study had been told recent years that He was encamped at Mount Yamanakamura. Another fiction which was not correct was Kikkawa Hiroie ate Bento at Mount Nangunsan, Hiroie ordered the troops not to move because the fog. when he ordered to attack it was Mori Hidemoto who clamed to have lunch and not to attack, this was known us 宰相殿の空弁当(the empty Bento). this black Hiroie as a traitor of the Mori clan and always dislike by non-Japanese people, But in reality Japanese people love Hiroie much. Hiroie was smart as he knew the ability of the Mori clan even Mori helped Mitsunari successfully defeat the Eastern army, what if the country will bring in to a turmoil period again? Another interesting concept why Hiroie secretly defected to Ieyasu was much related to history of Kikkawa, Kikkawa clan had more resentment toward Toyotomi clan than Kobayakawa and Mori. During the battle of Tottori castle Hideyoshi used very clue methods to starve all people to death in the castle, Although hideyoshi spread Kikkawa Tsuneie's life, but Tsuneie felt guilty and responsible for people, cause him to Seppuku. During Hideyoshi's retribution of fief to daimyo Kobayakawa got new fiefs in Kyushu while Kikkawa got nothing, this created another dissatisfied among Kikkawa clan. Last was the brilliant retreat of the Shimazu clan leading by Yoshihiro with only 300 man(In fiction and drama it is said 1500man) around him. There are dispute in here which Tactic did Shimazu used. Normal theory was The shimazu applied the most well-know tactics knowns 捨て奸, (Sutegamari), facing the large numbers of Ii and Matsudaira troops, Ii Naomasa and Matsudaira Tadayoshi was wounded from matchlock gun. But recently it is said Shimazu did not apply Sutegamari in the retreat. Yoshihiro escaped back to satsuma with only 80 left around him. There were many differences between Normalize story(which fictions were add) and real story, This occurred in many battles such us Okehazama, Nagashino.etc. Those history battle were conduct again and again before handling to our hands. In Meiji period those battle details were conduct again as a reference to the Japanese empire military academia. Note: Most of those material was from Meiji period, it is believe those were more accurate to the battle. if there were any error, please pointed out.
I don't think the guy cared. He pushed for the fictional narrative in Nagashino for more viewership and it worked greatly for him, not like he gonna change it
@@minhvuongtran5544 I think the same, but what he told is just from a narrative of fiction, not real history, There were many differences between the real Sekigahara and fiction Sekigahara
@@織田上総介三郎信-j5z The guy knew about Negoroji debate and still used the bullshit Sandan-uchi argument to hype up Nobunaga just because it's better to hype up the Sengoku Jidai. I'm sure he is here on youtube to sell the fictional Sengoku history, not to tell the real one
@@minhvuongtran5544 it's important to let the audience to know the real history rather than make it more Epic to earning more viewers, isn't it? because you can't tell you are telling history if adding a narrative...
@@織田上総介三郎信-j5z Sadly it should be, but he didn't think so. There is a channel named BazBattles that consulted someone who's actually in the field, and I liked that he explained why he went with the traditional or revisionist approach. Sadly he stopped making Sengoku videos since 2019
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The reign of the old shogunate....IS OVER!
*Epic horn sound fx*
@@Lo-tf6qt 心....
Lmao
Shamefur dispray!
(Stabs knife on the map)
"Mitsunari I applaud your boldness. Your loyalty to the Toyotomi is admirable... but honor alone will not bring what you seek. I will triumph and forge a new world... of my own design my world!" Tokugawa Ieyasu
Kessen 1 was so good. I love that game even if it's aged not that well
@@iliaskontochristos5757 it was what got me heavily invested in the Sengoku Jidai. The soundtrack is still incredible and the voice acting is very good for its time. The gameplay hasn't aged very well, but for a game over two decades old, it holds up better than its sequels I find.
2 years later, but I agree with everything everyone here has written. That's gotta be a TH-cam first.
Similar to Bosworth field, a battle to decide an island nation’s civil war tipped by a lesser lord, king making through betrayal.
Henryasu Tudorgawa
Yep,Kobayakawa Hideaki = Thomas.2nd Baron Stanley and 1st Earl of Derby!🐍
...Henryasu Tudorgawa...nice name for a Tabletop-R.P.G-Character...! 😀
Good one.
This cracked me up!!!!
@@MrSinclairn huh?
The battle itself is quite epic added with your narration it become even more grand. Love it. Hope you carry on to the siege of Osaka and beyond,would love to see it. Also,it would be interesting to focus on the Tokugawa's solidification of power after the siege since it's rarely discussed, where Ieyasu installed several of his kids,relatives,longtime vassals and their descendants as Daimyo in many key strategic position throughout Japan.
yes still waiting for siege of osaka
Finally ! Waited long to say this - Never piss off people when you are the yes man of the boss because when the time arrives half your army Will defect on the battlefield ! That’s a living nightmare …. Ishida Mitsunari
Finally!!!! I must say you’ve built quite a following overtime with your unique and captivating way of sharing Japanese history.
Another excellent video, a lot of great details once again. As always I'd like to share a few more:
Otani Yoshitsugu's leprocy is well known, but some sources say he arrived to the battlefield practically on his deathbed. His illness was such that he was nearly blind and relied on the sight of his bodyguards to relay the situation of the battle to him. In spite of his blindness (or perhaps because of it) Yoshitsugu had a better grasp of what was going on than nearly anyone else in the Western army. He not only predicted the defection of Kobayakawa Hideaki and several other key officers of the Western army, but in fact he predicted the victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu as well. It was out of sheer personal friendship to Ishida Mitsunari that kept him fighting for the Western army, and what a magnificent effort he put forth on the battlefield. Not only did he fend off two famed officers of the Eastern army, but even after Hideaki's defection he successfully held against the massive surge of forces closing in behind him, briefly halting the push from both sides before eventually capitulating to the inevitable. After his death Tokugawa Ieyasu honored the man and his name became synonymous with deep loyalty and true friendship.
Minor note but the story of the famed samurai Miyamoto Musashi supposedly saw his first battlefield action here at Sekigahara. A very young ronin samurai under the banner of Ukita Hideie in the Western army, historically little is known about his role other than that he was part of the army. Legend says he emerged from the pile of Western samurai bodies a survivor of the battle.
There are rumors that Kobayakawa Hideaki's decision may have been romantically motivated, due to an infatuation he had of a Tokugawa officer. Whether that influenced his decision or he sought such romance as a form of reward for his defection is unclear, but it leads to some depictions of him being quite effeminate. These depictions are likely exaggerated regardless of whether his infatuation had any impact on his defection.
While the battlefield itself saw around 170k men, Sekigahara was more than just a single battlefield as battles and skirmishes occurred elsewhere around Japan in conjunction with Sekigahara. I have to double check numbers, but I want to say all in all it was around 350k men in total fighting in connection with the battle. Given the largest medieval battles in Europe between 2 or more countries were around 80k men in total and that Sekigahara is remarkably well documented with highly accurate troop counts, yeah this battle was massive.
Musashi was with his father in Kyushu fighting for Kuroda Kanbei during the Sekigahara campaign
@@TheIlustrado Yeah I'm aware there are conflicting reports of what he was doing at this time. In fact that sums up a lot of his life. Regardless this is where his legend begins, whether it is historically accurate or not.
I heard that part of the reason hideaki sided with ieyasu was because ieyasu had personally intervened at his behest when mitsunari was badmouthing him to hideyoshi during the war in Korea
@@james-97209 Oops sorry, this got a bit buried in notifications. You're partly correct but it was a bit more complex an issue than that. During the Korea campaign Hideaki personally led reinforcements to rescue a castle under siege by Ming forces. And when I mean he personally led it I mean he himself fought on the frontline, capturing an enemy commander and successfully breaking the siege. Hideyoshi however saw this behavior as reckless and unfitting of a lord of Hideaki's stature. After the campaign he stripped him of his province of Chikugo.
Tokugawa Ieyasu (who was known for leading from the front often close to the frontlines) spread rumors that Ishida Mitsunari was responsible for Hideaki's punishment. Given Mitsunari's strict adherence to samurai proprietary the claims were all too believable and Hideaki fully bought them.
*edit I should clarify a bit about Hideyoshi's decision to punish Hideaki. While we don't know the particulars of why Hideyoshi chose to punish Hideaki we do know in Hideaki's zeal to win the battle and prove his worth he attacked women and children along with Ming soldiers. This deplorable action led to complaints from many within Hideaki's own camp and almost certainly was a factor in Hideyoshi's decision to punish him. Hideaki however didn't see things that way and the incident was undeniably a big factor in why he betrayed Ishida Mitsunari.
@@Naraku-no-Hana-WE so it boils down to basically a difference in commanding styles along with potential hurting women and children ? If so I find it at least a bit hypocritical in regards to hideyoshi because his forces were killing korean civilians everywhere and nobody cared
The Kanto King comes out on top which solidifies his path to uncontested power for centuries to come. To think, the Battle of Sekigahara was decided by a 21 year old and many other turncoats.
Tokugawa ieyasus gamble to shoot at Mount Matsuo in that moment is probably one of the biggest gambles in war history because it is not like he knew what would happen right then and there but no doubt it did decide who would rule the country uncontested.
Ishida Mitsunari - The perfect case study of why you shouldn't be a tsundere when making your massive army.
Huh? Your statement makes zero sense
uWu
@@semp224 wow your so funny
He probably, didn't know he's not a waifu.
Shimazu Yoshihiro with the original "No, I don't think I will".
And this is how the boy who grew up as a hostage became the most powerful man in Japan. What a ride it's been.
lol
Masanori : "'right lads, here's what we're gonna do...."
Ii Naomasa and his troops : *advance past Masanori*
Masanori : "hey, that's not in script"
😁😁😁
though it is decided as to who the vanguard is, the Tokugawa will be shamed if he relied too much on Toyotomi vassals, such as Fukushima Masanori, to execute the first charge. Naomasa protecting his lord's reputation.
(Ishida Mitsunari and the terrible horrible no good bad day)
"What can he be doing? Why doesn't he move?! Kobayakawa must rise and attack!"
"Mori, Anko and Kikkawa...why don't they move?! Are they afraid?! Have they lost their nerve?!"
"What?! Lord Kobayakawa's defected?! This cannot be! He is Lord Taiko's nephew! This is impossible...this cannot be!!!"
Kessen
Sekigahara, the De Facto start of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Now we need the Osaka Campaign.
Oh wow!
This really is the best and most epic re-telling of Sekigahara that I have ever come across! Once the combat sequence began it made me hold my breath for long periods because of the sheer suspense! I felt the tiredness at the end of the video!
Ooooh it was very well worth the wait for this episode to finally be released!
Very well done indeed, The Shogunate! Your channel really is one of the very best out there and I and my teenage son are loyal subscribers. He loves your channel even more than I do!
Great work indeed!
Now I hope you will continue to tell the history until after the battle of Tennoji and the final fall of the Toyotomi and the end of the Summer Campaign at Osaka (Osaka Natsu no jin as my father-in-law would call it).
Thank you for this amazing channel and all your awesome very hard work!
🙏🏾🙏🏾
The Western Army should have had Mori Terumoto as their supreme commander at the battle of Sekigahara because he most likely did have prestige to command other daimyos like the Mori vassals and Shimazu Yoshihiro. Ishida Mitsunari and his men should have been Mori´s advisors because Mitsunari himself wasn´t a seasoned general and he didn´t have the prestige to command other warlords.
I think so too, it would've changed the battle in favor of the western army had Terumoto been present, I think respected generals and capable warriors should've taken the lead at Sekigahara, not Mitsunari who couldn't even successfully lay siege one of the Hojo castles during the Siege of Odawara 10 years prior to Sekigahara
毛利輝元は西軍の総大将です。しかし、関ヶ原には実際行かず大阪城で約4万人の兵士を駐留させていました。
Ishida would never take a back seat to another powerful Daimyo. & on another note:
Ishida is doing it, in the name of the Toyotomi, but if he hands over the reigns of high command(he will look incredible weak with that action), would they continue to fight for the same outcome as him, or would that Daimyo(Shimazu, Mori etc.), see his own chance to take over? Would that be a chance, that Ishida could take?
@@Rackhark You have a point. However, the Tokugawa was the greatest threat to the Toyotomi regime because Ieyasu himself was both highly skilled military commander and the richest man in Japan who could maintain large and high quality army. In addition to that Ishida being too blunt was able insult both the Mori and the Shimazu, his key allies which weakened his position. What options did he have if he was a shrewd political operator?
Mori Terumoto only had the Prestige, not the Strategic mind to defeat Ieyasu.
Shimazu Yoshihiro would have been a better leader. A Veteran of the Korean Invasions, Shimazu was quite a brilliant tactician compared to the other leaders in the Western Army
This episode was beautiful!
It has been a fun educational experience over a topic we skimmed through in school (only bringing up that Japan had a war)
I love how this video went into deep detail about Sekigahara!
Not only is it the biggest battle but also the one that generated the most exciting video to follow in the series.
Many of us already know the outcome, but even so every minute of the video was extremely captivating to watch.
Glad no one tried to ride a horse in front of me while I watched haha
congratulations for the video
This was one of your best episodes yet! Perhaps I'm a little biased towards Team Ninja games, but one of my favorite depictions of this battle was in Nioh 1, the first half at least.
Putting aside all the obviously fantastical elements, it seemed to perfectly capture the sheer chaos and bloodshed I imagine those at Sekigahara must've witnessed. The atmosphere of that particular version of the battle definitely helped.
Probably the best fictional depiction of the battle is the opening (double length) episode of the Aoi Tokugawa taiga (it's on dramacool with subs). Explains everything really well and it's surprisingly grand for a tv budget. More epic than the recent-ish movie.
That series is one of my absolute favorite but the best one for me is Takeda Shingen, the actor Kiichi Nakai did the character of Harunobu (Shingen) justice, it made me feel like I was looking at the life of the great warlord himself who is undoubtedly my favorite.
What I love about Aoi Tokugawa 3 generations is that it's basically a rundown of the first 3 Tokugawa Shoguns since it was founded as a military government before it transitioned into something more civil in order to deal with governing a country.
From ieyasu before he even entered Osaka castle in 1599, his writ of censure due to his actions in breaking various rules, basically opposing the Toyotomi to the Siege of Fushimi and Gifu and then Sekigahara
The establishment of the Shogunate and so much more.
And of course, the Siege of Osaka
Very descriptive. You painted this scene so well. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this. Like the Tokugawa you commanded the field. I look forward to how you deal with and described the two head viewing sites.
I can't tell you how happy it has made me seeing this video being uploaded.
Thank you so much for this series so far man! I've been playing Warriors Orochi 4 lately and pretty much skip all the story stuff, but there's this side mission I was playing just earlier today where several hotheaded generals, including Fukushima Masanori and Ii Naomasa in particular, are vying to be the vanguard in a battle. It was cool to this exact rivalry come full circle lol, now I see there was actual historical consideration for the character relationships in that silly little mission.
You know this is what is fascinating in retrospect. The samurai is always displayed as honorable and loyal, but a lot of important moments in Japanese history were decided by samurai betraying others. From Mitsuhide's betrayal to Nobunaga, to all the betrayals at Sekigahara. The depiction of samurai in popular culture is really far from the truth.
That is basically a summary of the entire Sengoku Jidai right there. The descent of samurai from "honor is everything" to "victory justifies everything".
@@Naraku-no-Hana-WE Heck (spoilers) even the end of the Tokugawa shogunate was due to the people betraying the shogun and supporting the Emperor Meiji.
Popular culture has always given people an extremely skewed view of both the samurai and Japanese culture in general. It's why so many people still believe that samurai refused to use guns because they saw them as dishonorable. At the end of the day we're all humans and sometimes in life our own greed, desire for power and standing or just outright pettiness gets the better of us. You can see countless examples of this both in the east and the west. People have been willing to sacrifice even whole countries just to stick it to that one guy they really hate.
Don't remember exactly where a read this but, Hideyoshi pay a important role trying to get the Saito Retainers do defect to Oda side after the death of Dosan Saito.
@@Naraku-no-Hana-WE There was no “descent” when those “honor” didn’t exist in the first place.
I've finally caught up. The whole series has been fascinating and I've always wondered how Mitsunari ended up as commander of such a disobedient group of people. 10 year old me got very angry when no one would listen to orders in Kessen but now it all makes sense. 'The right was with me. How was I defeated?!'
you singlehandedly took me back to play shogun 2 lol, great use of gameplay to enrich the storytelling
If only Mitsunari had better social skills...
If only...
If only he let another daimyo with proven combat skills take the rein, the outcome would've been different. Mitsunari is an administrator, a pen pusher, writing reports back to Hideyoshi. Not a seasoned general.
I honestly wonder how much his lack of social skills was a problem, since it seems most of the veterans were looking for any reason to hate him due to him not being like them.
It would definitely explain the complete lack of charity extended to him by all but his closest friends.
I was watching this episode and had to stop and start from the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai series, still in the middle, but is fascinating for someone who always loved Japanese history and culture to watch your videos.
Specially when I hear the names of the places this huge battle happened and think that I live in Ogaki, in Akasaka, and Sekigahara is so close, a few minutes away by car....
Thank you!
“After victory, tighten your chords.”
Hannibal needed to hear this.
I love your Sengoku Jidai series. You should check out the Kessen games (particularly Kessen 1 and 3 since they take place in Sengoku Japan).
Wow! It looks like you used the Sekigahara Campaign mod for Shogun 2 for the battle scenes! Thats so awesome! I hope the changes from vanilla and extra content (heraldry and units) was ok. The team was working in the early days of Shogun 2 modding and it was kinda the first Overhaul mod that changed 1545 clans.
I went on to watch other content creators' videos about the battle to see if there were any differences but I think I like your and Metatron's renditions of the battle a lot more than the rest.
This video has something called "soul", instead of mashing something as big and significant as THE Batte of Sekigahara in the span of 10-15 minutes(5 minutes for the battle sequence and 10 for context) and glance over the cooler details of the battle. This video and your channel as a whole is something special.
Like most battles, it was decided before it even began.
At long last the beginning of the end of the Sengoku period and the opening gates of the Edo period
Osaka no Eki is actually the end of the Sengoku-jidai.
Wait, how is your comment 12 hours ago when this video just came out.
@@thedragonofechigo7878 because the video was premiered
i cant stop my self of watching your episodes , i have important stuff to do but i cant . how come you know so much its really impressive .
Mitsunari was doomed. The events leading up to Sekigahara on the western side was like if this scenario was a visual novel and he constantly chose the evil option (i.e. when he slighted the Shimazu which led them to not help in the battle, or when he almost got Hideaki executed during the Second invasion of Korea).
As for the chance of a Western Army victory, IDK what would have happened (and goes into my first statement). Let's just say that out of some miracle he won and the Tokugawa were defeated. That doesn't easily eliminate the other people that hated him. Kiyomasa would still be alive, Masanori would probably be alive, others would still be around which hated him. If Mitsunari won somehow it wouldn't be an easy path to the end of the chaos. Instead, I would imagine there to be several more years of war because of the one fact he wasn't a well liked figure. So in that sense, even in the scenario he won, he would still be doomed because I can't say how many more mistakes he would have made which would cost him more allies.
You have done such a great job with this series. Thanks so much!
It looks like Mitsunari lost the battle before it started. It was like a set up for elimination of Tokugawa opposition. I belive Mori and Tokugawa agreement is real, it just looks that way. Despite all that odds Mitsunari was really well but I belive even if he won couldn't bring peace. In my opinion, alternative route if Mitsunari won battle after that these loose coalition turn each other. If Mitsunari won the battle without Kobayakawa, Mori and Shimazu, he would get more arrogant and it strain his relationship with them and eventually cause new fight. If he won with help of the others in the end remnants of Tokugawa and other clans like Date and Mogami would cause him trouble and probably some of the winning side join new coalition as well. Whether you like or dislike Tokugawa, he was the top dog of the his side, he had full loyalty and his autority was absolute.
This battle is really one of the most interesting battle in the history. All that infights, glory seeking, little details are so fashinating. Ii Naomasa is my favorite during that dacade. Ii clan has an interesting story as well he died shortly after this battle because of wounds during famous Shimazu charge.
Oh there was definitely collusion between the Mori and the Tokugawa. It was documented and I have no doubt it will be discussed more in the next video that covers the aftermath of the battle. The fate of the Mori and Shimazu clans following the battle (and Tokugawa's reasoning for each) had a significant impact on the Boshin wars (which led to the Meiji restoration) two and a half centuries later.
Oh, I also think that a western army victory would result on the Sengoku era being prolonged, though I can't even think for how long that would be. Could be months, or centuries.
@@theazureknight9399 Probably till they burn each other and one top dog made them all submit. Seriously, Mitsunari despised by his own allies. These
Long awaited showdown finally comes
Me after watching this:Just imagine what it would have been like if they had won.
Mitsunari is one of my favorite leaders, although he wasn't the best general, what made me really like him is after all those things people said to him he was the first and ONLY one to actually to stand up to Ieyasu.
If only he'd let Yoshihiro do out his plan or at least say it just wasn't the time or we could do it later.
Or if only he had the social skills needed to be able to convince hediaki that although Ieyasu was a former friend he trusted, he was against everything that Hedeyoshi had tried to do for the country.
This battle really could've been won, but talk about a tragic ending for the Western Army.
Good vid.
I read somewhere that ieyasu had personally saved hideaki from being stripped of his lands during the imjin war under allegations from guess who? Ishida mitsunari so hideaki and mitsunari had a bad as it gets relationship
It's my birthday today. Best birthday present, ever.
Ah! It's safe to say that ......
I've waited for a year! Hahahahha.
Although I know of this already, I just wanna hear you tell the story!
Perfect example of: While amateurs focus on tactics, professionals focus on strategy, but adults focus on politics.
Me an Avarage Tokugawa Enjoyer: *All will bow to the Tokugawa Clan! We wait no longer! Destiny calls!*
As Shimadzu enjoyer I say: Patience and Sonnō jōi.
Mitsunari simps: False Shogunate! boooo!
“Fight men! For honor!”
“Meh.”
“For glory!”
“Meh!”
“For a chance to stick it to Mitsunari!”
“YEEEEEAAAH LETS GOOOO!”
Great editing and use of visuals! It’s great to watch your editing style evolve 👏👏☺️
I was waiting for this video, very good content. Never knew about the real reason why the Shimazu didn't march, now I know xD thanks man keep it up
3:29 - As the Spartans once answered to Philip II of Macedon: "IF".
Great channel! Wonderful narration and very well presented!!!
Love the narration and it fits really well.
Please make some videos about the economics of this time period such as: production in different areas, social behaviors, natural resources, trade, technology, currency, and population in different regions. Economics is the root and engine of history.
Thank you so much.
Now that's this is over, what next series you going to cover next Shogunate? Fall of the samurai (not the game) and Meiji restoration?
The Osaka campaign/Siege of Osaka.
@@itsrye8001 whoops
Been waiting for so long, awesome episode 👍🏻👍🏻
THE BATTLE IS HERE FINALY
Your pronunciation is really good. Keep up the good work!
The Buddha said "One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times on the battlefield." Tokugawa did not himself subdue Japan like his predecessors. He was fortunate to inherit the fruits of their struggles for unification largely to meticulous planning, legendary patience and cunning diplomacy. Oda was formidable and Toyotomi had immense charisma. But only Tokugawa conquered the people, because of the three great warlords, only he had first conquered himself.
Nobunaga: Collected the ingredients of the rice cake.
Hideyoshi: Baked the cake.
Ieyasu: Ate the cake
@@Hilversumborn That's a nice to way to put it and that story was taught to us early in my childhood education. As I grew older, I feel that it's quite unfair to Tokugawa as we as a people tend to favor underdogs and the vanquished. He ate the cake but only he knew when to go for it and that is almost as important as having the cake at all.
@@mikotagayuna8494 I like to visualize that Ieyasu was the first in line and that afterwards everyone learned, there was only one cake.
Thank god for the algorithms that recommended this video to me!
Anyone else get hyped when Ii Naomasa just charges or is it just me?
11:08 the sudden increase in his voice kinda jump scared me. Calm tone for the most part than bam!
Man these daimyos are absolute fucking DIVAS.
I always wondered what would have happened if Ishida had brought Hideyori with him to Sekigahara. Yes he was a seven year old boy, but he was the head of the Toyotomi. A boy that many lords on the eastern side swore alleigance to. Would Toyotomi vassals like Kuroda and Fukushima defect to the west? Would Kobayakawa and the Mori attack the East?
For the Toyotomi, their clan's survival is all that matters, regardless of who will emerge victorious as both armies claim to fight under Hideyori's banner. It was a war of vassals. Both Ishida and Tokugawa were vassals. So the Toyotomi does not interfere nor openly support either one. Whoever wins, he will still be a vassal of the Toyotomi.
So, No. Hideyori will never go to Sekigahara.
@@itsrye8001 A shame. In my eyes a war between vassals only shows how weak the Toyotomi had become. I would've thought that they wanted to remove Ieyasu seeing as how he was the strongest daimyo among the vassals and could be very dangerous to the Toyotomi clan.
I found your video to be... Most informative.
I was so hyped for this
For anyone curious about a movie about the battle other than the 2017 version, there is a Tokyo Broadcast System miniseries on it floating around TH-cam. It stars Toshiro Mifune and Hiroshi Fujioka. No subs, but I think Shogunate's videos should provide enough context on it.
Tokugawa. Balls deep with the gambling.
Another reason why he's often associated with Tanuki.
His balls were as big as theirs
When you must wait years just to watch this episode... you're the real one
The Samurai warriors 2 empires theme always gets me
“Will we find Yoshitsugu Ōtani’s decapitated part? We will, we will”
I really enjoyed the video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
that kind of stunt naomasa did is how and why Admiral Yi destoryed them last time.
Let's be honest, Ishida's plan and battle strategy/prowess was amazing.
Only a special set case of misfortunes could have cost him the win.
Turns out, even back then, having friends in the right places was stronger than being the better men, and Ishida payed for that.
That's the reason of Ieyasu of sparing Mitsunari after the failed assassination attempt. He is a hatred magnet and if people rally to him, it's easier to break them and not many hold him in high regard.
@@shaik4122 its not that he was a hate magnet, Ieyasu probably had more haters. Ishida was seen as a bureaucrat, not a fighter, that meant that he couldnt really command respect amongst the more veteran . In the battle itself Hideie was probably seen as the figure of the western army. Heck, Terumoto was the leader and senior of the Toyotomi loyalists, had he been outside Osaka and done something probably history wouldve been different.
History did Mitsunari dirty, specially because it was written by the winners but with historians actually looking up what had actually happened Mitsunari did the best he could with what he had.
@@SilvaaFabio Oh, he was indeed a hatred magnet. Hideaki, Lady Nene, the 7 lords who were chasing down on him after the failed assassination on Ieyasu weren't in good terms with him. Even Kuroda Kanbe didn't like him. Some believe that he has played some role in the annihilation of Hidetsugu and family. Ieyasu might have haters but not as significant as Mitsunari but if he did, it would have been manifested at Sekigahara. Couldn't command respect doesn't mean they can't fight along him. He slighted Mori by giving Terumoto babysitting role. He blamed Korean Invasion warlords and highlighted only their failures to Hideyoshi thus making himself their enemies in general. He was always playing into the favourable role for Cha Cha and this gives him some advantage in politics as well as hatred for him among those who view him as sly and dirty politician such as Nene. Mitsunari had more advantage to convince people to rally for the Toyotomi but this hatred and his attitude prevented that.
Actually.. The moment Ieyasu had support from Takatora, Kiyomasa, And Kuroda Josui... Its more than enough
Mitsunari's plan was good on paper, but in execution it relied almost completely on the loyalty of his generals, which was the biggest flaw of the Western Army.
Well done!
Tokugawa: let us all forge a bond to unity Japan under my leadership.
Turning on your allies at the most critical moment of the battle has to be down there with friends who turn on you at your lowest moment and your own children seeking to end your life. It's one of the lowest of the low.
Yup, and all those things happened frequently during that era. War is hell, especially mass civil war.
I speculate that Kobayakawa's defection was already agreed even before both armies got into formation. Tokugawa riflemen firing towards Mt. Matsuo is the "signal" for Kobayakawa to make their move, masked as an "attack".
Flares are used to signal/convey a message or command to an ally.
But in this case, gunshots were used because Kobayakawa was with the opposing army.
The Eastern army were able to send messengers directly to him to ask if he was going to move. Why would they need to risk a rifle barrage in an era where matchlock rifles were so prone to malfunctions in order to covertly signal him? No he along with quite a few other officers were trying to bide their time so they could know for certain who would win before they picked a side.
Tokugawa Ieyasu at that point chose to force his hand because he needed to know whether he should deploy against Kobayakawa as well, or even potentially withdraw. One way or another he couldn't sit around waiting any longer.
@@itsrye8001 That all seems needlessly elaborate for something pre-arranged. No, I think he was having cold feet.
@Wretched Egg
1. The Mori, Shimazu and the Kobayakawa clans was a continuing concern for the Western Army leadership. Mt. Matsuo was supposed to be occupied by other clan from the Western Army but Hideaki moved there specifically and on purpose. Even Otani Gyobu, from the moment Kobayakawa set up their camp, had doubts and wasn't certain if Kobayakawa will remain on their side, thus placing himself "in between" incase his worries about him materialize.
2. Among the clans that defected. Only the Kobayakawa was rewarded. Making me think that it was pre arranged. Wakisaka et al, landholdings either remained the same or was reduced.
3. While it is true that the Eastern Army can openly send messengers to Hideaki, please remember that Mitsunari and other Western daimyo (and Tokugawa) had spies inside Hideaki's camp, ready to pounce on him should he defect to the other side. Until that threat is neutralized, he neither can respond nor give clues about his defection. Hideaki openly communicating/responding to the Eastern Army during the battle will only solidify(for lack of better term) the doubts against him thus putting his life in grave danger.
@Paul Yim, Kobayakawa Hideaki fought in the Imjin War among other battles. He fought in the front lines(which angered Hideyoshi btw). Though he is young, He is not scared, effeminate or as confused as they portray him to be.
YEAHH!!!!
These are great!
Great video, was way too short for me hahahah
I'll have to edit all my Sekigahara build up and battle videos together to make a long documentary hahaha
@@TheShogunate pls dont tell me, the waiting for it will make it worse
This is so interesting. I am finally getting to understand the battle. I have a stop over in Tokyo on my way to Bangkok , Im planing on 4 days in Japan . Maybe i can go see the battle site .
WHAAAAT A CHANNEL!!!! BRO!! Your channel and videos are so fucking good, These need to be on curiosity-stream. How on earth is content like this free? 11/10 youtubes.
A few years later, the Tokugawa would end up losing in a battle that would decide the fate of Japan and it would be defeated by the descendants of the Mori, Shimazu and Chosokabe Clans
You mean a few centuries later?
..... with help from Britain.
Chosokabe is dying at the battle of Osaka Castle in 1615.(Chosokabe Motochika's fourth son)
Chosokabe clan as a daimyo ends at this time
However, the descendants of the Chosokabe clan's servants became the central force in overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate.
One of them is the founder of the Mitsubishi Group
Chosokabe clan is over as a daimyo.
However, the fifth child of Chosokabe Motochika(and Motochika's younger brother) survives and descendants still alive.
In 2014, a talk show was held by the descendants of Tokugawa and Chosokabe.
@@wadepsilon01
A shamfur dispray!!!
That was awesome!
Probably one of the biggest fumbles in history on Mitsunari's hands. If only he had said yes to the night raid and not been a dick.
For some reason I thought it was cannons tokugawa fired but I guess it was guns at kobayakowa. But anyways, can’t wait for that yukimura charge!
I heard that Japanese historians had conducted an experiment, which showed Kobayakawa actually could not even hear Ieyasu's gun fire from such distance as the entire scene alreay full of other gun fire and more then a hundred thousand soldier s' shouting. Betraying western army was more likely to be Kobayakawa's own decision rather then forced by Ieyasu's gun fire.
That could very well be true. But even then there still may have been bullets hitting his position or troops under his command that could have also prompted the betrayal. In some wild stories it was actually a canon that Ieyasu used on the Kobayakawa.
@@TheShogunate that makes sense, too. Thank you for comment.😊
i think it was the bullets raining on his army that made the difference rather than the sound itself
I just discovered that musashi was present in this battle
That guy never fails to impress me
Dang! At long last, it’s happening! Brace yourselves people!
Imagine how different that battle would have played out if Ishida hadn't pissed everyone off.
*It's Time.....*
we are here!
Let me say this in my native Costa Rican Spanish: ¡Shogunate, eres toda, qué carga! (roughly traslated as "Shogunate, you rock, amazing!"). Really, the edition in this video was surprising, and your narration was quite good. Have you read "The Battle of Sekigahara: The Greatest Samurai Battle in History" by Chris Glenn? It is probably until now the most complete book about this battle in English, I recommend this book n_n Also, you could write also a book about Sengoku Era, it would be a success. I can't wait how you will handle Siege of Osaka if this video was this good!
The Battle of Sekigahara, also known as the Battle of the Many Ifs XD XD Really, what would happened if Yoshihiro wouldn't be insulted the night previous, if Hideaki either hadn't joined the battle at all, or did join the Western army, if Mouri and Chousokabe would have joined, if Naomasa would successfully slained Shimazu, if Hidetada joined Tokugawa on time, if Tachibana Muneshige or the Sanada would have joined on time, or even if the Shimazu, Mouri and Chousokabe could have learnt what would happen to their clans the next years and decades for not acting for the Toyotomi...
I actually feel sorry for Mitsunari. He just lacked social skills and was probably too honest for his own good, but he was actually loyal to Toyotomi and stood for what he thought it was right, while Ieyasu just betrayed the Toyotomi in plain sight (really, I can't stand that fat tanuki). Seeing this video was somewhat painful to see if you are a Toyotomi fan: imagine to be that optimistic that you have planned an actually good strategy to reach your goal, only to be betrayed by those you trusted, those you thought shared your values... Contrast with Ieyasu who was actually quite anxious and irritated at the start.
I would like to go to Sekigahara one day, until now I have visited Ueda Castle, Osaka Castle, three little shrines in Osaka dedicated to Sanada Yukimura (even Yasui Shrine, where Yukimura died), Honnouji Temple in Kyoto, Itsukushima Shrine and the lovely Kudoyama in Kii peninsule, where Yukimura and Masayuki were exiled after Sekigahara. I think the historical attractiveness Sekigahara posses is quite hard to imagine.
I’m curious about the part when you mentioned that Ii Naomasa took the initiative to initiate the battle. I alway understood that ieyasu orchestrated the move from behind the scenes and Nagamasa was simply following the plan as he was introduced to do.. is there any clear indication of how that played out in the sources?
It was iye naomasa who told matsudaira tadayoshi to start the battle as he wanted a direct vassal of Iyeasu to start the battle
IT'S HERE
finally my meditation is over 🥲
I hear lots about eastern and western armies but wouldn't they be north and south or did Japan see itself diffrently on the world map?
was about to go to bed & then I see its finally here! yeah, sleep needs to wait xD
My Lord, a glorious victory will soon be your!!!
One of Ieyasu retainer (probably)
Tokugawa: Alright if Hideaki won't make the choice, I'll make it for him...open fire.
A little advice for you Shogunate, if you could redo another eposiode on Sekigahara to the audience. explain in another way.
Kobayakawa Hideaki's betrayed was called "問鉄炮"which is a fiction created in Edo period, There is no such story in real the battle. The first record of 問鉄炮 was first record in Ii clan in 1672. which was 70 years after the battle. Many stories in fact were created in edo period to make it sounds more fascinating. In history Kobayakawa Hideaki wasn't defected to eastern army because Ieyasu shot his camps and threaten him. He was belong to the Eastern army at first and he defected at just at the start of the battle which Otani Yoshitsugu was first defeated quickly. Many people believe that Otani Yoshitsugu clamed to took Hideaki's life as a ghost after his death. And Hideaki died two years later, But fact Hideaki was big alcoholism drink to much alcohol which caused his death.
The total numbers of troops which actually involved in the battle of Sekigahara was less than the fiction depicted. You got half of the Western army(most importantly Mori Hidemoto and Kikkawa Hiroie) were not involve in the battle. The battle only lasted for 4 hours with a total victory of Ieyasu, it wasn't that excited people expected. He had overwhelming troops and daimyo who support him rather than Mitsunari because Sengoku era was a authoritarianism period and Mitsunari had bad relationship with so many Daimyo such as Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori. etc
Normal story told that the Western army's formed Cranes wing array（鶴翼の陣), while the Eastern army formed Fish scales formation(魚鱗の陣), But in real history in most occasion there was no time to prepare a battle formation, Normally army just took the fight directly like have a gang war. There were not exactly people recorded what was happening during the battle.
In the Normal story Ishida Mitsunari was encamp at Mount Sasao, However new study had been told recent years that He was encamped at Mount Yamanakamura.
Another fiction which was not correct was Kikkawa Hiroie ate Bento at Mount Nangunsan, Hiroie ordered the troops not to move because the fog. when he ordered to attack it was Mori Hidemoto who clamed to have lunch and not to attack, this was known us 宰相殿の空弁当(the empty Bento). this black Hiroie as a traitor of the Mori clan and always dislike by non-Japanese people, But in reality Japanese people love Hiroie much. Hiroie was smart as he knew the ability of the Mori clan even Mori helped Mitsunari successfully defeat the Eastern army, what if the country will bring in to a turmoil period again? Another interesting concept why Hiroie secretly defected to Ieyasu was much related to history of Kikkawa, Kikkawa clan had more resentment toward Toyotomi clan than Kobayakawa and Mori. During the battle of Tottori castle Hideyoshi used very clue methods to starve all people to death in the castle, Although hideyoshi spread Kikkawa Tsuneie's life, but Tsuneie felt guilty and responsible for people, cause him to Seppuku. During Hideyoshi's retribution of fief to daimyo Kobayakawa got new fiefs in Kyushu while Kikkawa got nothing, this created another dissatisfied among Kikkawa clan.
Last was the brilliant retreat of the Shimazu clan leading by Yoshihiro with only 300 man(In fiction and drama it is said 1500man) around him. There are dispute in here which Tactic did Shimazu used. Normal theory was The shimazu applied the most well-know tactics knowns 捨て奸, (Sutegamari), facing the large numbers of Ii and Matsudaira troops, Ii Naomasa and Matsudaira Tadayoshi was wounded from matchlock gun. But recently it is said Shimazu did not apply Sutegamari in the retreat.
Yoshihiro escaped back to satsuma with only 80 left around him.
There were many differences between Normalize story(which fictions were add) and real story, This occurred in many battles such us Okehazama, Nagashino.etc. Those history battle were conduct again and again before handling to our hands. In Meiji period those battle details were conduct again as a reference to the Japanese empire military academia.
Note: Most of those material was from Meiji period, it is believe those were more accurate to the battle. if there were any error, please pointed out.
I don't think the guy cared. He pushed for the fictional narrative in Nagashino for more viewership and it worked greatly for him, not like he gonna change it
@@minhvuongtran5544 I think the same, but what he told is just from a narrative of fiction, not real history, There were many differences between the real Sekigahara and fiction Sekigahara
@@織田上総介三郎信-j5z The guy knew about Negoroji debate and still used the bullshit Sandan-uchi argument to hype up Nobunaga just because it's better to hype up the Sengoku Jidai.
I'm sure he is here on youtube to sell the fictional Sengoku history, not to tell the real one
@@minhvuongtran5544 it's important to let the audience to know the real history rather than make it more Epic to earning more viewers, isn't it? because you can't tell you are telling history if adding a narrative...
@@織田上総介三郎信-j5z Sadly it should be, but he didn't think so. There is a channel named BazBattles that consulted someone who's actually in the field, and I liked that he explained why he went with the traditional or revisionist approach. Sadly he stopped making Sengoku videos since 2019
Best. Birthday gift. Ever
Mitsunari had it coming and it was a deserved victory for the Tokugawa and his allies.