Ishiyama Hongan-ji War

Siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji
Part of the Sengoku period

The battle of Ishiyama Hongan-ji by Utagawa Yoshifuji (1828-1887)
DateAugust 1570 – August 1580
Location
Osaka, Fortress of Ishiyama Hongan-ji; other ikki strongholds
Result Oda victory, Kōsa surrenders
Belligerents
forces of Oda Nobunaga Ikkō-ikki monks
forces of Ashikaga Yoshiaki[1]
Mōri clan
Commanders and leaders
Oda Nobunaga
Sakuma Nobumori
Niwa Nagahide
Akechi Mitsuhide
Harada Naomasa 
Araki Murashige
Takayama Ukon
Hosokawa Fujitaka
Inaba Yoshimichi
Andō Morinari
Ikoma Chikamasa
Kōsa
Shimozuma Nakayuki
Shimozuma Rairyū
Saika Magoichi
Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Rokkaku Yoshikata
Mori Terumoto
Strength
At least 30,000 At least 15,000

The Ishiyama Hongan-ji War (石山合戦, Ishiyama Kassen) was a ten-year military campaign that took place from 1570 to 1580 in Sengoku period Japan, carried out by lord Oda Nobunaga against a network of fortifications, temples, and communities belonging to the Ikkō-ikki, a powerful faction of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist monks and peasants opposed to the rule of the samurai class.

It centered on attempts to take down the Ikki's central base, the cathedral fortress of Ishiyama Hongan-ji, in what is today the city of Osaka. While Nobunaga and his allies led attacks on Ikki communities and fortifications in the nearby provinces, weakening the Hongan-ji's support structure, elements of his army remained camped outside the Hongan-ji, blocking supplies to the fortress and serving as scouts.

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