Edo period

The Siege of Osaka was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction.... Divided into two stages , and 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 called the Genna Armistice , because the era name was changed from Keichō to Genna immediately following the siege. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598, Japan came to be governed by the Council of Five Elders, among whom Tokugawa Ieyasu possessed the most authority. After defeating Ishida Mitsunari in the battle of Sekigahara, Ieyasu essentially seized control of Japan for himself, and abolished the Council. In 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate was established, with its capital at Edo. Ieyasu sought to establish a powerful and stable regime under the rule of his own clan; only the Toyotomi, led by Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori and based at Osaka, remained as an obstacle to that goal. In 1614, the Toyotomi clan rebuilt Osaka Castle.
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The Battle of Tennōji was fought in 1615 between the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the forces of Toyotomi Hideyori. Tokugawa was laying siege... to Osaka, and Hideyori had planned a counterattack. Both sides were plagued by mistakes until Hideyori's side finally fell. He committed suicide. The Toyotomi army suffered nearly 50% casualties in this battle, with more than 15000 dead. This was also the final battle of Sanada Yukimura. The last resistance of the Osaka Garrison was at Tennoji, outside of the castle. Hideyori, son of the legendary Toyotomi Hideyoshi, made up a plan to try and turn the tide of the siege. Akashi Morishige was to attack the Tokugawa in conjunction with Sanada Yukimura. But the Tokugawa were led by Ieyasu himself, and even though Ieyasu was wounded by a spear thrust, Yukimura was killed in action. Thus, Morishige's attack failed as well. This left only Hideyori to defend the castle. The Tokugawa cannon began pounding the keep, and hopeless, Hideyori committed seppuku.
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