Sengoku 3D The battles that shaped history, retold in 3D.
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Sengoku Battle Archive

The battles that shaped history, in 3D.

Start here — about 3 minutes each, free

Sekigahara, Okehazama, Red Cliffs. The battles that shaped Japan and China, recreated as documentary-style 3D overviews. The mist lifts, the armies appear, arrows sweep across the field and the lines collide. Pick a battle and a three-minute animated retelling begins automatically. Works on your phone.

42 battles · Free to watch · New battles added regularly

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Battle of Nagashino in 3D (standard quality)
Battle of Nagashino in 3D (Ultra detail)
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More ways to enjoy the battles

TV mode Battles one after another, on a big screen When a battle ends, the next one starts. We also explain how to show it on your TV. Open › Listen mode Narration that keeps playing with the screen off Just the narration, chapter after chapter, battle after battle. Chapter 1 of every battle is free. Open ›

Battle Chronicle

Browse by general
  1. 1183 11th day of the 5th month, Juei 2 Late Heian period Battle of Kurikara Mount Tonami, on the Etchū–Kaga border Minamoto no Yoshinaka meets the great army of Taira no Koremori, marching down the Hokuriku road, at a mountain pass on Tonami. A night attack from three sides and the "fire oxen" stratagem send the Taira tumbling into the ravine. The overture to the Taira flight from the capital. Watch this battle
  2. 1184 7th day of the 2nd month, Juei 3 Late Heian period Battle of Ichi-no-Tani Ichi-no-Tani, Settsu Province Yoshitsune's cavalry plunge down the cliff at Hiyodorigoe. Struck from behind, the Taira crumble toward the sea, and the young Atsumori dies. Watch this battle
  3. 1185 19th day of the 2nd month, Genryaku 2 Late Heian period Battle of Yashima Yashima, Sanuki Province Crossing to Yashima through a storm, Yoshitsune drives the Taira out to sea with fire. The famous scene of Nasu no Yoichi shooting the fan from the masthead. Watch this battle
  4. 1185 24th day of the 3rd month, Genryaku 2 Late Heian period Battle of Dan-no-ura Kanmon Strait, Nagato Province Red and white fleets collide in the Kanmon Strait in the last battle of the Genpei War. The tide turns, a defection follows, and the Taira sink beneath the waves with the child emperor. Watch this battle
  5. 1546 Tenbun 15 Sengoku period Night Battle of Kawagoe Kawagoe Castle, Musashi Province An allied army of 80,000 under Uesugi Norimasa, Uesugi Tomosada and the Koga kubō Ashikaga Haruuji besieges Hōjō Tsunashige in Kawagoe Castle. Hōjō Ujiyasu comes to the rescue with only 8,000, feigns peace talks and retreat to lull the enemy, then launches a surprise attack in the dead of night. The allies collapse, the Ōgigayatsu Uesugi are destroyed, and the battle is counted with Okehazama and Itsukushima among the "three great surprise attacks of Japan." Watch this battle
  6. 1555 1st day of the 10th month, Kōji 1 Sengoku period (Chūgoku region) Battle of Itsukushima (Miyajima) Itsukushima, Aki Province On a night of storm and rain, Mōri Motonari crosses the sea with 4,000 men and surprises the 20,000-strong Sue army on the sacred island. One day of cunning overturns the mastery of western Japan. Watch this battle
  7. 1560 19th day of the 5th month, Eiroku 3 Sengoku period Battle of Okehazama Okehazama, Owari Province A mere 2,000 Oda troops, hidden by a torrential downpour, storm the headquarters of Imagawa Yoshimoto: one of the greatest upsets in Japanese history. Watch this battle
  8. 1561 10th day of the 9th month, Eiroku 4 Sengoku period Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima Kawanakajima, Shinano Province Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, destined rivals, collide on the misty plain of Hachimanbara: the bloodiest fight of the Sengoku age and the source of the legendary single combat. Watch this battle
  9. 1570 28th day of the 6th month, Genki 1 Sengoku / Azuchi–Momoyama Battle of Anegawa Anegawa River, Ōmi Province A melee that dyed the shallows of the Anegawa red. The Oda nearly break under the Azai onslaught, but the Tokugawa beat the Asakura and strike the flank, turning the battle. Watch this battle
  10. 1573 22nd day of the 12th month, Genki 3 Sengoku period Battle of Mikatagahara Mikatagahara, Tōtōmi Province On a snowy evening Takeda Shingen hands Tokugawa Ieyasu the worst defeat of his life. A winter death-struggle that ends with the empty-castle ruse and a night raid at Saigagake. Watch this battle
  11. 1575 21st day of the 5th month, Tenshō 3 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Nagashino Nagashino–Shitaragahara, Mikawa Province Palisades and three thousand arquebuses shattered the Takeda cavalry: the decisive battle that changed how the Sengoku wars were fought. Watch this battle
  12. 1577 23rd day of the 9th month, Tenshō 5 Sengoku / Azuchi–Momoyama Battle of Tedorigawa Tedori River, Kaga Province A night on the Tedori River, swollen by heavy rain. Uesugi Kenshin falls on the retreating Oda army. "Meet the Uesugi and even the Oda are taken at the Tedori." Watch this battle
  13. 1578 12th day of the 11th month, Tenshō 6 Sengoku period Battle of Mimigawa Takajō River plain, Hyūga Province The Shimazu speciality, the feigned-retreat ambush, swallows the great Ōtomo army in the decisive battle for Kyushu. At the end of the rout, tragedy waits at the Mimi River. Watch this battle
  14. 1578 Tenshō 6 to 8 Azuchi–Momoyama period Siege of Miki Miki Castle, Harima Province The "starvation siege of Miki." Hashiba Hideyoshi ringed Bessho Nagaharu's Miki Castle with more than forty siege forts and starved it for a year and ten months. The strategist Takenaka Hanbei died in the siege camp. Watch this battle
  15. 1581 Tenshō 9 Azuchi–Momoyama period Siege of Tottori Tottori Castle, Inaba Province The "starvation siege of Tottori." Hashiba Hideyoshi ringed Kikkawa Tsuneie's Tottori Castle with siege forts and bought up all the rice in Inaba to cut off its food. After four months of famine, Tsuneie took his own life in exchange for the lives of his garrison. Watch this battle
  16. 1582 13th day of the 6th month, Tenshō 10 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Yamazaki Yamazaki, Yamashiro Province Eleven days after Honnō-ji. Hideyoshi, back from the west in the Great Return, ends Akechi Mitsuhide's "three-day reign" on rain-soaked Mount Tennō. Watch this battle
  17. 1582 2nd day of the 6th month, Tenshō 10 Sengoku / Azuchi–Momoyama Honnō-ji Incident Honnō-ji, Kyoto, Yamashiro Province "The enemy is at Honnō-ji." Thirteen thousand men surround the temple in the Kyoto dawn. On the brink of unifying Japan, Oda Nobunaga vanishes into the flames. Watch this battle
  18. 1582 Tenshō 10 Azuchi–Momoyama period Siege of Takamatsu Takamatsu Castle, Bitchū Province On Kuroda Kanbei's advice, Hashiba Hideyoshi walled in Takamatsu Castle with a dyke and drowned it in an unprecedented flooding siege. Amid the news of Honnō-ji, Shimizu Muneharu's suicide on the lake sealed a truce, and Hideyoshi turned to the Great Return from Chūgoku. Watch this battle
  19. 1583 21st day of the 4th month, Tenshō 11 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Shizugatake Shizugatake, Ōmi Province An all-night forced march from Mino, the pursuit by the Seven Spears, and Maeda Toshiie's withdrawal. The decisive battle north of Lake Biwa that chose Nobunaga's successor. Watch this battle
  20. 1584 24th day of the 3rd month, Tenshō 12 Sengoku / Azuchi–Momoyama Battle of Okitanawate Shimabara, Hizen Province The Shimazu feigned retreat lures a great army onto a narrow causeway. The day Ryūzōji Takanobu, lord of five provinces and two islands, sank into a trap of muddy paddies. Watch this battle
  21. 1584 9th day of the 4th month, Tenshō 12 Sengoku / Azuchi–Momoyama Battle of Komaki and Nagakute Nagakute, Owari Province Ieyasu pursues Hideyoshi's detached force through the night as it heads for Mikawa, and destroys it at Nagakute. The only battle in which Ieyasu ever took on Hideyoshi. Watch this battle
  22. 1585 Tenshō 13 Azuchi–Momoyama period Invasion of Shikoku Ichinomiya Castle, Awa Province Under Hashiba Hidenaga as commander-in-chief, the great Toyotomi army crosses to Shikoku from three directions. With Ichinomiya Castle in Awa lost, Chōsokabe Motochika can resist no longer and surrenders, and Shikoku is pacified. Watch this battle
  23. 1585 17th day of the 11th month, Tenshō 13 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Hitotoribashi Hitotoribashi, Adachi District, Mutsu Province In the midst of his attack on Nihonmatsu, Date Masamune's 7,000 are surrounded by 30,000 of the Satake–Ashina alliance. The heroic death of the old retainer Oniniwa Sagetsusai in the rearguard and the allies' withdrawal save Masamune: the greatest crisis of his youth. Watch this battle
  24. 1585 2nd day of the intercalary 8th month, Tenshō 13 Azuchi–Momoyama period First Battle of Ueda Ueda, Shinano Province Refusing to hand over Numata, Sanada Masayuki lures 7,000 Tokugawa troops into the castle town of Ueda with barely 2,000 men, and breaks them with a flank attack by Nobuyuki from Toishi Castle and the swollen Kangawa River. The battle that made the Sanada name known throughout the land. Watch this battle
  25. 1586 12th day of the 12th month, Tenshō 14 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Hetsugigawa Hetsugi River (Ōno River), Bungo Province The Shikoku forces Hideyoshi sent ahead to Kyushu cross the Hetsugi River on the sole judgement of their inspector Sengoku Hidehisa, and are destroyed by Shimazu Iehisa's feigned-retreat ambush. Chōsokabe Motochika loses his heir Nobuchika. The prelude to the Kyushu campaign. Watch this battle
  26. 1587 17th day of the 4th month, Tenshō 15 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Nejirozaka Nejirozaka, Koyu District, Hyūga Province In the final stage of the Kyushu campaign, Toyotomi Hidenaga's great army repels a night attack by Shimazu Yoshihiro and others at Nejirozaka. The battle that sealed the Shimazu surrender and completed Hideyoshi's pacification of Kyushu. Watch this battle
  27. 1589 5th day of the 6th month, Tenshō 17 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Suriagehara Suriagehara, Aizu, Mutsu Province The day the wind changed. Date Masamune beats Ashina Yoshihiro at the foot of Mount Bandai, destroys the great Ashina house and becomes master of southern Ōshū in the decisive battle for Aizu. Watch this battle
  28. 1590 Tenshō 18 Azuchi–Momoyama period Siege of Odawara Odawara, Sagami Province Punishing the seizure of Nagurumi Castle, Hideyoshi surrounds the Hōjō stronghold of Odawara by land and sea with more than 200,000 troops. After the fall of Yamanaka Castle, the "One-Night Castle" of Ishigakiyama and the loss of their outlying castles, the Hōjō surrender, and Hideyoshi's unification of the realm is all but complete. Watch this battle
  29. 1600 October 21, Keichō 5 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Sekigahara Sekigahara, Mino Province The decisive clash between the Eastern and Western Armies that settled the fate of Japan, and one of the largest battles in Japanese history. Watch this battle
  30. 1600 9th month, Keichō 5 Azuchi–Momoyama period Second Battle of Ueda Ueda, Shinano Province Sanada Masayuki and Nobushige, with barely 2,000 men, run rings around the 38,000 of Tokugawa Hidetada on his way to Sekigahara. The battle that made Hidetada late for the decisive clash, and the Sanada at their finest. Watch this battle
  31. 1600 13th day of the 9th month, Keichō 5 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Ishigakibaru Ishigakibaru (Beppu), Bungo Province The "Sekigahara of Kyushu," fought in step with the main battle. Kuroda Yoshitaka (Josui) defeats Ōtomo Yoshimune, who had risen to recover Bungo, at Ishigakibaru near Beppu, taking his first step toward sweeping Kyushu. Remembered for the heroic death of Yoshihiro Muneyuki. Watch this battle
  32. 1600 9th–10th months, Keichō 5 Azuchi–Momoyama period Battle of Hasedō Hasedō, Dewa Province The "Sekigahara of the North," fought in the same month. Naoe Kanetsugu's 20,000 Uesugi besiege Mogami Yoshiaki's Hasedō Castle, until news of the defeat at Sekigahara turns everything around. The fighting retreat, with Maeda Keiji in the rear guard, was hailed as the finest withdrawal in the north. Watch this battle
  33. 1614 11th–12th months, Keichō 19 Early Edo period Winter Siege of Osaka Osaka, Settsu Province 200,000 Tokugawa troops surround Osaka Castle. Sanada Nobushige builds the Sanada-maru, an outwork south of the outer moat, and shoots down the assaults of Maeda, Ii and Matsudaira. Then the bombardment by heavy guns, the truce, and the filling-in of the moats: the siege that set the stage for the summer campaign. Watch this battle
  34. 1615 7th day of the 5th month, Keichō 20 Early Edo period Siege of Osaka (Summer Campaign) Tennōji–Okayama, Settsu Province Sanada Yukimura charges Ieyasu's headquarters three times. The death of "the finest warrior in Japan" and the burning of Osaka Castle bring the Sengoku age to its end. Watch this battle
  35. 200 5th year of Jian'an (Later Han) Late Han (Three Kingdoms) Battle of Guandu Guandu, Yan Province Cao Cao challenges Yuan Shao's 100,000 with a fraction of their number. An all-or-nothing night raid that burns the grain depot at Wuchao decides the master of northern China. Watch this battle
  36. 208 Winter, 13th year of Jian'an (Later Han) Late Han (Three Kingdoms) Battle of Red Cliffs Red Cliffs on the Yangtze, Jing Province A south-east wind blows across the winter Yangtze, and Huang Gai's fire ships burn the chained armada. The night of fire that decided the division of China into three kingdoms. Watch this battle
  37. 208 13th year of Jian'an (Later Han) Late Han (Three Kingdoms) Battle of Changban Changban, Dangyang, Jing Province Cao Cao's 5,000 elite horsemen catch Liu Bei as he flees south with a hundred thousand civilians. Zhao Yun rides back alone into the enemy to rescue the infant Adou, and Zhang Fei stands astride the Changban bridge to halt a whole army. The overture to Red Cliffs. Watch this battle
  38. 215 20th year of Jian'an (Later Han) Late Han (Three Kingdoms) Battle of Hefei Hefei, Yang Province Sun Quan's 100,000 close on Hefei, held by Zhang Liao, Li Dian and Yue Jin with barely 7,000. Zhang Liao storms the enemy camp with 800 picked men and then runs the retreating Sun Quan to ground at the Xiaoyao Ford. The battle that gave birth to the legend "Liao is coming!" Watch this battle
  39. 219 24th year of Jian'an (Later Han) Late Han (Three Kingdoms) Battle of Mount Dingjun Mount Dingjun, Hanzhong, Yi Province Liu Bei and Cao Cao contend for Hanzhong. Taking the heights of Mount Dingjun on Fa Zheng's advice, Liu Bei's army sends the old general Huang Zhong charging down the slope to cut down the Wei commander Xiahou Yuan. Cao Cao mutters "chicken ribs" and abandons Hanzhong, and Liu Bei becomes King of Hanzhong. Watch this battle
  40. 222 2nd year of Zhangwu (Shu Han) Three Kingdoms period Battle of Yiling Yiling and Xiaoting, Jing Province Liu Bei invades Wu to avenge Guan Yu. The young Lu Xun holds out for half a year, then burns the Shu camps strung out for seven hundred li along the Yangtze. Liu Bei flees to Baidicheng, and dies there. Watch this battle
  41. 228 6th year of Jianxing (Shu Han) Three Kingdoms period Battle of Jieting Jieting, Yong Province Zhuge Liang's first northern campaign. Entrusted with the key position of Jieting, Ma Su disobeys orders and camps on the hilltop; Zhang He cuts off his water and routs him. The campaign collapses, and Zhuge Liang weeps as he has Ma Su executed. Watch this battle
  42. 234 Autumn, 12th year of Jianxing (Shu) Three Kingdoms period Battle of Wuzhang Plains Wuzhang Plains, Yong Province A stand-off of more than a hundred days across the Wei River. Zhuge Liang, who had staked everything on the northern expedition, fell like a star in his camp, and even in death sent Sima Yi running. Watch this battle

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