The Siege of Saito occurred in January 1546 when the army of the Shimazu clan, led by Tomokata Tanegashima, attacked the Tsuchimochi clan-held city of Saito in northern Hyuga Province. The city fell to the Shimazu without difficulty, initiating a war between the two regional powers.
History[]
In 1545, the Shimazu clan of southern Kyushu, led by Takahisa Shimazu, began a campaign to unify the island under its rule. Tomokata Tanegashima was sent with a large army from Satsuma Province to crush the Shimazu clan's neighboring rivals, the Kimotsuki and Ito clans, conquering Osumi Province and South Hyuga in the process. By the year's end, the Shimazu came to dominate southeastern Kyushu, and they acquired a northeastern border with another rising power, the Tsuchimochi clan.
The Tsuchimochi clan, led by Chikashige Tsuchimochi, expanded out of Bungo Province in northern Kyushu and conquered the powerful Roman Catholic Otomo clan and its southerly neighbors, eventually reaching Hyuga Province. In November 1545, seeking to consolidate his realm and prevent rebellions by the Otomo clan's staunchly Christian subjects, Chikashige Tsuchimochi converted himself and the elite of his clan to Christianity (by late 1546, South Bungo's population was 100% Christian). The southward expansion of the increasingly powerful Tsuchimochi would lead to an inevitable showdown with the expansionist Shimazu.
Siege[]
In January 1546, Tanegashima was sent north from Miyakonojo with an army of 1,935 troops to attack the underdefended Tsuchimochi-held city of Saito in North Hyuga, hoping to launch a surprise attack against the clan before it could pose a threat to South Hyuga. The Shimazu army surged north and laid siege to Saito before assaulting the town, taking the town with 36 losses. The capture of Saito led to an outbreak of war between the Shimazu and Tsuchimochi clans, sending shockwaves through Kyushu.