Seven Spears of Shizugatake

The Seven Spears of Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳の七本槍, Shizugatake no shichi-hon-yari) were mounted bodyguards for Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the battle of Shizugatake in 1583. At the decisive moment in the battle, Hideyoshi ordered them to leave the position and charge at the opposing army of Katsuie Shibata. After Hideyoshi gained control of Japan, many of the members were promoted to Daimyō.

The Seven Spears of Shizugatake were the following Samurai:

• Fukushima Masanori (1561-1624)
• Hirano Nagayasu (1559-1628)
• Kasuya Takenori (1562-1607)
• Katagiri Katsumoto (1556-1615)
• Katō Kiyomasa (1562-1611)
• Katō Yoshiaki (1563-1631)
• Wakizaka Yasuharu (1554-1626)

Fukushima, Katō Kiyomasa and Katō Yoshiaki were given large benefices by Hideyoshi, 240,000 Koku in Owari Province, 195,000 Koku in Higo Province and 100,000 Koku in Iyo Province, respectively. Rest of the members remained as a small retainer of some thousands Koku.

At the Battle of Sekigahara and Siege of Osaka, all betrayed Toyotomi Hideyori, the son of Hideyoshi, and took the part of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After the foundation of the Tokugawa shogunate, they or their successors were ousted from their territories, except Hirano.

Other "Seven Spears"

It is interesting to note that it was not uncommon for the outstanding samurai of an important battle to be named the 'Seven Spears' of that battle. The Seven Spears of Shizugatake are merely one particularly famous and accomplished example of this. Another example would be the Seven Spears of Imizu, who were seven Samurai who sacrificed themselves to ensure the escape of Jinbo Nagamoto from the field during the battle of Imizu. These "Seven Spears" included Jinbo Kiyoshige, Chiba Kazusa, and five others who were all killed covering Nagamoto's escape.

References

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.