List of Japanese battles explained

The following is a list of Japanese battles, organised by date.

Ancient/Classical Japan

Jōmon Period

Jimmu's Eastern Expedition (c. 7th century BCE)

Yayoi Period

Takehaniyasuhiko Rebellion (c. 1st century BCE)
Expedition of Yamato Takeru (c. late 1st century-early 2nd century)
Civil war of Wa (2nd century AD)
Expedition of Empress Jingū (c. 3rd century)

Kofun period

Goguryeo–Yamato War (391–404)
Kibi Clan Rebellion (463)
- Prince Hoshikawa Rebellion (479)
Iwai Rebellion (527–528)
Musashi no Kuni no Miyatsuko Rebellion (534)

Asuka period

Battle of Shigisan (587)
Isshi Incident (645)　
North expedition of Abe no Hirafu (658–660)
Battle of Baekgang (663)
Jinshin War (672)

Nara Period

Hayato Rebellion (720–721)
Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion (740)
Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion (764)
Thirty-Eight Year War (774–811)
- Hōki Rebellion (780–781?)
- Battle of Subuse (788)

Heian Period

Thirty-Eight Year War (774–811)
- Conquest by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro (801)
- Last Conquest by Funya no Watamaro (811)
Gangyō Rebellion (878)
Kanbyō Silla pirate invasion (893)
Jōhei-Tengyō Rebellion (936–941)
Fujiwara no Koresuke Rebellion (947)
Toi invasion (1019)
Taira no Tadatsune Rebellion (1028–1030)
Zenkunen War (1051–1062)
- Battle of Onikiribe (1051)
- Battle of Kinomi (1057)
- Siege of Komatsu (1062)
- Siege of Koromogawa (1062)
- Siege of Kuriyagawa　(1062)
Enkyū Battle of Ezo (1070)
Gosannen War (1083–1087)
- Siege of Kanezawa (1087)
Minamoto no Yoshichika Rebellion (1107–1108)
Hōgen Rebellion (1156)
Heiji Rebellion (1160)

Genpei War (1179–1185)

Battle of Ishibashiyama (1180)　
Battle of Fujigawa (1180)
Battle of Sunomata-gawa (1181)
Battle of Kurikara (1183)
Siege of Hōjūjidono (1184)　
- Battle of Uji (1184) Battle of Awazu (1184)
Battle of Ichi-no-Tani (1184)
Battle of Kojima (1184)
Battle of Yashima (1185)
Battle of Dan-no-ura (1185)

Feudal Japan

Battle of Ōshū (1189)
Kennin Rebellion (1201)
Hatakeyama Shigetada Rebellion(1205)ja:畠山忠重の乱
Wada Rebellion (1213)
Miura Rebellion (1247)
Jōkyū War (1221)
- Battle of Uji (1221)

Mongol Invasions of Japan (1274 & 1281)

Battle of Bun'ei (1274)　
Battle of Kōan (1281)

Genkō War (1331–1333)

Nakasendai Rebellion (1335)
Civil war of the Kenmu Restoration (1335–1336)

Nanboku-chō period (1336–1392)

- Battle of Tatarahama (1336) Battle of Minatogawa (1336)
- Siege of Kanegasaki (1337) Battle of Ishizu (1338)
Battle of Shijō Nawate (1348)
Kannō Incident (1350–1352)
- Battle of Uchidehama (1351)
Battle of Chikugogawa (1359)
Ōei Rebellion (1399)
Rebellion of Uesugi Zenshū (1416–1417)
Eikyō Rebellion (1438–1439)
Siege of Yūki (1440)
Kakitsu Incident (1441)
Koshamain's Revolt (1456–1457)

Kyōtoku Incident (1455–1482)

Battle of Bubaigawara (1455)
Battle of Irako (1459–1477)
Nagao Kageharu Rebellion (1476–1480)
- Battle of Egota-Numabukurohara (1477)

Ōnin War (1467–1477)
- Battle of Goryō (1467)
- Battle of Higashi Iwakura (1467)
- Battle of Shokokuji (1467)
- Battle of Kamigyo (1467)
- Battle of Ichijo Omiya (1467)
Yamashiro Rebellion (1485–1493)
Kaga Rebellion (1487–1488)
Chōkyō Incident (1487–1505)　
- Battle of Tachigawara (1504)
Battle of Kuzuryūgawa (1506)
Battle of Nyoigatake (1509)
Battle of Nagamorihara (1510)
Siege of Gongenyama (1510)
Siege of Arai (1516)
Battle of Arita-Nakaide (1517)
Battle of Iidagawara (1521)
Ningbo Turmoil (1523)
Siege of Edo (1524)
Siege of Kamakura (1526)
Battle of Nashinokidaira (1526)
Battle of Katsuragawa (1527)
Battle of Ozawahara (1530)
Battle of Tatenawate (1530)
Battle of Shiokawa no gawara (1531)
Kyoroku War (1531)
Battle of Daimotsu (1531)
Tenbun War (1532–1535)
- Siege of Iimoriyama (1532) ja:飯盛山城の戦い
- Siege of Sakai (1532)
- Siege of Yamashina Honganji (1532) ja:山科本願寺の戦い
Battle of Idano (1535)
Battle of Un no Kuchi (1536)　
Battle of Sanbuichigahara (1536)
Hanakura Incident (1536)
Battle of Sendanno (1536)
- - Siege of Musashi-Matsuyama (1537)　Battle of Kōnodai (1538) Battle of Ichirai (1539)
Siege of Koriyama (1540–1541)
Battle of Sezawa (1542)
Siege of Uehara (1542)
Siege of Kuwabara (1542)
Siege of Fukuyo (1542)
Battle of Ankokuji (1542)
First Battle of Azukizaka (1542)
Siege of Toda Castle (1542–1543)
Utsuro Rebellion (1542–1548) (洞の乱)
Siege of Tochio (1544)
Siege of Takatō (1545)
Battle of Kawagoe (1546)
Battle of Odaihara (1546)
Siege of Shika Castle (1546–1547)
Battle of Kanōguchi (1547)
Second Battle of Azukizaka (1548)
Battle of Uedahara (1548)
Battle of Shiojiritoge (1548)
Siege of Kajiki (1549)
Siege of Toishi (1550)
Tainei-ji incident (1551)
Battle of Kiyosu Castle (1552)
Siege of Katsurao (1553)
First Battle of Kawanakajima (1553)
Siege of Kannomine (1554)
Siege of Matsuo (1554)
Battle of Enshu-Omori (1554)
Siege of Iwatsurugi Castle (1554)
Battle of Muraki Castle (1554)
Second Battle of Kawanakajima (1555)
Battle of Ino (1555)
Battle of Miyajima (1555)
Battle of Nagaragawa (1556)
Siege of Katsurayama (1557)
Third Battle of Kawanakajima (1557)
Battle of Ukino (1558)
Siege of Terabe (1558)
Siege of Marune (1560)
Battle of Okehazama (1560)
Battle of Tonomoto (1560)
Battle of Norada (1560)
Battle of Moribe (1561)
First Siege of Odawara (1561)
Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima (1561)
Siege of Moji (1561)
Battle of Kyōkōji (1562)
Siege of Kaminogō Castle (1562)
Siege of Musashi-Matsuyama (1563)
Battle of Batogahara (1564)
Battle of Kōnodai (1564)
Fifth Battle of Kawanakajima (1564)
Battle of Fukuda Bay (1565)
Siege of Minowa (1566)
Siege of Inabayama Castle (1567)

Azuchi–Momoyama period

- Siege of Kanegasaki (1570)
- Siege of Chōkō-ji (1570)
- Battle of Anegawa (1570)
- Ishiyama Hongan-ji War (1570–1580)
- Siege of Mount Hiei (1571)
- Sieges of Nagashima (1571, 1573, 1574)
- Siege of Iwamura Castle (1572)
- Battle of Mikatagahara (1573)
- Siege of Odani Castle (1573)
- Siege of Ichijōdani Castle (1573)
- Battle of Nagashino (1575)
- Battles of Kizugawaguchi (1576, 1578)
- Siege of Kuroi Castle (1577)
- Siege of Shigisan (1577)
- Battle of Tedorigawa (1577)
- Siege of Kōzuki Castle (1578)
- Siege of Miki (1578–1580)
- Siege of Yakami (1579)
- Siege of Itami (1579)
- Tenshō Iga War (1579, 1581)
- Siege of Hijiyama (1581)
- Second Siege of Takatenjin (1581)
- Siege of Tottori (1581)
- Battle of Tenmokuzan (1582)
- Siege of Takatō (1582)
- Siege of Takamatsu (1582)
- Siege of Uozu (1582)
- Honnō-ji Incident (1582)
- Battle of Kanagawa (1582)

- Battle of Yamazaki (1582)
- Battle of Shizugatake (1583)
- Battle of Hiketa (1583)
- Battle of Komaki and Nagakute (1584)
- Siege of Kanie (1584)
- Siege of Suemori (1584)
- Siege of Negoro-ji (1585)
- Siege of Ōta Castle (1585)
- Siege of Toyama (1585)
- Shikoku campaign (1585)
- Kyūshū campaign (1586–1587)
- Siege of Shimoda (1590)
- Siege of Hachigata (1590)
- Siege of Odawara (1590)
- Siege of Oshi (1590)
- Kunohe Rebellion (1591)
Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea (1592–1598)
- Battle of Bunroku (1592–1593)
- Battle of Keicho (1597–1598)

- Siege of Shiroishi (1600)
- Siege of Hataya (1600)
- Siege of Kaminoyama (1600)
- Siege of Hasedō (1600)
- Siege of Matsukawa (1600)
- Siege of Tanabe (1600)
- Battle of Gifu Castle (1600)
- Siege of Fushimi (1600)
- Battle of Asai (1600)
- Siege of Annotsu (1600)
- Siege of Ueda (1600)
- Siege of Ōtsu (1600)
- Battle of Ishigakibara (1600)
- Battle of Kuisegawa (1600)
- Battle of Sekigahara (1600)
- Siege of Udo (1600)
- Siege of Yanagawa (1600)
- Siege of Sawayama (1600)

Battle of Matsukawa (1601)
Rokugō Rebellion (1603)
Red Seal ship incident (1608 or 1609)
Invasion of Ryukyu (1609)
Nossa Senhora da Graça incident (1610)
Siege of Osaka (1614–1615)
- Winter Campaign (大坂冬の陣 Osaka Fuyu no Jin)
  - Battle of Imafuku (1614)
  - Battle of Shigino (1614)
  - Battle of Kizugawa (1614)
  - Battle of Noda-Fukushima (1614)
  - Siege of Sanada-maru (1615)
- Summer Campaign (大坂夏の陣 Osaka Natsu no Jin)
  - Battle of Kashii (1615)
  - Battle of Dōmyōji (1615)
  - Battle of Yao (1615)
  - Battle of Wakae (1615)
  - Battle of Tennoji (1615)
Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1616) (1616–1617)
Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638)
Shakushain's Revolt (1669–1672)
Jōkyō Uprising (1686)
Ueda Rebellion (1761)
Nijinomatsubara Rebellion (1771)
Menashi-Kunashir Rebellion (1789)
Ōshio Heihachirō's Rebellion (1837)
Tsushima Incident (1862)
Battle of Shimonoseki Straits (1863)
Battles for Shimonoseki (1863)
Bombardment of Kagoshima (1863)
Mito Rebellion (1864)
Kinmon Incident (1864)
First Chōshū expedition (1864)
Battles for Shimonoseki (1864)
Second Chōshū expedition (1866)

Boshin War (1868–1869)

Modern period

Saga Rebellion (1874)
Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1874)
Ganghwa Island incident (1875)
Shinpūren Rebellion (1876)
Akizuki Rebellion (1876)
Hagi Rebellion (1876)
Satsuma Rebellion (1877)
- Siege of Kumamoto Castle (1877)
- Battle of Tabaruzaka (1877)
- Battle of Shiroyama (1877)
Donghak Peasant Revolution (1894–1895)
- Battle of Ugeumchi (1894)

First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895)

Battle of Pungdo (1894)
Battle of Seonghwan (1894)
Battle of Pyongyang (1894)
Battle of Yalu River (1894)
Battle of Jiuliancheng (1894)
Battle of Lushunkou (1894)
Battle of Weihaiwei (1895)
Battle of Yingkou (1895)
Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)
- Pescadores Campaign (1895)
- Battle of Keelung (1895) (1895)
- Hsinchu Campaign (1895)
- Battle of Baguashan (1895)
- Battle of Chiayi (1895)
- Battle of Chiatung (1895)
- Capitulation of Tainan (1895)
- Battle of Changhsing (1895)

Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901)

Battle of the Taku Forts (1900)
Seymour Expedition (1900)
Battle of Langfang (1900)
Battle of Tientsin (1900)
Siege of the International Legations (1900)
Battle of Beicang (1900)
Gaselee Expedition (1900)
Battle of Peking (1900)
Battle of Yangcun (1900)

Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905)

Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 (1907)

Namdaemun Battle (1907)

Taisho Period

World War I (1914–1918)

Siege of Tsingtao (1914)
Allied occupation of German New Guinea (1914)
Japanese occupation of German colonial possessions (1914)

Korean independence movement

Battle of Samdunja
Battle of Fengwudong (Battle of Bong-o-dong)
Hunchun incident
Battle of Qingshanli (Battle of Cheongsanri)
Free City Incident
Battle of Pochonbo (1937)

Invasion of Manchuria (1931)

Showa Period

Second Sino-Japanese War (1931–1945)

1931 — Mukden Incident
1931–32 — Japanese invasion of Manchuria
1931 — Jiangqiao Campaign
1931 — Battle for Nenjiang Bridge
1931–1942 — Pacification of Manchukuo
1931–1932 — Jinzhou Operation
1932 — Battle of Harbin
1932 — First Battle of Shanghai
1932 — Attack on Pingdingshan
1932 — Attack on Fushun
1933 — Battle of the Great Wall
1933 — Battle of Rehe
1933–1936 — Southern Mongolian campaign (1933–36)
1936 — Suiyuan Campaign
1937 — Battle of Pochonbo
1937 — Lugou Bridge Incident
1937 — Battle of Beiping–Tianjin
1937–1945 — Aerial engagements of the Second Sino-Japanese War
1937 — Operation Chahar
1937 — Second Battle of Shanghai
1937 — Peiking–Suiyuan Railway Operation
1937 — Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation
1937 — Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation
1937 — Battle of Taiyuan
1937 — Battle of Pingxingguan
1937 — Battle of Sihang Warehouse
1937 — Battle of Xinkou
1937 — Battle of Nanking
1938 — Battle of Taierzhuang
1938 — Battle of Xuzhou
1938 — Battle of Northern and Eastern Henan
1938 — Battle of Lanfeng
1938 — Amoy Operation
1938 — Taihoku Air Strike
1938 — Bombing of Chongqing
1938 — Battle of Wuhan
1938 — Battle of Xinfeng
1938 — Battle of Wanjialing
1938 — Canton Operation
1939 — Hainan Island Operation
1939 — Battle of Nanchang
1939 — Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang
1939 — Swatow Operation
1939 — First Battle of Changsha
1939–1940 — Battle of South Guangxi
1939–1940 — Battle of Kunlun Pass
1940 — Battle of West Suiyuan
1940 — Battle of Wuyuan
1940 — Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang
1940 — Hundred Regiments Offensive
1940 — Central Hubei Operation
1941 — New Fourth Army incident
1941 — Western Hubei Operation
1941 — Battle of South Henan
1941 — Battle of Shanggao
1941 — Battle of South Shanxi
1941 — Second Battle of Changsha
1941 — December 1941 Chinese Nationalist guerrilla warfare
1941 — Battle of Hong Kong
1941 — Bombing of Singapore
1941–1942 — Third Battle of Changsha
1942–1945 — South-East Asian theatre of World War II
1942 — 1942 Bombing of Vietnam
1942 — Malayan campaign
1942 — Battle of Singapore
1942 — Battle of Sarimbun Beach
1942 — Battle of Kranji
1942 — Battle of Bukit Timah
1942–1945 — Burma campaign (1942–1945)
1942 — Japanese invasion of Burma
1942 — Battle of the Yunnan–Burma Road
1942 — Battle of Tachiao
1942 — Battle of Oktwin
1942 — Battle of Toungoo
1942 — Battle of Yenangyaung
1942 — Combined Japanese-Thai invasion of the Shan States
1942 — Thai invasion of the Kayah State
1942 — Burma campaign (1942–1943)
1942 — Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
1942 — Battle of the Dwarf Mountain
1943 — Operation North of the Yangtze
1943 — Battle of Guangzhouwan
1943 — Battle of West Hubei
1943 — Weinan Campaign
1943 — Linnan Campaign
1943–1945 — Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
1943 — Battle of Changde
1943 — 1943 Bombing of Vietnam
1943 — 1943 Bombing of Taiwan
1944–1945 — Bombing of South-East Asia (1944–1945)
1944 — Burma campaign (1944)
1944 — Operation Ichi-Go
1944 — Battle of Central Henan
1944 — Siege of Myitkyina
1944 — Fourth Battle of Changsha
1944 — Battle of Mogaung
1944 — Battle of Mount Song
1944 — Battle of Hengyang
1944 — Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou
1944–1945 — Burma campaign (1944–1945)
1945 — Battle of West Henan–North Hubei
1945 — Battle of West Hunan
1945 — 1945 Guangxi campaign

Soviet–Japanese border conflicts (1932-1939)

Invasion of French Indochina (1940)

1940 Cochinchina uprising (1940)

World War II

1941

1942

1943

Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March)
Battle of the Komandorski Islands (27 March)
Battle of Bairoko (20 July)
Battle of Empress Augusta Bay (1–2 November)
Battle of Tarawa (20 November – 23 November)

1944

Battle of Imphal (March – July)
Battle of the Philippine Sea (19–20 June)
Battle of Saipan (15 June – 9 July)
Battle of Guam (21 July — 10 August)
Battle of Peleliu (September – November)
Battle of Leyte Gulf (23–26 October)
Battle of Leyte (17 October – 31 December)

1945

Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March)
Battle of Okinawa (April – June)
Operation Ten-Go (April)
Soviet–Japanese War
Soviet invasion of Manchuria (9 August – 2 September)
Seishin Operation
Soviet invasion of South Sakhalin
Invasion of the Kuril Islands

Heisei Period

Battle of Amami-Ōshima (2001)

See also