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Japan: Two cavalry armies engaged in a battle with swordsmen and archers on horseback. Battle of Kawanakajima, 1561

Japan: Two cavalry armies engaged in a battle with swordsmen and archers on horseback. Battle of Kawanakajima, 1561

The battles of Kawanakajima (川中島の戦い, Kawanakajima no tatakai) were fought in the Sengoku Period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in the plain of Kawanakajima, in the north of Shinano Province. The location is in the southern part of the present-day city of Nagano.

The five major battles took place in 1553, 1555, 1557, 1561 and 1564. The best known and severest among them was fought on September 10, 1561.

The battles started after Shingen conquered Shinano Province, expelling Murakami Yoshiharu and Ogasawara Nagatoki, who subsequently turned to Kenshin for help.

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