Iga

	Crossing of Iga
Date	June 1582 (either the same day or day following the Incident at Honnōji)
Location	Distance between Sakai (modern day Sakai, Osaka) and Mikawa Province; passes through Iga province
Result	Ieyasu is safely escorted to Mikawa.
Forces
Tokugawa	Akechi
Commanders
Ieyasu Tokugawa; Hanzō Hattori	Mitsuhide Akechi

The Crossing of Iga (神君伊賀越え) refers to the event of Hanzō Hattori leading his lord safely across enemy territory after the death of Nobunaga Oda at Honnoji. In Samurai Warriors, the various incarnations of Ise Nagashima (伊勢長島) or Ise also take place on this stage.

Role in Games[]

Samurai Warriors[]

In Samurai Warriors, the actual crossing is the third stage in Hanzō's story. After slaying Nobunaga at Honnoji, Mitsuhide sets his sights on consolidating his power and decides to eliminate the now vulnerable Ieyasu. He leaves Goemon stationed alongside his army to assist in the pursuit. To ensure his lord's safety, Hanzō escorts him through Iga to reach the Nagonoura port. He has a choice of three paths to take Ieyasu through, with varying degrees of danger. Ikko peasants also give small ambushes at various points. Regardless, the player will be instructed to rendezvous with other vassals such as Yasumasa Sakakibara and Tadatsugu Sakai. The player can also rescue Baisetsu Anayama if they wish, but it is not necessary and he can be slain in a very short amount of time. Should the player fail to defeat the Akechi task force, Mitsuhide would have to be defeated but should they kill the task force, the player can simply wait for everyone to regroup at the escape point at Nagonoura.

In Goemon Ishikawa's upper path scenario, he catches word of a hefty reward for Ieyasu's head and decides to collect the bounty. He has to face a lot of trickery by Hanzō, which includes body doubles of Ieyasu all simultaneously trying to escape. He can also rescue Magoichi, Mitsuhide and the Akechi officers stationed nearby as well to help halt his escape. In the end though he catches Ieyasu, Ieyasu tells him that Hideyoshi Toyotomi has the plover urn that Goemon so desperately wants, so he sneaks away after and Goemon also leaves the Akechi behind. In the Xtreme Legends expansion, Ina and Tadakatsu Honda also take part in escorting their lord to safety. The Saika also have an expanded prominence in this version of the stage but Goemon is conspicuously absent. For Ina, fulfilling her duty to protect Baisetsu Anayama and the other allied officers unlocks her upper path. Defeating Mitsuhide or ignoring to escort generals to safety results in opening her lower path story. This stage also takes place at daytime instead and Hanzō Hattori is also given prime importance as commander.

In Samurai Warriors 3, the fleeing Tokugawa forces must additionally fight their way through Kotaro's and Motochika's forces. Because of the environment's dark surroundings, players may have to explore each path individually to clear the map and find the garrison leading the way to Mikawa. Only the Tokugawa side is available, and Hanzō, Tadakatsu, Ieyasu, and Nene gets this stage as part of their story.

During Spirit of Sanada, the crossing begins after Sasuke reports the events at Azuchi Castle to the Tokugawa forces with Toshimitsu Saitō leading the Akechi troops blockading the exit. Hanzō will first find several nearby Ochimusha hunters pursuing them, and Sasuke senses more hidden within the mountains. The two then move to the central garrison to clear it for the Iga ninjas to arrive and aid in the retreat.

While on the move, Sasuke will sense the Kōga ninjas as well, and Hanzō confirms that they must clear the second garrison to allow the Kōga into the battle as well. Once Ieyasu reaches the escape point, however, riflemen appear and enemy reinforcements also arrive to stop the Tokugawa. Magoichi finally arrives and has his forces seal off Ieyasu's path. Once Magoichi is defeated, the Tokugawa will finally by able to escape back to Mikawa safely.

The stratagems of the battle are:

The allied forces will rally during the first Akechi ambush and will have a boost in movement speed
Tadakatsu inspires the allied forces and increases their morale
The player consumes the rice ball given to Sasuke at Azuchi to recover health

During Samurai Warriors 5, Iga acts as Sandayū Momochi's main base. When Sandayū's treacherous acts against the Oda are uncovered by Hanzō and Toshimitsu, Mitsude immediately leads a campaign against the village.

The battle first starts with Sandayū taunting the Akechi forces in a nearby garrison. When Mitsuhide arrives, Sandayū teleports away and ambushes Mitsuhide. A secondary task force appears to try and attack Hanzō's forces while a group of flame archers appear when the Akechi forces chase after Sandayū. Once Mitsuhide puts out the fire, Ieyasu and Tdakatsu arrive, but Sandayu calls for reinforcements to arrive and attack Ieyasu.

After meeting Sandayū for the second time, he summons a second fire attack unit before fleeing while Oda reinforcements led by Dengo Fuita and Mitsutada Akechi arrive to help. In response, a fireball unit appears, and the Akechi's attempt to quell the new fires in the west causes Sandayū to order his army to appear from all sides, alongside Mitsuki, but Kazuuji Nakamura arrives to delay her advance. After her defeat, the path to Sandayū finally opens and defeating him ends the battle.

Following Nobunaga's death, Ieyasu's forces return to the area as they must cross it to return to Mikawa. Once again, Sandayū, having survived his previous defeat, returns and attacks the scattered Tokugawa forces.

Kessen[]

In Kessen III, Nobunaga has the option to wipe out the Iga ninja resistance led by Sandayu Momochi. He personally leads an expedition into Iga with the threat of ninja ambushes. The army needs to march through forests and traps to reach their main goal. Armies also have the power to teleport from shrines scattered around the map.

Historical Information[]

Iga Suppression[]

Iga Crossing[]

The information regarding the crossing varies as there are records which depict different fates and information regarding the actual event. Most emphasize that this was a crowning moment for the Iga ninja serving under Hattori Hanzō Masashige.

Ieyasu was near Kyoto sometime before June 21, 1582. He was supposedly greeting and visiting his family vassals in Sakai. After parting courtesies with them, Ieyasu planned to head towards Kyoto to reunite with Nobunaga and sent Honda Tadakatsu first to properly spread the message of his arrival. Ieyasu camped near Mt. Iimori or was passing through Katano City, when he was supposedly told by Chaya Shirōjirō of his lord's death at Honnōji. Many assumed that the merchant told Ieyasu to flee for his life or that his vassals convinced him to escape. A particularly famous account writes that Ieyasu wanted to perform ritual suicide to follow Nobunaga, but he was dissuaded by Tadakatsu to return to their home land. It's popularly accepted that Ieyasu and his retainers were not dressed for war, and it would have been close to suicidal to try to oppose Mitsuhide. Exactly how many people were with Ieyasu at the time remains disputed as the numbers vary from 10 to little more than 300 men were with him. It's popularly fabled that among his escorts, his four famous vassals worked together to save their lord, but this is actually unclear. Few details accurately describe his nearest vassals, each record and local community having their own theories on who was beside him.

Ieyasu's path was said to have cut a straight line through Iga. Their guide was Hazegawa Hidekazu, a general under Nobunaga who used the best of his connections to open a path for Ieyasu. Through his system of messengers, he bargained with the local kokujin in the area to allow a small escort and was willing to lead him past the waterways of Ujitawara (also known as Yamaguchi) Castle. According to the Kansei Chōshushokafu, a dubious compilation of genealogy for Ieyasu's vassals, someone with the name "Hattori Hanzō" was able to give Ieyasu aid. Most believe that the figure was Masashige, but it could have also possibly have been his brother or his other relatives. The record seems to imply that the Hattori Hanzō figure only appeared or remained behind at Ujitawara Castle, but it's also argued that the figure followed Ieyasu throughout the trip.

Ieyasu and his men rode through night and day as they passed through Yamashiro province. They sped across Fugenji valley to ride as quickly as they could to Ujitawara. As Ieyasu's tired army passed through Kusaji, Tadakatsu was said to have swung his famous spear and scared the defiant locals to make way for his lord. They eventually arrived at Ujitawara Castle after they swept past Kusaji. Although they were approximately fifteen miles away from Honnōji at this point, the fatigued Ieyasu kept moving. As he passed through the area, he gained six laborers and seventy other people to aid his journey. Though unable to meet his lord, Sakai Tadatsugu followed from the rear and ensured that Ieyasu's army safely crossed the castle's waterways at this point. Once they reached the other shore, they took a break at Benjō-in, a shrine which is located in the modern Tsuzuki District in the Kyoto Prefecture. After their short break, Ieyasu mounted his horse again and sped across a small brook in Asamiya to cut through the mountains.

He and his men arrived at Ogawa Castle either at twilight or at nightfall. The castle was ruled by the then current leader of the Tarao clan, Tarao Mitsutoshi, who Ieyasu did not completely trust at the time for fear of his life. As he hesitated to enter the castle gates, both Mitsutoshi and his son personally greeted Ieyasu with dried persimmons and the first tea of the season. The villagers also came to him with a celebrated serving of red beans and rice. Ieyasu then felt an immediate state of relief and entered the pavilion. It is written that he was so hungry that he wolfed down the rice offering without even dropping his chopsticks. He and his men only stayed for one night at the castle. In the same night, Mitsutoshi privately found Ieyasu praying to Atago Daigongen for the sake of his army. He was inspired by Ieyasu's faith and told him, "This is indeed an auspicious sign. The aspect of you being the world's ruler is clearly visible on your face. Please believe in this object of worship." He then presented Ieyasu with a shintai. Ieyasu was very pleased and would later house his gift at Edo Castle.

The following day, Ieyasu and his entourage proceeded on their escape to Mikawa. It is said that he either chose to head towards Mitsutoshi's confidant or Hidekazu's vassal, but he is said to have passed through Otogitouge. According to the locals and fictional novels, Masashige led 300 (or 500) Iga ninja to escort Ieyasu. It's historically unclear whether Masashige had the connections, devotion, or resources to perform such a task as he was a minor lord with little to call his own. There was also records that suggested that even if they were born to have a close relationship, Masashige kept his distance from Ieyasu and didn't confront his lord too often. However, there isn't much written about Ieyasu's passage through the area and he was riding through alleged ninja territory, so the possibility of ninja being with him is at least a feasible theory. As a side note, Ieyasu's entourage passed through a village named Otowa, which was one of the namesakes for the legendary Iga shinobi, Kido Yazaemon. One of Ieyasu's men used his "authorization" to kill a displeased peasant and a riot erupted in the area. Ieyasu was able to breakthrough and continued onwards through the Mie Prefecture. He rested or lodged his party at Tokuji-i.e., which was near the entrance of the city named Iga.

Although little was written for it at the time, it's believed that Iga Province was turbulent with grief and suffering since the ruling lord and populace were weakened by Nobunaga's previous invasion of the vicinity. They were surrounded by mountains and they had little contact with anyone around their boarders. The Mikawa Gofudoki remarks that Ieyasu's party spotted and cleared bandits from the area for them. The Iga records note that the ruler of the area personally came to thank Ieyasu and the villagers joined him. The Ietada Nikki remarks that there were casualties, so the likelihood of Ieyasu being attacked through the area is high. After passing through the mountains, Ieyasu's party took a brief stop at Zuikōji before they arrived at Shirokohama Bay to board a boat. They sailed for Ise Bay and arrived at the Ōhama Docks. Ieyasu's party had finally arrived at Mikawa and they settled at Okazaki Castle. The entire escape was said to have taken thirteen or fourteen days to complete.

Anayama Baisetsu, who was near Ieyasu's position at Kyoto, thought about following them but chose a different path. There are two stories regarding his fate during his respective retreat. He was either killed by the post guards while Ieyasu was passing through Kusaji or that he was caught and killed by Mitsuhide's army. A few stories say that he lived past the incident and died of illness years later.

Regarding his thoughts about the two escapees, Mitsuhide apparently said, "Killing the evasive Ieyasu or harming the deserted Baisetsu would bring shame to my life."