Oda NobunagaHashiba HideyoshiSassa NarimasaInaba Yoshimichi Azai NagamasaIsono KazumasaKaihō TsunachikaMiyabe KeijunAkao Kiyotsuna The Sengoku period Battle of Anegawa (姉川の戦い, Anegawa no Tatakai) (30 July 1570) occurred near Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province, Japan, between the allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, against the combined forces of the Azai and Asakura clans.

Asakura Yoshikage sent an army to support him, and the combined Azai-Asakura force marched out to confront Nobunaga in the field.

Nobunaga reacted by placing a screen around an Azai fort he had been reducing from Yokoyama castle and advancing to the southern bank of the Anegawa.

[2] Nobunaga assigned Hashiba Hideyoshi to lead troops into open battle for the first time, Sassa Narimasa led the rear guard, also with support from Hachisuka Masakatsu, Ikoma Ienaga, Kawajiri Hidetaka and Yamauchi Kazutoyo.

[a] Naotaka and his eldest son Magara Jurosaburo (Naomoto) covered the retreat of the Asakura army to the northern bank.

After the Tokugawa forces finished off the Asakura, they turned around and attacked the Azai's right flank by sending Tadakatsu and Yasumasa's units.

[7] The troops of Mino Triumvirate, who were under Inaba Ittetsu, were held in reserve, advancing to hit the Azai's left flank.

Yamashina Tokitsugu, who blindly believed in Nobunaga's propaganda, recorded clearly absurd numbers in his diary, stating "Azai 9,600, Asakura 5,000.

[9][page needed] The Mikawa Fudoki gives a very real picture of the battle: the retainers fighting in groups and the decapitation of soldiers in the confused mingling of armies among the clouds of smoke and dust.

However, because Azai Nagamasa was made playable in Samurai Warriors 2, as opposed to the first game where he was a unique non-playable character, the battle had a larger significance.