After Oda Nobunaga's victory at Nagashino, Uesugi Kenshin broke off his alliance with Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, he then initiated an alliance in 1575 with the Ishiyama Honganji warrior monks (Ikko Ikki) and Takeda Katsuyori of the Takeda clan, with whom he had previously been at odds.

The Tedorigawa Campaign was precipitated by an Uesugi intervention inside the domain of the Hatakeyama clan in Noto Province, an Oda client state.

Consequently, Nobunaga sent an army led by Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie; with some of his most experienced generals to reinforce their allies.

The Oda forces under the command of Shibata Katsuie, Maeda Toshiie, and Sassa Narimasa crossed the Tedori River (Minatogawa or Tedorigawa) and prepared to enter Noto Province, as they did not yet know about the fall of Nanao Castle.

Having lost a thousand men in combat and some more as the Oda troops attempted to escape across the Tedori river, Nobunaga ordered a retreat into Ōmi Province.

As a result, the distribution of power in the central north shifted towards Kenshin and the Uesugi were temporarily able to extend their influence as far as Kaga Province.