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Is US Strategy on IRAN Similar to Hideyoshi’s “Mizuzeme” (Water Attack)?

 

When I think about the current strategy toward Iran, it reminds me of something from Japanese history.

 

During the Sengoku period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi famously defeated Takamatsu Castle using a tactic known as “mizuzeme” (水攻め) — a water siege.

 

Instead of attacking the castle directly, Hideyoshi built massive embankments and diverted a nearby river. The rising water slowly surrounded the castle, cutting off supplies and escape routes. The defenders were not destroyed in a direct battle. Instead, the pressure gradually made the situation impossible to sustain.

 

Eventually, the defenders had no viable option left.

 

When looking at the current situation with Iran, the strategy appears somewhat similar.

 

Rather than invading and occupying the country, the pressure is applied in multiple ways:

 

* Military strikes to weaken defense capability
* Economic sanctions to restrict financial resources
* Diplomatic isolation
* Limiting the ability to rebuild military power

 

Individually, each action may not be decisive. But together they gradually tighten the situation.

 

In Japanese history, the water kept rising around the castle.

 

In modern geopolitics, the pressure comes from economics, military capability, and political isolation.

 

The objective is not necessarily a dramatic battlefield victory, but a situation where the system can no longer function as it did before.

 

History often repeats itself in different forms. The tools change, but the strategies sometimes look surprisingly familiar.