The Sarasa-ra Pass Crossing — Sassa Narimasa's Desperate Solo Trek Over the Snow-Covered Tateyama
In the winter of 1585, Sassa Narimasa crossed the Tateyama mountain range in deep winter with a small party to deliver a secret message to Tokugawa Ieyasu urging him to overthrow Hideyoshi. This 'Sarasa-ra crossing'—a mountain traverse through snow that was considered nearly impossible by the standards of the time—has been celebrated as a desperate feat of determination. However, Ieyasu remained uncommitted, and the negotiation came to nothing. In 1586 Narimasa surrendered to Hideyoshi's invasion of Etchu and was transferred to Higo-Kumamoto, but was ordered to commit ritual suicide in 1587 for failing to manage a peasant uprising. This sequence of events symbolizes the rise and fall of a Sengoku warrior.