In 1578, Oda Nobunaga, pressing his campaign to unify Japan, ordered his general Hashiba Hideyoshi to conquer the Harima region. Acting on this order, Hideyoshi besieged Miki Castle for nearly two years in the starvation siege known as "Miki Hoshigoroshi," forcing castellan Bessho Nagaharu to surrender and take his own life. The siege was part of Nobunaga's advance into the Chugoku region.

In 1578, Hashiba Hideyoshi, acting under Oda Nobunaga's orders to subjugate Harima, besieged Miki Castle and cut off its supply routes in what became known as the two-year 'Miki Starvation Siege.' As the garrison starved, lord Bessho Nagaharu took his own life along with his family on January 17, 1580, in exchange for his soldiers' lives — an episode that remains emblematic of Hideyoshi's siege tactics.