Takeda Shingen
A general of the Warring States period. He led his army corps against Oda Nobunaga and sought to take Kyoto, but died during this undertaking
1521-1573
Takeda Shingen was a general of the Warring States period. His childhood names were Taro and Katsuchiyo, and in his coming of age ceremony, he was given the name Harunobu. In government, he served as Master of the Palace Table and lord of Shinano Province (present-day Nagano Prefecture). In 1559 he became a Buddhist monk and assumed the sobriquet Tokueiken Shingen and was also called Hossho-in. Since the early Kamakura period (1180-1333), the Takeda family, a branch of the Seiwa Minamoto clan, served as military governor of Kai Province (present-day Yamanashi Prefecture) over many generations.
In the lunar Sixth Month of 1541, he exiled his own father, Nobutora, placing him under the supervision of Imagawa Yoshimoto, a daimyo in Suruga Province, and became head of the Takeda family. Shortly thereafter, he began an invasion of Shinano, thereby gaining ascendancy over daimyo lords Suwa, Murakami, and Ogasawara. From 1553 to 1564, he moved south, confronting Nagao Kagetora and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in Kita Shinano. This series of battles, known as the Battles of Kawanakajima, includes five major battles. Legend has it that in one of these battles, Shingen and Kenshin engaged in one-to-one combat on the Hachiman Plain in Kawanakajima.
Shingen also invaded adjoining western Kozuke Province, Hida Province, and eastern Mino Province. Around this time the Imagawa family of Suruga formed an alliance with the Hojo family of Sagami Province (the later Hojo, distinct from the earlier Hojo of the Kamakura period), but in 1567 Shingen betrayed the Imagawa family and attacked Suruga, and in 1569 he exiled Imagawa Ujimasa. At around the same time, Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked Totomi and wiped out the Imagawa family. Using this opportunity, Shingen betrayed his alliance with the Hojo family and faced them as enemies. There ensued battles in Sunto District, Izu, and other places, but in 1571 Shingen and the Hojo reached a peace agreement. He then set his sights on Kyoto, but he had to confront Tokugawa Ieyasu in front and had Oda Nobunaga behind him. In the Twelfth Month of the following year, 1572, he defeated the allied forces of Ieyasu and Nobunaga at Mikatagahara in a confrontation called the Battle of Mikatagahara. Later he attacked Mikawa Province and encircled Nobunaga. Then in the Fourth Month of the following year, 1573, while laying siege to Noda Castle in Mikawa (present-day Shinshiro in Aichi Prefecture), he fell ill, and along his retreat to Kofu, his home base, he died at Inadani Komaba in Shinano (present-day Achi Village in Nagano Prefecture). Shingen's successor, Takeda Katsuyori, concealed his death for three years. Finally, in the Fourth Month of 1576, a proper burial was performed. He is buried at Erin Temple in present-day Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture. His posthumous Buddhist name is Erinji-den Kizan Genko Daikoji (the Great Buddhist Layman Mr. Kizan Gen at Erin Temple).
A historical source titled Koshu hatto no shidai (Ordinances of Kai Province, 1547) shows the area controlled by Shingen. In this source, Shingen's forces are labeled "the Takeda army corps," which indicates that his forces were considered a corps in service to the emperor. Early on, he built roads and established a post-horse system of communication. He also made efforts to develop mining, control flooding by building what are called "Shingen banks," and open up new land for cultivation.
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Portraits, ukiyo-e paintings, etc.
Twenty-Four Generals of Shingen Takeda
Battles of Kawanakajima
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山梨県甲府市にある。
「風林火山史跡巡り」と題し、様々な史跡を詳しく紹介している。
公益社団法人やまなし観光推進機構
所在地は長野県長野市。
信玄の墓がある(山梨県甲州市)。
財団法人 歴史博物館 信玄公宝物館(山梨県甲州市)
External Links
『甲陽軍鑑』抜粋
山梨県立博物館の展示案内
長野市「信州・風林火山」特設サイト(ながの観光コンベンションビューロー)
武田信玄の生涯を紹介。東建コーポレーション監修。
武田信玄と上杉謙信の戦いを通して戦国時代を知る。
武田信玄像(江戸末、写)を見ることができる。
References
- サンプルページ「武田信玄」の項。
- サンプルページ「武田信玄」の項。
- サンプルページ「武田信玄」の項。




