Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals

This group of men are known to have been the ablest Takeda warriors during the reign of Takeda Shingen. These individuals all played a critical role in the many conquests of the Tiger of Kai throughout his career.


Baba Nobufusa - Also known as Baba Nobuharu. He fought at Odawara, Mikatagahara, Kawanakajima and Mimasetoge. Nobufusa personally objected to Nagashino, because he recognized how futile the fight was. Despite his objections, he led the charge for the Takeda and was killed while protecting Takeda Katsuyori's retreat after the battle. He was known for his wisdom as well as his bravery and was often consulted on all matters by Takeda Shingen. Prior to his death at Nagashino, Nobuharu was said to have fought in over 70 battles without being injured.



Yamagata Masakage - Masakage is considered to have been the fiercest warrior in the Takeda clan. He performed admirably during the Takeda's campaign in Shinano and played an important role in the defeat of the Murakami at the Siege of Toishi. Masakage also played a major role in the Takeda victory at Mikatagahara as well as the battle of Mimasetoge. Much like his older brother, Obu Toramasa, Masakage dressed his troops in all red. This earned them the nickname "Red Regiment." Masakage died at Nagashino while commanding the vanguard of the Takeda force.

Sanada Masayuki - Masayuki is often overshadowed in history by his son, Yukimura. The fact is Masayuki was a capable fighter n his own right and is often considered one of the greatest generals of the later Sengoku period. His first battle was for the Takeda at the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima. He became the head of the Sanada in 1575 and immediately began to expand his family's influence. In 1580, Masayuki gained control of Kozuke from the Hojo. Five years later, Masayuki stoutly defended the territory against an invading Tokugawa force. Masayuki would join Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590 to help attack his rivals, the Hojo, during the Odawara Campaign. He sided with the Western Army at Sekigahara and stubbornly defended Ueda Castle.

Hara Toratane - Toratane earned a reputation as being one of the fiercest warriors of the Takeda. He was also thought as one of the more skilled generals employed by Shingen during his many campaigns. His use of Ashigaru units has become legendary. It has been said that Toratane could use 10 Ashigaru with the same effectiveness as 100 Samurai. He is also reported to have been wounded no fewer than 50 times in at least 30 battles, a direct opposite of the career of Nobuharu.


Yamamoto Kansuke - Kansuke provided valuable service to the Takeda in their wars within Shinano. Kansuke helped to defeat the Murakami in 1551, and fought valiantly in all of the Kawanakajima battles. Kansuke was the chief strategist for the Takeda and his suicide is something that has grown to become a legend. After (falsely) believing that his strategy had failed at the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima, Kansuke threw himself into the ranks of the Uesugi and fought til the death.


Takeda Nobushige - Nobushige was the chosen successor to the Takeda domain until his brother, Shingen, rebelled. Shingen, realizing the abilities of Nobushige, not only allowed him to live, but also gave him a commanding role within his vanguard. Nobushige was known for his military capabilities as well as his wisdom. He often provided Shingen with invaluable advice throughout his campaigns. Nobushige was eventually killed during the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561.


Kosaka Masanobu - Masanobu played a pivotal role in the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima,
proving to be a thorn in the side of the Uesugi throughout the engagement. Masanobu was one of the few Takeda generals to survive the Battle of Nagashino. He is responsible for the safe retreat of Takeda Katsuyori and his personal guard at this engagement.

Obu Toramasa - Toramasa's moniker was "The Wild Tiger of Kai." Now that's just plain awesome! Toramasa rightly earned that nickname on the battlefield. He was a well renowned general known for dressing his unit in all red. Something that would be copied by several later generals. His most brilliant moment came during the Siege of Uchiyama Castle. With only 800 men, the "Wild Tiger" successfully defended the castle from 8,000 troops led by Uesugi Kenshin.


Obata Toramori - Toramori was a valuable retainer of the Takeda clan throughout his entire life. Toramori fought for Baba Nobuharu in all of his battles. As the opposite of Nobuharu, he was reported to have been wounded no fewer than 40 times in his long career. Toramori is known to have been an ashigaru tairo.


Akiyama Nobutomo - Nobutomo was noted as being perhaps Takeda Shingen's fiercest warrior, earning him the moniker, "The Raging Bull of The Takeda Clan." Any nickname as cool as that was usually earned. Nobutomo is also one of the unfortunate Samurai to have met his demise by being crucified. This was done after Nagashino, when Nobutomo attempted to hold onto Iwamura Castle.

Anayama Baisetsu - Also commonly known as Anayama Nobukini, he was a noted warrior for the Takeda. He fought in all of Shingen's campaigns, and even fought for Takeda Katsuyori at Nagashino, despite objecting to it. There’s an interesting story about his death. After Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against Oda Nobunaga, Baisetsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu needed to flee the capital. As the story goes, Ieyasu followed the advice of his noted retainer, Hattori Hanzo, ad took a different route than Baisetsu. As they say in the business, the rest is history...


Sanada Yukitaka - Yukitaka was a warrior of renowned skill. Shingen actually sought out his services after seeing his abilities firsthand. Yukitaka helped to capture several castles during the Takeda's campaign in Shinano. He was a noted strategist, and along with Sanada Nobutsuna, Yukitaka helped to capture Toishi castle. He also fought at the Battles of Kawanakajima.

Naito Masatoyo - Masatoyo was one of Shingen's most reliable generals. He fought in many of the Takeda's battles, particularly distinguishing himself at the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561, as well as at the Siege of Minowa Castle 5 years later. Masatoyo was a cavalry commander and he fought in the forefront at both the Battle of Mikatagahara as well as at Nagashino, where he was killed.

Ichijo Nobutatsu - Nobutatsu was a brother of Shingen, and fought in several of his battles. Nobutatsu was particularly skillful in the use of diplomacy, In this area, he was able to strengthen the alliance between the Takeda and several of their allies.


Takeda Nobukado - Nobukado was another one of Shingen's brothers. He was very well-educated and used his intelligence in the role of adviser to Takeda Katsuyori. He fought and died at Nagashino.

Hara Masatane - Masatane was a skilled commander who fought for the Takeda in many battles as a senior retainer, most notably Mimasetoge and Kawanakajima. He was killed while fighting in the forefront at Nagashino.


Itagaki Nobukata - Nobukata was one of the chief conspirators in the plot to overthrow Shingen's father, Nobutora as the head of the Takeda clan. After helping to install Shingen to power, Nobukata quickly became a powerful figure within the Takeda clan. He was a close adviser to Shingen as well as a noted warrior. He is often credited with fielding a spy unit for the Takeda. Nobukata was killed at the Battle of Uedehara.


Oyamada Nobushige - Nobushige was a distinguished general for Shingen who fought at several battles including, Kawanakajima, Takiyama and Mikatagahara. He deserted Katsuyori in 1582 in favor of the Oda, but was executed for his "cowardice" by Nobunaga.


Saigusa Moritomo - Moritomo fought at Mimasetoge and Mikatagahara, as well as at Nagashino. He was killed alongside Takeda Nobuzane during the raid on their position at Nagashino by Sakai Tadatsugu's forces.

Tada Mitsuyori - Served the Takeda as an infantry captain under Itagaki Nobukata. Mitsuyori fought in this capacity in 40 battles for Shingen. He particularly distinguished himself in the fighting at the Battles of Sezawa and Uehara.

Yokota Takamatsu - Takamatsu started out as a very low ranking warrior within the Takeda clan. However, he quickly proved himself on the battlefield, earning several promotions. He was noted as being very skillful with the bow and arrow. Takamatsu was killed during the Siege of Toishi. It is reported that Takeda Shingen used Takamatsu as an example for his other samurai to follow.

Sanada Nobutsuna - Nobutsuna was a veteran of many wars during his career. He was the commander during the capture of Toishi Castle for Shingen. At Nagashino, Nobutsuna was in charge of leading a large group of cavalry.

Amari Torayasu - Torayasu served both Takeda Nobutora and Takeda Shingen during their respective reigns as the head of the Takeda clan. He was elevated to the position of clan elder up until the time of his death at the Battle of Uedehara.


Tsuchiya Masatsugu - Masatsugu is perhaps most famous for the charge he led against the Oda barricades during the Battle of Nagashino. Of course, he was killed in the resulting action, but his deeds have lived on.

Battle of Nagashino

I know I've been on a bit of a Takeda/Nagashino binge here lately. Hopefully this will be the post that gets everything out of my system.

I've already discussed the battle in my Takeda Katsuyori post earlier, and the specifics of the battle are pretty well known. So there's no need to delve into the actual battle itself. I will explain it briefly, however.

The Battle of Nagashino took place in June of 1575, and it started with the siege of Nagashino castle by Takeda Katsuyori. The castle was held by Okudaira Sadamasa, a former "iffy" supporter of the Takeda. Sadamasa called for support from Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga, who were both eager to assist.

The decimation of the famed Takeda cavalry by an insurmountable force of arquebus behind a solid defense of barricades is now something that is a part of Japanese legend.

Recent scholarship has suggested that while firearms did play a pivotal role in the defeat of the Takeda, their numbers may have been greatly exaggerated. Most older sources cite that the Oda used no less than 3,000 arquebus troops at the battle. Recent studies suggest that the number may have been at the most 1,000. Thomas Conlan uses recent excavations of the battlefield to establish the theory that there may have been as few as half that number.

One thing that can't be argued about the battle is the amount of shear devastation that it caused upon the Takeda clan. Perhaps no other battle in Japanese history can account for more field commander casualties than Nagashino.

Of the 97 named Samurai that Takeda Katsuyori took with him into the battle, 54 were killed. Some of these casualties were very important men with illustrious warrior careers. A few of the men that were killed are as follows:

Baba Nobufusa - One of my personal favorite historical figures. Nobufusa was one of Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals and was renowned for his wisdom and intelligence. He was often consulted by Shingen himself during many of his battles.

Yamagata Masakage - Masakage was another one of Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals. He was one of the fiercest commanders in the Takeda army, and was perhaps the eldest of the men fighting at Nagashino.

Hara Masatane - Yet another one of Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals. He was killed while attacking in the vanguard of the Takeda lines at Nagashino.

Takeda Nobuzane - Nobuzane was the younger brother of Takeda Shingen and Katsuyori's uncle. He was in charge of Tobigasu, a position in the rear of the Takeda army during Nagashino. It was here that he was killed by Sakai Tadatsugu's raid.

Tsuchiya Masatsugu - Masatsugu was one of Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals. (Surprise!) He also led a charge against the Oda barricades and was cut down by the ashigaru teppo units summarily.

Naito Masatoyo - Guess what? You got it! Masatoyo was one of Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals. He was a very reliable warrior who fought in many battles throughout his career for the Takeda. Of course, culminating with Nagashino.

Sanada Nobutsuna - Another one of the 24. Nobutsuna played a critical role in the capture of Toishi castle from the Murakami early on in his career. His is probably more famous in history for being the uncle of Sanada Yukimura.

Sanada Masateru - The brother of Nobutsuna, Masateru was one of the more experienced generals at Nagashino for either side.

Saigusa Moritomo - Moritomo was one of Takeda Shingen's 24 generals. He aided Takeda Nobuzane in his position at Tobigasu. He was killed alongside Nobuzane during the raid on their position.

Yonekura Shigetsugu - Shigetsugu served Amari Haruyoshi for the Takeda and was killed while attacking the Oda barricades.

Mochizuki Nobumasa - Nobumasa was the Son of Takeda Nobushige. He was shot down and beheaded by an ashigaru during the Takeda attack.

If you're into strategy, here's an interesting take on Nagashino for you:

Takeda Katsuyori: A Sengoku Loser

As you can tell from the title, Takeda Katsuyori is not one of my favorite individuals in Japanese history. It's not that often that you come across someone who has the ability to single handily destroy one of the more powerful clans in Japan. (I know there is an argument that it is not entirely his fault, but I still place the blame squarely on him.)

At the time of Takeda Shingen's death and the ascension of Katsuyori to the head of the clan, the Takeda were an extremely powerful family. In fact, one can make an argument that they were the only clan powerful to stand in the way of Oda Nobunaga and his quest for power. However, within 2 years of his rise to leadership, Katsuyori and the Takeda were no longer a figure in Japan politically or militarily.

The reason for this lies within Katsuyori's actions in 1575.

After failing to capture Yoshida Castle from a much smaller Tokugawa force, Katsuyori decided to set his sights on rival Okudaira Sadamasa and Nagashino Castle. Despite the small numbers of the Okudaira at Nagashino, they were firmly supported by their Tokugawa and Oda allies.

Katsuyori decided to meet with his top retainers to discuss the plan of action. Despite pleas from the older guard of the Takeda generals to retreat back home, Katsuyori set his mind on storming at Nagashino and capturing the castle.



You think it would be wise to listen to the men that had the most military experience, wouldn't you? Not only did Katsuyori not listen to his father's loyal retainers, but he did the exact opposite of their recommendation. Katsuyori decided to stage an attack against a force that was easily twice the size of his.

What followed is what is perhaps one of the bloodier routes in Japanese history. The Takeda were roundly defeated and nearly the entire rank of generals was depleted from Katsuyori's army. Some of the notable Takeda retainers that were KIA:

Baba Nobuharu
Yamagata Masakage
Hara Masatane
Sanada Nobutsuna
Takeda Nobuzane

That's virtually a who's who of warriors within the Takeda clan and perhaps throughout Japan. All were killed because of Katsuyori's (wrong) decision.

Katsuyori, on the other hand, survived. He managed to live for another 7 years doing what he did best and losing battles at Takatenjin (1581) and Temmokuzan (1582). He was forced to commit suicide after the latter.