Takeda family

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The was one of many families of daimyō (feudal lords) in Japan's Sengoku period; its importance derives almost entirely from the power and fame of Takeda Shingen. Takeda is also a fairly common family name in modern Japan, though it is unlikely that everyone with the Takeda name is descended from this noble house (several divisions of the family have the Takeda name).

In the 12th century, at the end of the Heian period, the Takeda family controlled Kai Province. Along with a number of other families, they aided the Minamoto clan against the Taira clan in the Genpei War. At the beginning of the 15th century, the Takeda still controlled Kai, and still held active alliances with a number of equally minor families. In 1415, they helped to suppress the rebellion of Uesugi Zenshū; Ashikaga Mochiuji, Uesugi's lord, and the man the rebellion was organized against, made a reprisal against the Takeda, thus beginning the rivalry between the Uesugi and Takeda families, which would last roughly 150 years.

Takeda Harunobu succeeded his father Nobutora in 1540, becoming lord of Kai, and quickly began to expand. Though he faced the Hōjō clan a number of times, most of his expansion was to the north, where he fought his most famous battles, against Uesugi Kenshin.

Shingen is famous for his tactical genius, and innovations, though some historians have argued that his tactics were not particularly impressive nor revolutionary. Nevertheless, Shingen is perhaps most famous for his use of the cavalry charge. Up until the mid-16th century and Shingen's rise to power, mounted samurai were primarily archers. There was already a trend at this time towards larger infantry-based armies, including a large number of foot archers. In order to defeat these missile troops, Shingen transformed his samurai from archers to lancers, and used the cavalry charge to devastating effect at the battle of Mikata ga Hara in 1572. The strength of Shingen's new tactic became so famous that the Takeda army came to be known as the kiba gundan (騎馬軍団), or 'mounted army.' Some even called them shinshutsu kibotsu (神出鬼没), or holy devils.

Shingen died in 1573, at age 53, from a gun wound. His less tactically talented son, Katsuyori, succeeded him, and was defeated in 1575, in the famous battle of Nagashino, by Oda Nobunaga.

The Kōshū Hatto, composed at some point in the 15th century, is the code of law of the Takeda family, while the Kōyō Gunkan, composed largely by Kōsaka Masanobu in the mid-16th century, is an epic recording the family's history and Shingen's innovations in military tactics.

Important Members of the Takeda family

Takeda Nobutora - Shingen's father.
Takeda Shingen - one of Japan's most famous warlords, Shingen expanded his domains greatly, and became one of the major powers in the country for a time.
Takeda Katsuyori - Shingen's son, Katsuyori commanded his father's armies after his death, and saw the fall of the Takeda family.

References

Sansom, George (1961). 'A History of Japan: 1334-1615'. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
Turnbull, Stephen (2002). 'War in Japan 1467-1615'. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

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