Volta
Person1521 – 1573

Takeda Shingen

Also called: Takeda Harunobu

Sengoku daimyo of Kai (today Yamanashi), born Harunobu, who conquered Shinano, fought Uesugi Kenshin at Kawanakajima and in 1572 marched west and routed the Tokugawa, but died of illness on campaign

Son of Takeda Nobutora of Kai, he drove his father into exile in Suruga in 1541 and took over the house. He conquered almost all of Shinano and ruled through a house law (the Kōshū Hatto no Shidai), flood control such as the Shingen embankment, and gold mining. He formed a triple alliance with the Imagawa and Hōjō in 1554 but later turned on the Imagawa and took Suruga. Marching west in 1572 he routed Tokugawa Ieyasu at Mikatagahara, but fell gravely ill on campaign the next year and died on the way home. He is remembered for his banner “Swift as the wind, quiet as the forest, fierce as fire, immovable as the mountain”.

Show on the map

Where they went

Open the full map

OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

2 related events

  1. 1
    1553 – 1564Battles of Kawanakajimacommander

    Takeda Shingen of Kai and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo fought five times between 1553 and 1564 over the Kawanakajima plain in northern Shinano. The fiercest was the fourth battle in 1561, but neither side won a decision.

  2. 2
    1573Fall of the Muromachi Shogunaterelated figure

    The shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki took up arms against Oda Nobunaga, surrendered at Makishima Castle and was driven out of Kyoto. The Muromachi shogunate, after more than 230 years, effectively came to an end.

People who appear alongside

  • Uesugi Kenshin1530 – 1578

    Sengoku daimyo of Echigo (today Niigata), born Nagao Kagetora, who inherited the Uesugi name and the office of Kantō kanrei in 1561 and fought Takeda Shingen five times at Kawanakajima

  • Oda Nobunaga1534 – 1582

    Sengoku-era daimyo who ended the Muromachi shogunate in 1573 and won at Nagashino with massed musketeers, opening the way to unification before his death in the Honnōji Incident

  • Ashikaga Yoshiaki1537 – 1597

    Fifteenth and last shogun of the Muromachi shogunate (r. 1568–1588), installed with Oda Nobunaga’s help but driven from Kyoto in 1573 after turning against him

Themes this person appears in