Takeda Nobuzane (武田信実) more commonly known as Kawakubo Nobuzane (河窪信実) (1530 - died 29 June 1575) was a younger half-brother of

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

, a preeminent ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' (feudal lord) who vied for the control of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the late stage of

Sengoku The was the period in Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as the period's start ...

, the "warring states" period. He was also called Kawakubo Nobuzane because he was raised in Kawakubo village. After the death of his older brother Matsuo Nobukore in 1571, Shingen ordered Nobuzane’s son Nobutoshi to be the successor to the Matsuo family and Nobutoshi was married to Nobukore’s daughter. In 1575 at the

Battle of Nagashino The was a famous battle in History of Japan, Japanese history, fought in 1575 at Nagashino Castle, Nagashino in Mikawa Province (present-day Nagashino, Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture). The allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu (38,000) ...

, Nobuzane did not participate in the field battle proper between Takeda Katsuyori and the Oda-Tokugawa Alliance. Instead Nobuzane was deployed on Mt. Tobigasu to maintain the siege on Tokugawa's forces in Nagashino Castle, assuring they did not escape and link up with the main Oda-Tokugawa army. But he was ambushed by troops under the command of the alliance’s generals

Sakai Tadatsugu was one of the most favored and most successful military commanders serving Tokugawa Ieyasu in the late Sengoku period. Serving as the highest-ranking general in the Tokugawa clan along with Ishikawa Kazumasa, Tadatsugu is also regarded as o ...

and

Kanamori Nagachika was a Japanese samurai who lived from the Sengoku period into the early Edo period. He was the first ruler of the Kanamori clan and served as a retainer of the Saito clan, Saito, Oda clan, Oda, Toyotomi clan, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa clan, Tokuga ...

. Early on the morning of June 29, Nobuzane’s men were ambushed by Sakai’s men upon the ridge. Nobuzane resisted the attack in the main fortress on Mt. Tobigasu while dispatching Saegusa Masasada to defend the four outlying forts. However Nobuzane lacked enough troops to properly defend the five-fort complex, and his troops were stretched too thinly to be effective against the attack. Sakai Tadatsugu's troops were successful in setting the forts on fire and Takeda Nobuzane was killed in the hand-to-hand fighting that followed as his fort was overrun. It is said that those dedicated to Nobuzane created a small hill called Hyougotsuka after his courtesy title of Hyougo-no-suke on Mt. Tobigasu, however in the time since then the area has been reclaimed by farmland and nothing remains.

Family

*Father:

Takeda Nobutora was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) who controlled the Province of Kai, and fought in a number of battles of the Sengoku period. He was the father and predecessor of the famous Takeda Shingen. Biography Nobutora’s son was Harunobu, la ...

(1493–1574) *Brothers: ** Takematsu (1517–1523) **

(1521–1573) ** Inuchiyo (1523–1529) **

Takeda Nobushige was a samurai of Japan's Sengoku period, and younger brother of Takeda Shingen. He was known as one of the " Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". Military life Takeda Nobushige held the favor of their father, Takeda Nobutora, then ''daimy ...

(1525–1561) ** Takeda Nobumoto **

Takeda Nobukado was a Japanese samurai (warrior) and general of the Takeda clan during the Sengoku period. He was known as one of the " Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". He is also well known as a painter. Relationship with Shingen It has been said th ...

(1529–1582) ** Matsuo Nobukore (ca. 1530s–1571) ** Takeda Souchi ** Ichijō Nobutatsu (ca. 1539–1582) *Sisters: ** Joukei-in (1519–1550), married

Imagawa Yoshimoto was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the Sengoku period. Based in Suruga Province, he was known as ; he was one of the three ''daimyō'' that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He died in 1560 while marching to Kyoto to become Shogun. He ...

** Nanshou-in (born 1520) married

Anayama Nobutomo was a Japanese samurai and of the Sengoku period. He was the son of Anayama Nobutsuna. Nobutomo served the Takeda clan of Kai Province and held the title of , or ''Defender of Izu Province, Izu.'' He enjoyed special status in the Takeda ret ...

** Nene (1528–1543) married

Suwa Yorishige Suwa Yorishige may refer to: * Suwa Yorishige (daimyo), Japanese samurai daimyo of the Shinano province * Suwa Yorishige (Nanboku-chō period), military commander during the Nanboku-chō period {{hndis ...

*Son: Kawakubo Nobutoshi

References

Takeda clan 1575 deaths Japanese warriors killed in battle Year of birth unknown {{Japan-bio-stub