Takeda Nobuyoshi (武田信義, September 11, 1128 - March 31, 1186, or later than 1194) was a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

lord of the late

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto * Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms) * ...

and early

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

. He founded the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

and was the father of Ichijō Tadayori. He was also known as Takeda Tarō.

Life

Minamoto no Ryūkōmaru was born on September 11, 1128, the son of Minamoto no Kiyomitsu, the 3rd head of the Kai

Minamoto clan was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobili ...

. He was the great-grandson of

Minamoto no Yoshimitsu was a Japanese samurai lord during the Heian period. He served as Governor of Kai Province. He is credited as the ancient progenitor of the Japanese martial art, Daitō-ryū aiki-jūjutsu and Takeda-ryū. Biography Yoshimitsu was born t ...

. In 1140, at the age of 13, he held his coming of age ceremony (''

genpuku is a public holiday in Japan held annually on the second Monday of January under the Happy Monday System. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have already reached the age of maturity between April 2 of the previou ...

'') at Takeda Hachimangū shrine, and changed his name to Takeda Tarō Nobuyoshi (Tarō being his ''azana'' and Nobuyoshi being his ''

imina in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name. Japanese names are usually written in kanji, where the pronunciation follows a special set of rules. Because parents when naming children, and foreigners when adoptin ...

''). In 1180, he joined the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

on the side of the Minamoto clan and participated in the Battle of Uji. After defeating the remaining forces of the

Taira clan The was one of the four most important Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period of History of Japan, Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto clan, Minamoto, the Fujiwara clan, Fuji ...

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

, he progressed to

Suruga Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu Province, Izu, Kai Province, Kai, Sagami Province, Sagami, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Province, Tōtōm ...

with

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

's forces. During the Battle of Fujikawa, Takeda carried out a surprise attack on Taira clan's forces at night, ultimately forcing them to flee. Yoritomo was pleased with Takeda's achievements in battle, and rewarded him with the position of Governor (''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

'') of Suruga Province. Although Takeda had fought on Yoritomo's side and contributed to his cause, Yoritomo felt threatened by his growing power. In addition, Yoritomo suspected Takeda of receiving an edict from

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''in ...

about a punitive expedition against Yoritomo in 1181. Yoritomo, suspicious of Takeda's intentions, had a talk with him, asking about any ideas of treason. This suspicion led to the decline of Takeda's political status in the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yori ...

. In 1184, Yoritomo ordered the assassination of Takeda's eldest son and heir, Ichijō Tadayori, who was the Governor of

Musashi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...

. At this point, Takeda had also been disfavored by Yoritomo.

Death

One account of his death, is that the broken-hearted Takeda died on March 31, 1186, just two years after the murder of his son. He was 59 years old. However, although the ''

Azuma Kagami is a Japanese historical chronicle. The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in ...

'' states that Takeda died on March 31, 1186, of an illness, there are records of him even after his supposed death in 1186. In 1190, he appears among the attendants to Yoritomo's invasion of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, and his name is also seen in 1194 during the construction of Tōdai-ji temple and as a ''

kasagake Kasagake or Kasakake (笠懸, lit. "hat shooting") is a type of Japanese mounted archery. In contrast to yabusame, the types of targets are various and the archer shoots without stopping the horse. While yabusame has been played as a part of fo ...

'' archer. Based on these records, it has been pointed out that there is a strong possibility that Takeda was alive after 1186.

In popular culture

TV series

* ''Taira no Kiyomor''i (2012) NHK Taiga drama, Toshiya Nagasawa as Takeda Nobuyoshi * ''

The 13 Lords of the Shogun is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Shun Oguri as Hōjō Yoshitoki. The series is the 61st NHK taiga drama. Cast Starring role *Shun Oguri as Hōjō Yoshitoki. Kōki Mitani pointed out some similarities between him and Mi ...

'' (2022) NHK Taiga drama, Norito Yashima as Takeda Nobuyoshi

Gallery

File:武田信義館跡.jpg, Ruins of Takeda Nobuyoshi's Mansion in Nirasaki File:武田信義之墓.jpg, Takeda Nobuyoshi's grave in Nirasaki

References

Minamoto clan Takeda clan People of the Heian period People of the Kamakura period 12th-century Japanese people People of the Genpei War 1128 births 1186 deaths {{DEFAULTSORT:Nobuyoshi, Takeda