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

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

, 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 n ...

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

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the late stage of

Sengoku The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various ...

, 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 took place in 1575 near Nagashino Castle on the plain of Shitaragahara in the Mikawa Province of Japan. Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle when Okudaira Sadamasa rejoined the Tokugawa, and when his original plot with Oga Yashiro for taki ...

, 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. He is regarded as one of the Four Guardians of the Tokugawa (''Tokugawa-Shitennō''). along with Honda Tadakatsu, Ii Nao ...

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 Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa clans. Later in his life, he also became a ''daimyō' ...

. 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 of the famous Takeda Shingen. Biography Nobutora’s son was Harunobu, later known as Tak ...

(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". Takeda Nobushige held the favor of their father, and was meant to inherit the Takeda lands, w ...

(1525–1561) ** Takeda Nobumoto **

Takeda Nobukado was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". He is also well known as a painter. It has been said that Nobukado and Shingen were as like as two peas therefore he serv ...

(1529–1582) ** Matsuo Nobukore (ca. 1530s–1571) ** Takeda Souchi **

Ichijō Nobutatsu was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period, who was the younger brother of Takeda Shingen, the ruler of Kai Province. He is known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen".Internet Movie Database (IMDb) "Shingen Takeda (Character) ...

(ca. 1539–1582) *Sisters: ** Joukei-in (1519–1550), married

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

** Nanshou-in (born 1520) married

Anayama Nobutomo was a Japanese samurai 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. He enjoyed special status in the Takeda retainer band due to hi ...

** Nene (1528–1543) married

Suwa Yorishige (1516–1544) was a Japanese samurai and head of the Suwa clan. He was defeated by Takeda Shingen, and his daughter Suwa Goryōnin (諏訪御料人, real name unknown) was taken as Shingen's concubine. She later gave birth to the Takeda clan heir T ...

*Son: Kawakubo Nobutoshi

References

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