is a popularized version of the battle standard used by the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, 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 th ...

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 ...

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 ...

. The banner quoted four phrases from

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) may have been a Chinese General, military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the au ...

's ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is compos ...

'': "as swift as wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as mountain."

Original version

The original version of the banner is mentioned in the

Kōyō Gunkan The is a record of the military exploits of the Takeda family, compiled largely by the Takeda vassal Kōsaka Danjō Masanobu, and completed in 1616 by Obata Kagenori. It provides some of the most detailed descriptions and statistics of wa ...

, a record of the military exploits of the Takeda clan. It is based on four phrases from Sun Tzu, which in the original Chinese appear in two consecutive passages: Chapter 7, passage 17: "故其疾如風，其徐如林" ''Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your gentleness that of the forest.'' Chapter 7, passage 18: "侵掠如火，不動如山" ''In raiding and plundering be like fire, be immovable like a mountain.''

Four-character version

The four-character version (''

yojijukugo A is a Japanese lexeme consisting of four ''kanji'' (Chinese characters). English translations of include "four-character compound", "four-character idiom", "four-character idiomatic phrase", and "four-character idiomatic compound". It is equi ...

'') appears to be a later invention. Historian Masaya Suzuki, citing the work of an authority on the military insignia of the time, argues that there is no evidence in the historical record for the four-character phrase, and that it became popular with the publication of a historical novel of the same name by Yasushi Inoue in 1953.

Use in popular culture

Takeda Shingen and his "shadow" are the main characters of

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

Kagemusha is a 1980 epic jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class petty thief who is taught to impersonate the dying ''daimyō'' Takeda Shingen to dissuade oppos ...

(1980). The battle standard and its message are prominent aspects of the film. The character Ryu from the video game series ''

Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

'' has the Furinkazan on his belt as well as highly stylised versions of the Japanese characters on his gloves. The characters can also be seen to the left of the character's stage in the game ''

Street Fighter II is a 1991 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcade game, arcades. It is the second installment in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the sequel to 1987's ''Street Fighter (video game), Street Fighter''. Designed by Yoshiki O ...

''. The mascot of

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

in Central Japan, a samurai Kai Ken dog named Takeda Hishimaru, carries a ''gunbai'' (war fan) with the four-character version of the phrase in homage to Takeda Shingen. The character Sanada Genichirō, a tennis player with a kendo background from the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series '' Prince of Tennis'' employs a set of techniques in his style of tennis named after the Furinkazan; "Fū" is an extremely fast swing that is based on a sword-drawing technique that makes the ball invisible to the eye, "Rin" is a slice that neutralizes the spin on the ball, "Ka" is an extremely powerful shot to overwhelm the opponent and "Zan" is Sanada's "Iron Wall of Defence" in a figurative sense, allowing him to return any ball the opponent may hit towards him. Popular Japanese

Enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, pop ...

singer Hachirō Kasuga included a song titled "Fuurinkazan" in his album "Byakko Kasuga Hachirou no Subete Original Hit Vol.3".春日八郎. "風林火山." 白虎～春日八郎のすべてオリジナル・ヒットvol.3 , KING RECORDS, 2022

Notes

Japanese heraldry {{Japan-mil-hist-stub

Original version

Four-character version

Use in popular culture

See also

Notes