Battle of Mikatagahara

In the winter of Genki 3 (1572), Takeda Shingen launched his Seiō Sakusen (campaign to advance westward)—the greatest ambition of his lifetime. Shingen's forces, numbering approximately 25,000 to 30,000, advanced toward Kyoto, conquering castles throughout Tōtōmi and Mikawa as they proceeded southward. Faced with this vast army, Tokugawa Ieyasu was forced to choose between withdrawing into Hamamatsu Castle (Tōtōmi) or launching a direct attack.

**Shingen's Seiō Sakusen and Sword Culture**

Under the banner of "Fūrinkazan," Takeda Shingen's army was known as the most powerful cavalry corps of the Sengoku period. At the heart of this force were the "Takeda Shimeishin" (Takeda Shitennō—the Four Takeda Generals): Yamakata Masakage, Baba Nobusharu, Naitō Masatoyoshi, and Kōsaka Masanobu. All of these generals were accomplished swordsmen, and the Takeda house's sword culture was built upon deep ties with the swordsmiths of Shinano and Kai.

There is a tradition that Takeda Shingen himself prized a tachi called "Daihanjanyō Nagamitsu." Nagamitsu was a masterwork by Osafune Nagamitsu, the renowned swordsmith of the Kamakura period, and after passing from Oda Nobunaga to Tokugawa Ieyasu, it was given to Okudaira Nobukatsu for his service at Nagashino, later being passed down to the Matsudaira family of Oshi Domain. While there are various theories as to whether Shingen possessed this tachi, it is remembered as an episode symbolizing the relationship between Sengoku warlords and famous swords.

Baba Nobusharu (known as Oni Mino) was renowned as the fiercest general of the Takeda army and commanded the front lines at the Battle of Mikatagahara. Details about the sword he is said to have favored are not clear, though some scholars believe it was crafted by a swordsmith of the Mino tradition. Nobusharu was a loyal general who, during the Takeda defeat at the Battle of Nagashino (1575), held the rear guard to the bitter end and died in battle—a warrior whose spirit resonates with the essence of sword culture.

**The Battle of Mikatagahara—Course of Battle**

On the 22nd day of the 12th month of Genki 3, Takeda Shingen's army deployed on the Mikatagahara plateau north of Hamamatsu Castle. Shingen feinted as if to move westward, bypassing Hamamatsu Castle entirely, employing a stratagem to draw Ieyasu out from the castle. Tokugawa Ieyasu, overriding the objections of his close advisors, sortied with merely 11,000 to 13,000 troops to pursue. Sakuma Nobukatsu, a reinforcement force sent by Nobunaga, accompanied him, but the numerical disadvantage was evident. When Ieyasu's force reached the Mikatagahara plateau, the Takeda army turned and surrounded and crushed Ieyasu's forces using the "Gyoren no jin" (fish-scale formation).

The battle was decided in roughly an hour (approximately two hours), and the Tokugawa army suffered devastating losses. Ieyasu is said to have prepared himself for death, but protected by his close retainers, he fled on horseback back to Hamamatsu Castle. Upon returning to the castle, Ieyasu is said to have had the "Shikami-zō" (Okazaki Castle holdings) painted as a reminder never to forget this humiliation for the rest of his life. Though this legend was formed after the Edo period, it testifies to the profound impact the defeat at Mikatagahara had on Ieyasu's political and military development.

**Ieyasu's Endurance and the Prelude to Takeda's Fall**

After Mikatagahara, Ieyasu endured in silence until Shingen's death from illness in the field in April of the following year, Genki 4 (1573). Shingen's death was an irreplaceable loss for the Takeda clan, and the Seiō Sakusen came to a halt. Shingen's successor, Takeda Katsuyori, saw the Takeda cavalry corps destroyed before Oda Nobunaga's firearms tactics at the Battle of Nagashino (1575), and the Takeda clan itself fell in Tenshō 10 (1582). Ieyasu internalized the lesson of "endurance and waiting for one's moment" from this series of experiences. Without the defeat at Mikatagahara, the cautious Ieyasu of his later years—so called a "fox" and a "hawk"—might not have developed as he did. Ieyasu's cool judgment at the later Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and the Siege of Osaka (1615) can be said to have been grounded in his painful experience at Mikatagahara.

**The Position of Mikatagahara in Sword History**

The Genki and Tenshō eras (1570s–80s) were a period in the history of Japanese swords when both "Sengoku-period production swords" and "custom swords (commissioned high-quality blades)" coexisted. Powerful daimyo such as the Takeda commissioned a certain number of military swords from swordsmiths of Mino and Shinano, while also possessing famous swords from Kyoto and Kamakura as family treasures. While records of the swords used during the Battle of Mikatagahara are sparse, the tachi and katana worn by the generals on both sides symbolized the Sengoku culture of the era. In the "Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō," compiled in Kyōhō 4 (1719) by order of the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, several famous swords connected to the era of Mikatagahara are recorded, demonstrating the deep connection between the battlefield and famous swords.

The Battle of Mikatagahara is more often remembered as the story of the defeated—Ieyasu. However, from the perspective of sword history, it should also be preserved in memory as an event wherein the swords and gallant bearing of the generals who participated stand as a testament to Takeda Shingen, a strategist of rare genius, bringing aesthetic sensibility to the field of war in his final great campaign.