Takeda Nobutora

Takeda Nobutora (1494–1574) was a Sengoku daimyo of Kai Province (present-day Yamanashi Prefecture) and the father of Takeda Shingen (Haranobu). His significant achievements in pacifying the provincial warrior lords scattered throughout Kai Province and establishing unified Takeda control over the entire territory laid the foundation for his son's rise to prominence across Japan. He ruled as supreme authority of Kai until 1541 (Tenbun 10), when Shingen exiled him to Suruga Province.

Nobutora inherited his domain in 1506 (Eisho 3) and devoted more than thirty years to the unification and stabilization of Kai Province. Through alternating cycles of military conflict and negotiated settlements with the daimyo of Shinano, Suruga, and Sagami provinces, he methodically strengthened Takeda military capability. Particularly, the Battle of Obu in 1521 (Daiei 1) and his subsequent advance into southern Shinano laid the groundwork for Shingen's later campaigns in Shinano. His development of Kofu (present-day Yamanashi City) as his operational base and the establishment of Tsutsuji-ga-saki Palace as the administrative headquarters of the Takeda clan were also achievements of Nobutora.

Nobutora was known for his martial temperament, and his stern governance of his retainers bred resentment among some of his vassals. In 1541 (Tenbun 10), when Nobutora traveled to pay respects to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the twenty-two-year-old Shingen conspired with powerful local retainers to prevent his father's return to Kai by appealing to the Imagawa—effectively orchestrating his exile. Confined to Suruga Province, Nobutora thereafter served as a guest general of the Imagawa. Following the Imagawa clan's destruction, he wandered among the territories of the Takeda, Uesugi, and Hōjō clans. He died in 1574 (Tensho 2) at the remarkable age of eighty-one.

Regarding Japanese swords, Nobutora is known as a daimyo who actively patronized the sword smiths of Kai Province. Kai had long been renowned for producing Kai uchi-gatana, and during Nobutora's rule, the swordsmith community surrounding Tsutsuji-ga-saki Palace was systematically organized and developed. Several of the renowned blades Nobutora owned were transmitted through the Takeda family; though these pieces eventually dispersed after passing through the hands of Shingen and Katsutora, notable examples remain in museums and shrines throughout Yamanashi. In establishing the foundation of the Takeda family's sword collection, Nobutora's contribution to sword culture merits considerable recognition.