* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Takenaka Hanbei
竹中半兵衛
Military Strategist of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Famed for Capturing Inabayama Castle
Description
Life and Origins
Takenaka Hanbei (formally Takenaka Shigeharu, 1544–1579) was a warrior of Mino Province, famous as a peerless strategist in the service of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Ranked together with Kuroda Kanbei (Yoshitaka) as one of the "Two Bei," his cunning gave rise to many later anecdotes. Based at Bodaisan Castle in Mino (present-day Tarui, Gifu Prefecture), he first served the Saito clan of Mino.
The Seizure of Inabayama Castle
What raised Hanbei's name was his seizure of Inabayama Castle (later Gifu Castle) in 1564. To remonstrate against the misrule of his lord Saito Tatsuoki, Hanbei is said to have led only a small band to capture the Saito stronghold of Inabayama in a short span. Taking a formidable castle with few soldiers, this exploit was handed down as an event emblematic of his strategy. (Accounts of the number he mobilized vary from a dozen or so to seventeen.) The castle was soon returned to Tatsuoki, but the affair made Hanbei's name known across the realm.
Strategist to Hideyoshi
After the decline of the Saito, Hanbei — following a period as a masterless samurai — was recruited by Hashiba Hideyoshi, who was charged with Oda Nobunaga's conquest of Mino, and became his chief strategist. He is said to have supported Hideyoshi's campaigns, including the war in the west, showing skill in stratagem and battle formation. In 1578, when Kuroda Kanbei was imprisoned at Arioka Castle on suspicion of complicity in Araki Murashige's revolt, Nobunaga ordered the execution of Kanbei's son and hostage Shoju-maru (the future Kuroda Nagamasa); Hanbei, however, is said to have secretly sheltered and spared the boy. After Kanbei's innocence was established, this act was long remembered as a debt of gratitude owed by the Kuroda house.
Swords and Arms
Hanbei was a native of Mino, a great center of the Mino tradition of swordmaking founded by Shizu Saburo Kaneuji. As a commander who directed battle, Hanbei too would have been familiar with the practical blades of the Mino smiths. Anecdotes survive of a favorite sword said to have been bestowed by Hideyoshi, though (some accounts of its name and provenance lack firm confirmation and require verification). The true value of Hanbei as a strategist lay in upholding his lord through tactics and cunning rather than valor with blade and spear; the sword, for him, was borne as the outward emblem of the warrior.
Legacy
In 1579, Hanbei fell ill in camp during the siege of Miki Castle in Harima and died at the headquarters on Mount Hirai, aged 36. He is said to have suffered from consumption (a disease of the lungs). His figure — remaining at the front despite his ailing body — was revered as proof of his loyalty to his lord Hideyoshi. Likened to the celebrated Chinese strategist Zhuge Kongming as "Hideyoshi's great strategist," Hanbei became one of the bywords for the wise commander in Japanese history, and the ruins of Bodaisan Castle and his grave remain in Tarui today.
Notable Swords
- Takenaka Family Sword
- Famous Sword Bestowed by Hideyoshi