Takeda Katsuyori

Takeda Katsuyori ( Jap. 武田 勝 頼 , 1546 - April 3, 1582 ) - Samurai commander of medieval Japan of the Sengoku period . The son of Takeda Shingen . The 20th head of the Takeda clan and ruler of Kai province (modern Yamanashi Prefecture ).

Monument to Takeda Katsuyori, Yamanashi Prefecture

Katsuyuri became the actual heir to the Takeda clan after the death of Takeda Yoshinobu, his older brother. His father, Takeda Shingen, did not want to see Katsuyori the next head of the clan and appointed Takeda Nobukatsu, his own grandson, as future leader. However, Katsuyuri concentrated all the levers of power in his hands, performing the functions of regent under Nobukatsu.

After the death of Shingen, Katsuyori continued his father's aggressive policy. In 1574, he captured the inaccessible Takatenjin Castle, and in 1575 invaded deep into the territory of Mikawa Province , the central possessions of Tokugawa Ieyasu . However, Katsuyori’s aggressive policies crashed at the Battle of Nagashino , in which the Takeda clan forces were routed by the allied forces of Tokugawa and Oda Nobunaga . In 1582, these allies attacked the Katsuyori possessions and destroyed his remaining army. Finding themselves in a completely hopeless situation, the head of the Takeda clan and members of his family, according to the Samurai tradition, committed seppuku . Katsuyori had two sons: Nobukatsu and Katsutika.