Takeda Katsuyori

Japanese: 武田勝頼 - たけだ・かつより

Year of death: March 11, 1582 (April 3, 1582)
Year of birth: Tenbun 15 (1546)
A military commander during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. Shingen's fourth son. His mother was the daughter of Suwa Yorishige (not the same person as the Yorishige of the Nanboku-cho period). At his birth, his father Shingen named him Katsuyori, using the Suwa family's common character "Yori" and intended to have him succeed the head of the family as Yorishige's successor and solidify his control over Suwa. According to the Koyo Gunkan, in 1562, Katsuyori became the lord of Takato Castle as the county magistrate of Ina. However, in August of the same year, Shingen's eldest son, Yoshinobu, who was married to the daughter of Imagawa Yoshimoto, was found guilty of treason and imprisoned. As the second son was blind and the third son died young, Katsuyori's position as Shingen's successor was confirmed, and in November of the same year, he married the adopted daughter of Oda Nobunaga, who sought an alliance with Takeda to oppose Yoshimoto. The woman gave birth to Nobukatsu the following year and died. In 1571, he moved from Takato to Kofu, and began to act externally as Shingen's successor. In April 1573, he succeeded Shingen as head of the family after his death, but because he had formed his own group of vassals in Takato, he was prone to miscommunicate with Shingen's vassals. In May 1573, he attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa, but was defeated by the combined forces of Oda and Tokugawa, who used guns and horse-proof fences, in the battle at Shitara-ga-hara on May 20. After that, he tried to regroup, and in January 1576, he married the sister of Hojo Ujimasa. In March of the following year, Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo died, and a dispute over the family succession broke out between Kagekatsu and Kagetora (the Otate War). At first, he sided with Ujimasa's younger brother Kagetora, but he eventually sided with Kagekatsu on the condition that he be provided with military funds and that he be given lands. As a result, relations with the Hojo clan deteriorated, and eastern Suruga and western Kozuke were attacked. In the same year, he built Shinpu Castle and entered it, but in January of the following year, Kiso Yoshimasa defected to Oda Nobunaga, and his relative Anayama Nobukimi also betrayed Tokugawa Ieyasu, and in February, the Oda forces attacked Ina Valley. Takato Castle fell on March 2nd, and the next day he set fire to Shinpu Castle and headed for Iwadono Castle, but was blocked, so on the 11th he committed suicide with his family in Tano (Yamato Village, Higashiyamanashi County, Yamanashi Prefecture). He is buried at Keitoku-in Temple in the same place. He was a military commander who excelled, but as a politician he was behind the times. <References> Ueno Haruo, "The Definitive Takeda Katsuyori," Sasamoto Masaharu, "The Control of Shinano by the Sengoku Daimyo Takeda Clan"

(Masaharu Sasamoto)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天正10.3.11(1582.4.3)
生年：天文15(1546)
戦国・安土桃山時代の武将。信玄の4男。母は諏訪頼重(南北朝時代の頼重とは別人)の娘。生誕に際し,父信玄は諏訪氏の通字「頼」を入れて勝頼と名付け,頼重の跡目として総領家を継がせ,諏訪支配を堅固にしようとの心積もりであった。『甲陽軍鑑』によれば永禄5(1562)年に勝頼は,伊那の郡代として高遠城主となっている。ところが同8年8月,信玄の長男で今川義元の娘を妻とする義信は謀反が発覚し幽閉される。次男は盲目で3男は早世していたため,勝頼の信玄の後継者としての地位が確定し,同年11月義元に対抗するため武田との同盟関係を求めた織田信長の養女と結婚した。この女性は翌年信勝を生み亡くなっている。元亀2(1571)年高遠から甲府に移り,このころから対外的にも信玄後継者としての行動を取り始める。天正1(1573)年4月,信玄の死により家督を継ぐが,高遠で独自の家臣団を形成していたこともあって,信玄の家臣たちとはややもすると意思の疎通を欠くことになった。同3年5月に三河の長篠城を攻めるが,5月20日の設楽原での合戦で鉄砲と馬防柵を利用した織田・徳川の連合軍に大敗する。その後,態勢の立て直しを図り,同5年1月に北条氏政の妹と結婚した。翌年3月に越後の上杉謙信が死亡し,景勝と景虎の間に家督争いが起きると(御館の乱),初めは氏政の弟景虎に味方したが,軍資金の提供や領地の割譲などを条件に結局景勝についた。このため北条氏との関係が悪化し,東駿河や西上野を攻撃された。同9年に新府城を築いて入城するが,翌年1月には木曾義昌が織田信長に寝返り,親族の穴山信君も徳川家康に内通し,2月,伊那谷に織田軍の攻撃を受ける。3月2日高遠城が落ち,翌日新府城に火を放って岩殿城に向かったが,行く手を阻まれ,11日,一族と共に田野(山梨県東山梨郡大和村)で自害した。墓は同地の景徳院にある。軍事には優れていたが,政治家として時代に乗り遅れた武将といえる。<参考文献>上野晴朗『定本武田勝頼』,笹本正治『戦国大名武田氏の信濃支配』

(笹本正治)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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