武田信繁

Takeda Nobushige (1525–1561), known by the honorary title Tenkyū, was the younger brother and most trusted lieutenant of Takeda Shingen, and by many accounts the finest individual warrior the Takeda clan ever produced. Shingen himself reportedly said that Nobushige surpassed him in virtue and wisdom — a remarkable admission from a man not noted for humility. Nobushige compiled a famous set of precepts for the samurai life, a document Shingen used in his own son's education, revealing not just a great swordsman but a sophisticated moral thinker. His end came at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima in September 1561 — the bloodiest clash between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, the battle remembered for Kenshin riding directly into the Takeda command post and trading sword cuts with Shingen himself. In that same chaos, Nobushige was cut down in the front lines. Shingen never fully recovered from the loss; he kept a memorial tablet for Nobushige in his chambers for the rest of his life. Nobushige's sword taste ran to the powerful Sōshū tradition: blades with dramatic nie-deki hamon and rich jigane that suited the Takeda cavalry style of headlong, decisive engagement. His swords — principally a magnificent piece attributed to the Masamune school known as Tenkyū-Masamune — carry in their steel the image of a warrior who died exactly as he had lived: at the front, in service to his lord.