Takeda's legacy captured by Ieyasu

I think Ieyasu had a strong admiration for Takeda. After the Honnoji Incident and the Tensho-Jingo Rebellion, the Tokugawa, Hojo, and Uesugi battles for the Takeda heritage took place carefully and firmly in acquiring not only territory but also human resources.

The mother of Ieyasu's fifth son, Nobuyoshi, was the daughter of the Akiyama clan of the Takeda family, and she was adopted by Katsuchiyo Anayama (Nobuharu Takeda), who passed away early, to inherit the Takeda family. Nobuyoshi became the governor of Mito with 250,000 koku, but because he died without producing any children, the Takeda family, which was protected via Baisetsu Anayama, was completely defeated. The Mito domain was then passed on to Ieyasu's 10th son, Yorinobu, and his 11th son, Yorifusa.

After gaining Kai, Chikayoshi Hiraiwa was sent to rule Kai for a long time, but when Sekigahara ended and Yoshinao, Ieyasu's 9th son, was sealed with 250,000 koku of Kai, he became the guardian/deputy of Kai. When Yoshinao became the lord of the Owari domain, he accompanied him as a chief retainer and became the lord of the Inuyama domain. It seems that Takeda's remaining retainers, who were appointed at this time, also moved together. Chikayoshi passed away soon, but there was no successor, and the role was once discontinued, then Masashige Naruse took over his role. The Naruse family is also famous for having privately owned the famous Inuyama Castle tower until recently (2004).

The Hoshina family, whom the 2nd Shogun Hidetada Tokugawa adopted his illegitimate child behind the cover of his scary wife (Go-hime), also used to be a former vassal of Takeda, but this family was originally a vassal of the Suwa clan and the Takato clan until Shingen invaded Suwa.

It's also famous Takeda's legacy - Ii's red armor troops. It seems that there were many red reserves in the Yamagata corps, but they were attached to Naomasa Ii's subordinates as they were. The Ii family served as the vanguard of the Tokugawa corps, and Ieyasu himself was probably fascinated by the power of the red defense that he had experienced at Mikatagahara. At Sekigahara, Ieyasu found some warriors wearing old armors among Naotaka Ii's new Red Guard and confirmed that they were former retainers of Takeda, and Ieyasu said that they were the real ones.

Those who rose to prominence during the Tokugawa reign were the Tsuchiya family of the Tsuchiura domain, which produced roju(senior councilor), and Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, a servant on the 5th Shogun Tsunayoshi's side. Masatsune Tsuchiya is said to be the last vassal in the final battle of Mt. Tenmoku, and he wrapped one hand around a vine on the road in the valley to avoid falling into the river, and used the other hand to cut down many enemies. However, thanks to the time gained, Katsuyori and his son decided to commit suicide to avoid the dishonor of being killed by the enemy(1582). After exiting the Katsunuma Interchange and heading toward Mt. Tenmoku, the road leads to Keitokuin Temple, built by Ieyasu after the war for Katsuyori and his son, the Sennin-giri(Masatsune's heroic episode) Monument, and Seiunji Temple, where Nobumitsu Takeda and his vassals are buried after committing suicide during the Uesugi Zenshu Rebellion(1416).

Seiunji Temple is located at an altitude of over 1,000 meters and is said to be the birthplace of Japanese soba cutting.

Masatsune flees his wife and child (Tadanao) and is summoned by Ieyasu to Suruga Seikenji Temple, but Tadanao's two sons (Toshinao and Kazunao) become feudal lords, especially Kazunao and his son Masanao. He headed the shogunate as roju, and the Tsuchiya family had been the lord of the Tsuchiura domain with an income of 95,000 koku until the end of the shogunate.

Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa, whose grandfather was a former retainer of Takeda who served Ieyasu, inherited from his father a stipend of 530 koku, and eventually became a daimyo with a fortune of 151,200 koku, and hosted the 133rd anniversary of Shingen's death at Erinji Temple. It seems that Takeda's former retainers from all over the country gathered here, and I think it was a great occasion for his career advancement. Just recently, 2021 was the 500th anniversary of Shingen's birth.

The former Takeda vassals mentioned above were mainly incorporated into the Tokugawa regime, including the Mito, Owari, and Hikone clans, the Tsuchiya family, the Yanagisawa family, and hatamoto and gokenin. The reason why the transition from the Sengoku era to the Shogunate system was relatively peaceful was that after the fall of the Takeda family, the disarmament of Japan as a whole, re-employment, and status fixation proceeded smoothly after the Sekigahara and Osaka camps. However, I imagine that the movement of the strong and traditional Takeda clan to be incorporated into the Tokugawa clan in a fair manner became a model for all of Japan.

70 years after Shingen's death, Masayuki Yui talked around he was Shingen's reincarnation and started recruiting soldiers. The reputation of the name "Takeda" was still special.