Who they were
Takeda Shingen was the daimyo of Kai Province (modern Yamanashi) and one of the most formidable warlords of the Sengoku period, known as the “Tiger of Kai”. He took control of the domain in 1541 by deposing his own father.
What they did
He fought his great rival Uesugi Kenshin in five battles at Kawanakajima (1553–1564); the fiercest, in 1561, ended inconclusively, and the tale of their single combat there is tradition. His banner bore “Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan” — wind, forest, fire, mountain — drawn from Sun Tzu’s Art of War. He was also a renowned administrator: he issued the Koshu law code and built flood-control embankments on the Kamanashi river, the “Shingen embankment”, which served for centuries. In 1573 he crushed Tokugawa Ieyasu at Mikatagahara, then died on campaign that same year.
Legacy
Shingen became the model Sengoku lord — a feared commander and a capable governor — and remains a favorite of novels, films and games.