Takeda clan

The Kai-Takeda clan was the main lineage of Kai Genji belonging to the Kawachi Genji line of Seiwa Genji. Its fourth head, Nobuyoshi Takeda (MINAMOTO no Nobuyoshi), raised an army in response to Prince Mochihito's orders. Although he adopted an independent position initially, he later achieved distinguished war service during the Battle of the Fuji River in cooperation with Minamoto no Yoritomo and was appointed as shugo of Suruga Province. Later, Nobuyoshi was purged by Yoritomo, who feared Nobuyoshi's power, and many of his brothers and sons were sent to their deaths. However, only Nobumitsu TAKEDA, the fifth son of Nobuyoshi, was taken under Yoritomo's wing and appointed to shugo of Kai Province. Thus, Nobumitsu became the main lineage of the Takeda clan at Nirasaki. Nobumitsu achieved distinguished war service during the Jokyu War as well, and he became the founder of the Aki Takeda clan after being appointed to shugo of Aki Province.

During the Genko War, a warthat occurred near the end of the Kamakura period in which Emperor Godaigo raised an army, the clan followed the Hojo clan of Kamakura and attacked Mt. Kasagi. In 1335, after the fall of bakufu, the clan participated in the Nakasendai War launched by Tokiyuki HOJO. During the period of the Northern and Southern Courts (Japan), Nobutake Takeda, then the shugo of Aki Province, followed Takauji ASHIKAGA, achieved distinguished war service at various battle fields and became the shugo of Kai Province in place of the Takeda clan of Isawa lineage. In 1416 when Kanto Kanrei (a shogunal deputy for the Kanto region) Zenshu UESUGI rebelled against Kamakura Kubo (quasi-shogun of Kanto region) Mochiuji ASHIKAGA (War of Zenshu UESUGI) at Kamakurafu (Kamakura Government), Nobumitsu TAKEDA sided with his son-in-law Zenshu. However, Zenshu was defeated because of the intervention by bakufu of Kyoto, and Nobumitsu was subjugated by Kamakurafu and committed suicide. Nobumoto TAKEDA, a younger brother of Nobumitsu who had become a monk at Mt. Koya in fear of bakufu's interrogation, was appointed as the successor of the shugo of Kai Province after the internal strife in Kai-Genji with the Hemi clan. Thereafter, the clan was obedient to Kamakurafu under the situation where Kamakurafu and bakufu were in rivalry. When the power of Kamakurafu eroded as the result of the Eikyo Disturbance in the era of sixth shogun Yoshinori ASHIKAGA, Nobumitsu's son Nobushige TAKEDA achieved distinguished war service in the Battle of Yuki and seized the opportunity to restore the clan.

After Nobumitsu restored it, the clan was still annoyed with the rebellion of influential local samurai, the arbitrary behavior of shugodai (deputy of shugo) Atobe clan, the strife inside the clan and the invasion by neighboring provinces. The sixteenth head Nobumasa Takeda expelled the Atobe clan and stabilized the situation in the territory by strengthening the control over vassals, but an internal war occurred over his successor.

The eighteenth head Nobutora TAKEDA unified the territory and actively expanded the clan's territory by invading neighboring Shinano Province. Shingen TAKEDA wielded the authority of the daimyo (feudal lord) in flood control as well as in the development of gold mines and absorbed Shinano Province into his territory. After eliminating anxiety about being attacked from behind by allying himself with the neighboring Imagawa and Gohojo clans, Shingen invaded Shinano and clashed with the Uesugi clan of Echigo over the possession of the northern Shinano region (the Battle of Kawanakajima). After the Imagawa clan declined, he annulled the alliance and extended his influence to the Tokai region by invading Suruga Province.

Although Shingen started going up to Kyoto in 1572 in accordance with the request by the fifteenth shogun Yoshiaki ASIKAGA, the Takeda army withdrew to Kai Province because Shingen died on the way to Kyoto. At the height of its prosperity, the clan possessed territory equivalent to 1.2M koku (0.3336 cubic million meters of rice) that extended to nine provinces, namely Kai Province, Shinano Province and Suruga Province as well as a part of Kozuke Province, Totomi Province, Mikawa Province, Mino Province, Hida Province and Ecchu Province. Katsuyori TAKEDA further expanded the territory by invading Mino Province, but he gradually lost control over his vassals. The clan declined in one stroke when it was defeated in the Battle of Nagashino and lost senior vassals who had served from the era of Shingen, and it was eventually ruined in 1575 by the attack of Nobunaga ODA (the Battle of Tenmokuzan). Ieyasu TOKUGAWA had Nobuharu ANAYAMA (Nobuharu TAKEDA), a vassal of the Takeda clan, succeed the head of the clan. Thereafter Ieyasu had his own son Fukumatsumaru call himself Nobuyoshi TAKEDA and had him succeed the head of clan, but the clan extinguished.

Shingen's second son Ryuoho (Nobuchika UNNO) got out of trouble because he was blind and had become a monk. Ryuho's son Nobumichi TAKEDA was banished to Izu-oshima Island because of his involvement in the Okubo Nagayasu Incident, but the clan was pardoned in the era of his son Nobumasa TAKEDA and became a vassal of the bakufu in 1700 as koke (privileged family under Tokugawa shogunate). When Shingen was conferred Jusanmi (Junior Third Rank) in 1915 at the state ceremony for the Emperor Taisho, ikisenmyo (court rank diploma and imperial edict) for Shingen was given to Nobuyasu TAKEDA, the head of the clan at the time. Since then, this lineage has been deemed as the legitimate lineage of Shingen up to today with the current head Hidenobu TAKEDA. Nobumoto NISHINA and Nobusada NISHINA, the first and second son of Shingen's fifth son Morinobu NISHINA, served the Tokugawa shogunate as hatamoto (direct retainer of bakufu), and both families are existing at present (Nobusada reverted its family name to Takeda). Shingen's seventh son Nobukiyo TAKEDA sought shelter to his older sister's husband Kagekatsu UESUGI and reverted his family name to Takeda, and his descendants served the Uesugi family for generations. Nobutoshi KAWAKUBO, a son of Shingen's younger brother Nobuzane KAWAKUBO, served Ieyasu TOKUGAWA as hatamoto and also reverted his family name to Takeda.

Principal vassales of the Kai-Takeda clan during the Sengoku period (the era of Shingen and Katsuyori) It is difficult to know the reality of its vassals because basic documents concerning the military system and territories of the vassals of the Takeda clan, such as the register of military service and tax ledgers, are no longer exist. Details concerning the vassals during the period from the last stage of the Harunobu (Shingen) to the Katsuyori era are seen in "Koyo Gunkan," a war chronicle written during the Edo period. These descriptions are widely known since the book prevailed among people during the Edo period. However, "Gunkan" was not used for empirical research for a long time because its value as historical records was denied by Yoshinari TANAKA during the Meiji period. In recent years, however, its value as historical records are being reviewed thanks to Kenji SAKAI's study that was conducted from the standpoint of Japanese language.

Minamoto no Yoshimitsu was famous in horsemanship and archery, here playing the shō

The Takeda are descendants of Emperor Seiwa (858–876) and are a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji), by Minamoto no Yoshimitsu (1056–1127), son of the Chinjufu-shōgun Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (988-1075), and brother to the famous Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039–1106). Minamoto no Yoshikiyo (1075–1149), son of Yoshimitsu, was the first to take the name of Takeda.

In the 12th century, at the end of the Heian period, the Takeda family controlled Kai Province. Along with a number of other families, they aided their cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo against the Taira clan in the Genpei War (1180–85). When Yoritomo was first defeated at Ishibashiyama (1181), Takeda Nobuyoshi (1128–86) was applied for help, and the Takeda sent an army of 25,000 men to support Yoritomo. Takeda Nobumitsu (1162–1248), son of Nobuyoshi, fought against the Taira, against Kiso Yoshinaka (1184), distinguished himself in the Battle of Ichinotani (1184), and was appointed Shugo (Governor) of Kai province. He also fought against the Northern Fujiwara (1189) and against Wada Yoshimori (1213). During the Jōkyū War, he helped the Hōjō, and led 50,000 soldiers as 'Daishogun of the Tosando' , and in reward received the governorship of Aki province (1221). Takeda Nobuhide (1413–40), eldest son of the Takeda Nobushige (1390–1465), Shugo of Aki, helped the 6th shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori (1394–1441) against the revolt of Isshiki Yoshitsura, and was granted the governorship of Wakasa province (1440). Takeda Nobukata (1420–71) inherited the titles of Shugo of Wakasa from his brother Nobuhide, and that of Shugo of Aki from his father Nobushige. During the Ōnin War (1467–77) he occupied Tango province that belonged to Isshiki Yoshinao, and was appointed Shugo of Tango (1469) by the bakufu. His brother Takeda Kuninobu (1437–90) received the titles of Shugo of Aki, Wakasa and Tango provinces, but lost Tango in 1474. Until the Sengoku period, the Takeda were Shugo of Kai (since Yoritomo), Aki (since 1221) and Wakasa (since 1440) provinces.

Immediately prior to the Sengoku period, the Takeda helped to suppress the Rebellion of Uesugi Zenshū (1416–1417).[3] Uesugi Zenshū (d. 1417) was the kanrei chief advisor to Ashikaga Mochiuji, an enemy of the central Ashikaga shogunate and the Kantō kubō governor-general of the Kantō region. Mochiuji, lord of the Uesugi clan, made a reprisal against the Takeda clan in 1415. This reprisal began a rivalry between the Uesugi and Takeda clans which would last roughly 150 years until the destruction of the Takeda clan at the end of the Sengoku period.[4] While this rivalry existed, the Takeda and the Uesugi still had a huge amount of respect for one another.

Komoro Castle, a Takeda clan's castle in Shinano province

Takeda Harunobu (1521 – 1573) succeeded his father Nobutora in 1540 and became shugo lord of Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. In this period the Takeda began to quickly expand from their base in Kai Province. In 1559, Harunobu changed his name to the better-known Takeda Shingen. He faced the Hōjō clan a number of times, and most of his expansion was to the north, where he fought his most famous battles against Uesugi Kenshin. This series of regional skirmishes is known as the Battles of Kawanakajima. The battles began in 1553, and the best known and severest among them was fought on September 10, 1561.[5]

Shingen is famous for his tactical genius, and innovations, though some historians have argued that his tactics were not particularly impressive nor revolutionary. Nevertheless, Shingen is perhaps most famous for his use of the cavalry charge at the Battle of Mikatagahara. The strength of Shingen's new tactic became so famous that the Takeda army came to be known as the kiba gundan (騎馬軍団), or 'mounted army'. Up until the mid-16th century and Shingen's rise to power, mounted samurai were primarily archers. There was already a trend at this time towards larger infantry-based armies, including a large number of foot archers. In order to defeat these missile troops, Shingen transformed his samurai from archers to lancers.

Gold coin of the Takeda clan of Kōshū (甲州金) in the 16th century, an early example of Japanese currency

Shingen died in on May 13, 1573, at age 53 from illness.[6][5] His son Takeda Katsuyori (1546–1582) effectively succeeded Shingen though the nominal head of the family was his grandson Takeda Nobukatsu; Katsuyori continued Shingen's aggressive expansion plan south and westward and was initially successful, briefly achieving the largest extent of Takeda rule. However, he was defeated in the Battle of Nagashino in 1575 by Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

After Nagashino, the Takeda clan fell into sharp decline as it had lost many of its most notable samurai during the battle. Katsuyori's position within the clan also became precarious (as he did not fully inherit the clan leadership position); in 1582, two of his relatives defected to the Oda/Tokugawa alliance and Nobunaga succeeded in destroying the Takeda clan shortly thereafter. The campaign saw most of the Takeda followers simply abandoning Katsuyori and the other Takeda family members to their fate. The clan was effectively eliminated, although descendants of the Takeda clan would take prominent positions in the Tokugawa shogunate, established in 1603.[5]

The Aki Takeda clan, established in Aki Province in the present-day western part of Hiroshima Prefecture.[1] Takeda Nobumitsu (1162–1248), Shugo of Kai, received the governorship of Aki province in 1221. Takeda Nobutake († 1362) was the last Takeda Shugo of the two provinces of Kai and Aki. His elder son Nobunari received Kai and the younger Ujinobu received Aki province.

The history of the Aki-Takeda clan dates back to the time when the fifth head Nobumitsu TAKEDA was appointed to shugo of Aki Province thanks to his distinguished war service during the Jokyu War. The clan initially dispatched shugodai, but the seventh head Nobutoki TAKEDA constructed the Sato Kanayama-jo Castle in Aki Province to prepare for Genko (Mongol invasion attempts against Japan) and started to rule the territory in earnest. The clan was appointed to the shugo of both Kai Province and Aki Province during the Northern and Southern Court period after the tenth head Nobutake Takeda achieved distinguished war service under Takauji ASHIKAGA. At that time, Ujinobu Takeda, the second son of Nobutake, set up a new branch family as shugo of Aki Province and became the founder of the Aki-Takeda clan. Ujinobu was removed by the bakufu from the position of shugo in 1368 and the clans of Ashikaga side, such as the Imagawa clan and the Hosokawa clan, served as shugo. However, the Aki-Takeda clan continued to exist at Kanayama-jo Castle as bungun-shugo (shugo of partial district).

As the clan was in rivalry with the Ouchi clan, it sided with the eastern forces in the Onin War and continued to confront the Ouchi clan, until the Sengoku period, in alliance with the Amako clan. However, in 1July 541 when Nobuzane Takeda was the ninth head of Aki-Takeda clan, Kanayama-jo Castle was ruined by Motonari MORI who was ordered to attack by the Ouchi clan, and the clan extinguished. Ekei ANKOKUJI, a monk who played the role of diplomat for the Mori clan during the period from the end of the Sengoku period to the Azuchi-Momoyama period, was the son of Nobushige Takeda (Aki-Takeda clan), a cousin of Nobuzane. Among the people of the Aki-Takeda clan, he was the sole person who is well-known from posterity.

The Aki Takeda were granted the governorship of Wakasa province in 1440. The Wakasa Takeda clan was established in Wakasa Province in present-day southern Fukui Prefecture, and separates from Aki in 1500 , when Takeda Motonobu (1461-1521) ruled Wakasa province, while his uncle Takeda Mototsuna (1441-1505) ruled Aki province.[1] The Wakasa Takeda were known for their patronage of the arts and developing the Takeda school of military etiquette.[2]

Nobumitsu ISAWAGORO constructed the Genriki-kiyama-jo Castle in Oi-gun, Wakasa Province in the Kamakura period. The history of the Wakasa-Takeda clan dates back to the time when Nobuhide TAKEDA, the eldest son of the fourth head of the Aki-Takeda clan Nobushige TAKEDA (Muromachi period), was appointed to shugo of Wakasa Province after he killed in 1440 the shugo of Wakasa Province Yoshitsura ISSHIKI at the behest of the sixth shogun of Muromachi bakufu Yoshinori ASHIKAGA. Nobuhide moved his base from Aki to Wakasa when he became shugo. During the era of Nobuhide, the residence of the Takeda clan was located at Takahama, Oi County (Takahama-cho), not at Obama, Onyu County (Obama City). After Nobuhide died of disease in 1441 at the age of twenty-eight, his younger brother Nobutaka TAKEDA succeeded him and ruled Wakasa and Aki Provinces. After the death of Nobutaka, the Takeda clan split in two, and Nobushige's fourth son Mototsuna Takeda and third son Kuninobu TAKEDA succeeded as the head of the Aki-Takeda and Wakasa-Takeda clans respectively.

Nobutaka TAKEDA suppressed the remnants of the Isshiki clan as well as uprisings in Wakasa Province, and when the Onin War occurred, he sided with the east forces and invaded Tango Province. He was trusted by the Muromachi bakufu and actively associated with men of culture. The third head Kuninobu and subsequent heads frequently sent the army to Kyoto in response to a request from the bakufu while ruling Wakasa and Tango Provinces. Because the clan's army stayed for long in Kyoto, the clan's power declined due to pressure exerted by neighboring provinces and the successive alienation of influential local samurai. In addition, succession disputes arose in the era of the eighth head Yoshizumi TAKEDA and the clan's power further eroded. Yoshizumi sheltered Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA in August 1566 when he came to Wakasa seeking the protection of his older sister's husband Yoshizumi, but Yoshiaki couldn't tolerate to see the confusion inside the clan and soon left for Echizen Province seeking the protection of the Asakura clan. In August 1568, two years later, the Wakasa-Takeda clan eventually lost its territory due to the invasion by the Asakura clan of Echizen.

The last head of the clan Motoaki TAKEDA was forced by the Asakura clan to live at Ichijodani-jo Castle, but he returned to Wakasa after the Asakura clan was ruined by Nobunaga ODA in 1573. However, Nobunaga left Wakasa to Nagahide NIWA and Motoaki was given only 3.000 koku (541.17 cubic meters of rice) at Ishiyama, Oi County. In the Honnoji Incident that occurred in 1582, he sided with Mitsuhide AKECHI with the aim of regaining former territory and occupied Nagahide NIWA's Sawayama-jo Castle. However, he was ordered to kill himself by Hideyoshi HASHIBA and Nagahide NIWA who defeated Mitsuhide, and the Wakasa-Takeda clan extinguished.

The Kazusa Takeda clan, established at the beginning of the Sengoku period in Kazusa Province in the present-day central area of Chiba Prefecture. Along with the Satomi clan of Awa Province in the southern part of present-day Chiba Prefecture the two clan replaced the dominance of the Chiba clan in the region. The Kazusa Takeda are also known as the Mariyatsu Takeda, a reference to their base of power, Mariyatsu Castle.[1]

The founder of the Kazusa-Takeda clan was Nobunaga TAKEDA, a son of Nobumitsu TAKEDA. He was allowed to rule Kazusa Province by Kogakubo (descendants of one of the Ashikaga families that held the office of Kanto region administrator) Toshishige ASHIKAGA. After the death of Nobutaka TAKEDA, a son of Nobunaga, the main family was based at Chonan-jo Castle and a branch family was based at Mariya-jo Castle. The main family sometimes called itself the Chonan clan based on the name of place. According to local oral tradition, Toyonobu TAKEDA, the last head of the Kazusa-Takeda clan, was identified with Shingen's third son Nobuyuki SAIHO, and some people asserted that he sheltered his younger brother Morinobu NISHINA after the Kai-Takeda clan extinguished. Toyonobu took a thorough anti-Oda/anti-Toyotomi position as a military commander under the Gohojo clan. In 1590 when his castle was besieged by the army of Toyotomi, which was then in the course of the suppression of Kanto, he committed suicide and the clan extinguished.

Meanwhile, a branch family based at Mariya Castle called itself the Mariya Clan (Mariyatsu clan). The clan possessed a wide territory ranging from the west to the central part of Kazusa Province during the early stage of the Sengoku period. It is said that Nobuyasu Mariya sheltered Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA, a son of Kogakubo Masauji ASHIKAGA, when he came to Kazusa after being defeated in the strife of succession and got Yoshiaki to call himself "Koyumikubo" while calling himself "Boso kanrei." When his second son Nobumasa MARIYA was born to his legal wife after he had handed over the real power in the clan to his illegitimate son Nobutaka MARIYA, vassals were divided into two groups of people who insisted the "legitimate son Nubumasa should be the successor" and another group of people who insisted "Nobutaka was already nominated as the successor and it shouldn't be changed". Although Nobutaka became the head of the clan after the death of Nobuyasu, vassals supporting Nobumasa soon expelled him from Mariya-jo Castle in alliance with Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA and Yoshitaka SATOMI. As a result, Nobutaka fled to Ujitsuna HOJO for shelter. It is said that the above was one of the causes for the Konodai Battle. After the above battle, Nobumasa MARIYA and his suppoters surrendered to the Hojo army and Nobutaka returned to the head of the clan. After Nobutaka's death, however, Yoshitaka SATOMI attacked and destroyed Nobutaka's successor Nobumasa MARIYA and put the Mariya clan under his control. However, the clan was again subdued by the Hojo clan after the Konodai Battle, and when the Toyotomi clan suppressed the Kanto region, it lost territory and fled to the Nasu clan for shelter. Thus, the Mariya clan shared the fate of the main family of Chonan.

Incidentally, Toyobu TAKEDA's son Ujinobu of the main family survived, moved to a neighboring village after the fall of Chonan-jo Castle while being protected by vassals and settled there as goshi (country samurai). This family managed to live through the Edo period and is still in existence today. Nothing was known about the branch family thereafter.

A branch family of the Wakasa-Takeda clan existed as a vassal of the Yamana clan, the shugo of Inaba Province. It is unknown from when the clan started to serve the Yamana clan of Inaba, but the name "Saemontayu TAKEDA" can be seen in the "Inryoken Nichiroku" dated December 16, 1491 as one of vassals of Toyotoki YAMANA. Kuninobu TAKEDA, a vassal of Nobumichi YAMANA, renovated Kyushozan-jo Castle (Tottori-jo Castle) in 1545, but he incurred his master's suspicion of rebellion because of the fortified castle and was assassinated. However, he was suspected of rebellion by his master since the renovated castle was fortified, and he was eventually assassinated. (there are several views concerning the death of Kuninobu, including the one asserting he died in the Battle of the Hashizu-gawa River in 1540) When Hiyodorio-jo Castle was constructed during the Tenmon era, Takanobu TAKEDA, the first son of Kuninobu, left Hiyodorio-jo Castle to his younger brother Matasaburo TAKEDA, entered Tottori-jo Castle and adopted a posture to confront shugo Toyokazu YAMANA. Takanobu, who had entered into an alliance with the Mori clan of Aki, killed the lord of Shikano-jo Castle Toyonari YAMANA (the son of Nobumichi) in 1563 by poisoning him, and he defeated Toyokazu in the Battle of Yutokoroguchi during April of the same year. Toyokazu fled to Shikano-jo Castle after being forced out of Fusetenjinyama-jo Castle, but he later died of disease. Katsuhisa AMAKO, a bereaved son of Shingu-to, an offshoot of the Amako clan of Izumo Province, and Shikanosuke YAMANAKA entered Koshikiyama Castle in 1573. The Takeda clan attacked the castle in order to fight against the allied forces of Toyokuni YAMANA and Katsuhisa AMAKO, but it was defeated and withdrew to Hiyodorio-jo Castle after handing over Tottori Castle to its master Yamana clan. In 1578 when the Kusakari clan, a local lord of Mimasaka Province, constructed Yodoyama-jo Castle in Chizu County, Inaba Province, the Yamana clan pitched its camp at Daigi-ji Temple in Sanuki, Inaba Province in order to subjugate it and invited Takanobu TAKEDA to a war council. When Takanobu entered the temple, the Yamana clan closed the gate and killed him, and the Takeda clan in Inaba was extinguished. According to "Intoku Taiheiki" and "Inaba Mindanki," Gengoro TAKEDA and Genzaburo TAKEDA (Sukenobu TAKEDA), bereaved sons of Takanobu, stayed with Mototsugu NANJO and Hidekane MORI respectively. It is said that Toyokuni YAMANA, who became the lord of Muraoka domain, employed Genzaburo TAKEDA with 200 koku (55.6 cubic meters of rice). In fact, the Takeda clan was listed in the "Yamanake kafunotoki hanshi kakuroku jinmei" compiled in January 1868. Judging from the above, there is no doubt that some people of the Inaba-Takeda clan became retainers of the Muraoka domain and served the Yamana clan until the Meiji Restoration.

Kuninobu TAKEDA (the governor of Buzen Province) Takanobu TAKEDA (the eldest son) Sukenobu TAKEDA (became a retainer of the Muraoka domain and served Toyokuni YAMANA)

The Takeda clan in Hitachi Province (1) It was founded by Toshikiyo TAKEDA, the son of MINAMOTO no Yoshimitsu, in Takeda-go, Naka-gun, Hitachi Province.

The Takeda clan in Hitachi Province (2) Nobuhisa TAKEDA, the son of the twelfth head of the Kai-Takeda clan Nobuharu Takeda, moved from Kai Province to Kitaura in Hitachi Province in 1392 and constructed his residential castle. He founded a school of swordplay while governing his territory. Akisuke TAKEDA and Hisanori served for Mito domain and became the master of swordplay. They practiced, in addition to ancestral swordplay, Hokushin ittoryu swordplay, Kashima-shintoryu and Tenshin shoden Katori shintoryu and passed them on to Sukenaga TAKEDA. Sukenaga TAKEDA established Takeda shintoryu based on the above. The clan is still in existence today.

The Takeda clan in Hitachi Province (3) When the Takeda clan was extinguished, the Atobe clan, a branch family of the Kai-Takeda clan served as shugodai until the Sengoku period, and became a vassal of the Tokugawa clan betraying the master family. Since then, the descendants served the Mito domain (Mito Tokugawa family). At the end of Edo period, Kounsai TAKEDA, who disliked the family name Atobe because it reminded him of the betrayal of the master family, reverted the family name to Takeda with the approval of his lord Nariaaki TOKUGAWA.

Kounsai TAKEDA (zo shoshii - Senior Fourth Rank, posthumously conferred - a vassal of the Mito domain, the son of Masatsugu ATOBE, an adopted son of Masafusa ATOBE of the main family) Kaisuke TAKEDA (the son of Masao)

During the Sengoku period, the Takeda clan, that followed the Gohojo clan, existed in Sagami Province. It is said the Takeda clan in Sagami mediated when Nobutaka Mariya of the Kazusa-Takeda clan sought shelter with the Hojo clan. Other than the above-mentioned, it is believed that the Chosokabe clan in Tosa Province was a branch family of the Takeda clan.

• Takeda Nobutora – Shingen's father
• Takeda Shingen – one of Japan's most famous warlords, Shingen expanded his domains greatly, and became one of the major powers in the country for a time. Known for his massive sense of honor in battle.
• Takeda Katsuyori – Shingen's son, Katsuyori commanded his father's armies after his death, and saw the fall of the Takeda family.
• Takeda Nobushige – Shingen's younger brother, held their father's favour to be heir of the clan, continued to support his older brother throughout his life, he also wrote the Kyūjūkyū Kakun, a set of 99 short rules for Takeda house members.
• Takeda Sōkaku (1859–1943) was the restorer of the Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu school of jūjutsu, and the first to teach the art outside of the Takeda family.[7]