Kojima Yataro

• Distinction: Uesugi retainer

Yatarô first served Nagao Tamekage, then Uesugi Kenshin. He was known as a fearsome warrior and was nicknamed “Devil Yatarô”. He is perhaps best remembered for an incident that occurred during a battle at Kawanakajima: Yatarô was sent to the Takeda headquarters as a messenger and found himself set upon by a guard dog. Without blinking he calmly held the dog down and delivered his message to Takeda Shingen. Once he was done, he quickly dispatched the animal with his bare hands and left.

References

• Initial text from Samurai-Archives.com FWSeal & CEWest, 2005