Anayama Baisetsu
Japanese: 穴山 梅雪 (Anayama Baisetsu)
Anayama was the son of Anayama Nobutomo and Takeda Shingen's older sister. He was married to Takeda Shingen's daughter Kenshô-in (his cousin) and is remembered as being one of 'Shingen's Twenty-Four Generals', serving at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima (1561) and Mikatagahara (1572), among many other frays. Anayama was given a castle and land in Suruga province after it was taken in 1569, and remained there for a decade. He maintained an important place in the Takeda hierarchy under Shingen's son Katsuyori, and led a large body of troops at Nagashino in 1575. He appears to have had some falling out with Katsuyori, and this may have influenced his decision to betray the Takeda clan and join Tokugawa Ieyasu even before the issue was decided. His change of allegiance was fleeting, however. Just a few months later, he accompanied Tokugawa to the capital region and was forced to flee when Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled. He took a different route home than Ieyasu and the others, and was killed (see also: Hattori Hanzo). One legend has it that vengeful Takeda men had done the deed, having tracked Anayama for weeks.
References
- Initial text from Samurai-Archives.com FWSeal & CEWest, 2005
- Shinchokoki
