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Shingen had been a warlord of great domestic skill and competent military leadership. He was a complicated figure, at times utterly cruel. Earlier in his life, he had forced [[Suwa Yorishige]] to commit suicide (or had him murdered) after the two warlords had signed a peace treaty, and then proceeded to take Suwa's daughter as a mistress, ignoring the fact that she was technically his own niece. In [[1565]], as mentioned above, he ordered his own son, Yoshinobu, confined to a temple and evidently made him commit suicide for treasonous activity, as well as the man who had once been his guardian, Obu Toramasa. His domestic policies demonstrate the duality of Takeda Shingen. On one hand, he kept two iron cauldrons on hand to boil alive certain criminals (a practice considered sufficiently cruel enough to provoke Tokugawa Ieyasu to have the cauldrons destroyed years later). On the other, he did away with corporal punishment for most minor offences, instituting in it's place a system of fines - an act that earned him considerable praise from the peasants and townspeople of Kai. Shingen's law was not considered overly harsh, and his was one of the few Sengoku Period administrations prior to [[1582]] to tax most of his subjects evenly (most exempted powerful samurai families and/or religious establishments) and with the option of payment in either gold or rice (a forerunner, in some ways, to the later Kandaka system).  

Shingen had been a warlord of great domestic skill and competent military leadership. He was a complicated figure, at times utterly cruel. Earlier in his life, he had forced [[Suwa Yorishige]] to commit suicide (or had him murdered) after the two warlords had signed a peace treaty, and then proceeded to take Suwa's daughter as a mistress, ignoring the fact that she was technically his own niece. In [[1565]], as mentioned above, he ordered his own son, Yoshinobu, confined to a temple and evidently made him commit suicide for treasonous activity, as well as the man who had once been his guardian, Obu Toramasa. His domestic policies demonstrate the duality of Takeda Shingen. On one hand, he kept two iron cauldrons on hand to boil alive certain criminals (a practice considered sufficiently cruel enough to provoke Tokugawa Ieyasu to have the cauldrons destroyed years later). On the other, he did away with corporal punishment for most minor offences, instituting in it's place a system of fines - an act that earned him considerable praise from the peasants and townspeople of Kai. Shingen's law was not considered overly harsh, and his was one of the few Sengoku Period administrations prior to [[1582]] to tax most of his subjects evenly (most exempted powerful samurai families and/or religious establishments) and with the option of payment in either gold or rice (a forerunner, in some ways, to the later Kandaka system).  

Perhaps the greatest praise paid Shingen was by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself. Following the defeat of Katsuyori in 1582 and the death of Oda Nobunaga, Ieyasu assumed control of Kai, and borrowed freely from Shingen's style and techniques of governance, which he later included in his model for the Tokugawa Shogunate.  

Perhaps the greatest praise paid Shingen was by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself. Following the defeat of Katsuyori in 1582 and the death of Oda Nobunaga, Ieyasu assumed control of Kai, and borrowed freely from Shingen's style and techniques of governance, which he later included in his model for the Tokugawa Shogunate.  

Just prior to his death, Shingen had called from his bed for [[Yamagata Masakage]], one of ablest men, to raise his flags at Seta Bridge (the traditional eastern gate to Kyoto). He then collapsed back into his bed and died soon afterwards. In lieu of a death poem, he left the following words, borrowed from Zen literature, "It is largely left to her own natural bodily perfection, and she has no special need to resort to artificial coloring and powdering to look beautiful."8

Just prior to his death, Shingen had called from his bed for [[Yamagata Masakage]], one of ablest men, to raise his flags at Seta Bridge (the traditional eastern gate to Kyoto). He then collapsed back into his bed and died soon afterwards. In lieu of a death poem, he left the following words, borrowed from Zen literature, "It is largely left to her own natural bodily perfection, and she has no special need to resort to artificial coloring and powdering to look beautiful."9

==Notes to the Text==

==Notes to the Text==

7 The Battle of Mikatagahara left 1,180 of Tokugawa's men dead while the Takeda lost somewhat less then 400. The majority of Takeda's losses came about as the result of a bold raid ordered that same night by Tokugawa and led by Okubo Tadayo and Amano Yasukage. This action is sometimes known as the Battle of Saigadake. The Oda men present were under the command of Takigawa Kazumasu, Hirade Norihide, and Sakuma Nobumori - of these only Hirade, who was killed, stood before the Takeda onslaught. This battle has sometimes been recorded as occuring in December of 1572; this does not account, however, for the difference in the Japanese lunar calender.  

7 The Battle of Mikatagahara left 1,180 of Tokugawa's men dead while the Takeda lost somewhat less then 400. The majority of Takeda's losses came about as the result of a bold raid ordered that same night by Tokugawa and led by Okubo Tadayo and Amano Yasukage. This action is sometimes known as the Battle of Saigadake. The Oda men present were under the command of Takigawa Kazumasu, Hirade Norihide, and Sakuma Nobumori - of these only Hirade, who was killed, stood before the Takeda onslaught. This battle has sometimes been recorded as occuring in December of 1572; this does not account, however, for the difference in the Japanese lunar calender.  

8 Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture pg. 82. The 'she' in the passage is a reference to life, or reality.  

8 See: Narumoto, Tatsuya. "Sengoku Bushou Omoshiro Jiten", Japan, 1998

 

9 Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture pg. 82. The 'she' in the passage is a reference to life, or reality.