After long years of battle after battle, Katsuchiyo's father Nobutora was at last able to suppress the last rebellious elements of Kai province.

In order to make peace with a warlord who was until yesterday your enemy, one of the bad customs of the Sengoku period was to give or receive a daughter in a political marriage, and thus become relatives. Sometimes the warlords themselves are married to the former enemies daughter, and sometimes the two parties marry thier children together instead. Katsuchiyo's mother was also a victim of this 'marriage of convenience' when she was married to Nobutora. However, Nobutora already had a wife, so she was little more than a mistress.

Nobutora himself was quite a playboy, and thus liked the whole concept of the political marriage. Katsuchiyo's mother's father was Ôi Nobutatsu. His ancestors had branched from Nobutora's ancestors, so the Takeda clan and the Ôi clan were related. However, when Nobutora consolodated the Takeda clan, Ôi Nobutatsu said, "I'm supposed to make myself a vassal to this good for nothing violent fool?" and quickly left Kôfu for the Western district (modern day Nakakoma district), and shut himself up in his castle. Aside from Nobutatsu, a significant number of other powerful families had the same reaction. Nobutora was angered by Nobutatsu's behavior, and said, "As proof of your loyalty, give me your daughter!" And that is how Katsuchiyo's mother became Nobutora's mistress. That woman gave birth to Nobutora's first son. Nobutora's feelings about this were complicated, and was probably a factor in his coldness towards Katsuchiyo.

After quelling the rebellious elements of Kai, Nobutora turned his attention to the Kanto and Chûbu regions. Kai is mountainous country with a small population and little good farmland, and has no access to the ocean. Salt and fish are also hard to come by. Nobutora wanted land with ocean access, however, simply thinking about getting land won't get you anywhere. The surrounding provinces with ocean access were controlled by various powerful Daimyo. In the Kanto area, Hojo Soun's son Ujitsuna controlled Odawara, and controlling Suruga and Totomi was the distinguished family of Imagawa Ujichika. These were not weak opponents. Nobutora realized that military might alone was no good. He made up his mind to gain the support of the shogun, or join forces with some of the Shogunal Deputioes - the Kanrei. At that time, the Shogun in Kyoto was Ashikaga Yoshiharu. His executives - the Kanrei - were located in Kamakura and other areas.

The Uesugi held this position, and their family lines were very complicated. Nobutora himself fell into one of the many of these lines. He had his eyes on the lord of Edo castle, Uesugi Tomooki. At first, the Shôgun gave a lot of gold and other valuables to the Uesugi. Thus, everyone commented on how admirable Takeda Nobutora was. However, Uesugi Tomooki was weak in war, and always lost in battle against the Hojo armies. eventually, he was driven from Edo castle altogether, and moved to Kawagoe castle. Even at Kawagoe, he was in a dangerous position.

Couriers came to Nobutora one after the other on behalf of Tomooki, with the message "I need your assistance as soon as possible". At this time, Nobutora was at Tsutsujigasaki in Kofu. Kofu was the capital of Kai province. Nobutora built the mansion at Tsutsujigasaki in Eisho 16 (1519), two years before the birth of Katsuchiyo. Yogai castle on Maruyama mountain, the place of Katsuchiyo's birth, was primarily a castle for war, whereas the Tsutsujigasaki fortress was not a castle at all, but a mansion. Regarding this, Nobutora said, "we don't war on my land. We always go out on the offensive." He believed in attacking and invading other provinces, not in defending his own. His son Takeda Shingen also adopted this policy. Shingen's famous words "people are the castles, people are the stone walls..." show this. Meaning, Shingen would not war within his own lands, but would only fight abroad. Thus, castles were not needed within the borders of Kai; the warriors were the castles, the stone walls, and the builders of Kai. However, it can't be said that words such as these express Shingen's affection for his warriors. The circumstances of this age were very severe. You can not survive on affection alone. The phrase 'The soldiers are the castles of Kai' is more naturally an extension of Shingen's policy of staying on the offensive and attacking other provinces, as opposed to an expression of pride or affection for his men.

The more Nobutora got on friendly terms with the Ashikaga Shogun and Uesugi Tomooki, the more Nobutora's chief retainers began to worry about their lord. This was because the more entwined in the aristocratic atmosphere Nobutora became, the more he became used to a luxurious and decadent lifestyle. The retainers began to worry that Nobutora was becoming soft, and could be betrayed by any of these new 'friends' at any moment. They would advise, 'We think you should cut your ties with that group. We don't need them. We can fight our own battles.' But, Nobutora would not listen. He had already become accustomed to this 'aristocraticness'. Nobutora had gained a disdain for the lifestyle of the 'mountain monkeys' of Koshu and the country bumpkin Daimyo. Nobutora wanted to be surrounded by courtesans, living a gaudy and excessive lifestyle. It appears that he entertained such base dreams.

In the second year of Temmon (1533), Katsuchiyo turned thirteen. About this time, his father came to him and said, most unexpectedly, 'You're getting a wife.'

(3)

Katsuchiyo was obviously surprised at his fathers statement. He hadn't even had his Genpuku (coming of age) ceremony - he was still just thirteen. Shocked, he gazed back at his father.

'Your bride will be a daughter of Uesugi Tomooki. This connection will raise the prestige of the Takeda name a bit. The Takeda mountain monkeys will now join the ranks of the more distinguished families.' Nobutora was quite pleased with himself.

'So it's come to this at last,' thought Katsuchiyo. Uesugi was little more than a treacherous aristocrat, and weak in war, but with an ability to take advantage of peoples personal weaknesses. Uesugi knew that Nobutora loved women, and had a particular weakness for the high-class courtesans. A bit before this, one of Tomooki's relatives - Uesugi Norifusa - died, and Tomooki forced his widow into becoming one of Nobutora's concubines - 'for the good of the Uesugi'. Naturally, Nobutora was thrilled with this, and took the widow as his concubine. Now, Katsuchiyo was to receive one of Tomooki's daughters as his wife - no doubt due to the influence the treacherous Tomooki had gained over Nobutora with grand words and colorful speeches.

'How's that sound, Katsuchiyo?' Nobunaga sneered arrogantly at the silent Katsuchiyo. He didn't answer.

'You will take a wife!' Nobutora yelled, and struck him. Katsuchiyo felt anger well up inside himself, and without thinking, glared back at his father icily. At this, Nobutora became all the more angered. 'Don't look at me like that! You have never shown me proper respect!' he yelled. Nobutora had never forgotten the way that Katsuchiyo would stare at him as an infant. Katsuchiyo's blood ran cold. He was gripped by loneliness and misery, something the average thirteen year old boy had probably never felt.

-Translated by C.E.West