The battle

Behind the wooden fencing waited some 3,000 Oda troops armed with matchlock guns. The gun had only been introduced to Japan about twenty years before by Portuguese traders, but already the value of the weapon had been recognized by the samurai and Oda Nobunaga in particular.

The Takeda forces front-line samurai were dressed in red lacquered armor. Running onto the narrow battlefield, they first encountered the soft muddy rice paddies, which caused a slowdown. They then had to cross the small river, and through more flooded rice paddies before reaching the fence.

Hardly any of them got that far. The Oda forces gunners felled them almost immediately in great blasts of continuous gunfire. After the first volley, Takeda Katsuyori sent a second wave of samurai into action. Within seconds they were felled by more matchlock fire. Katsuyori, shocked, sent yet another line of troops, which too were mown down before they could get anywhere near the Tokugawa and Oda troops.

Nobunaga is said to have organized his gunners into lines of three around the barricades. After the first guns were fired, the second line took aim and shot. Then the third line advanced, took aim and shot. By then, the first line had reloaded, and were ready to continue shooting the enemy.

Eight hours later, 10,000 Takeda and 6,000 Tokugawa/Oda troops lay dead across the valley. The much feared Takeda had been decimated and the clan would end seven years later.

A few hundred meters of the wooden fencing has been recreated by the Shinshiro City Council providing a good idea of what conditions would have looked like over 400 years ago. From the palisade, you can look out over the rice paddies and Rengo River to where the Takeda launched their attack.

The various war camps on both sides can still be visited, with maps and details of the sites and memorial stones available (in Japanese).

Every May, members of the local matchlock teams don their samurai armor and with matchlock guns in hand, recreate the battle. The guns, all real, are loaded only with gunpowder, but a big bang, a shower of sparks, and clouds of thick smoke make for some exciting entertainment. Other events take place in July, and on August 15 when a fire dance is held as part of a memorial service for the war dead.

The museum

Shinshiro City's Shitaragahara Historical Museum on the Takeda side of the valley is probably one of Japan’s better battlefield museums, containing an impressive range of items and documents related to the battle. There is a large selection of matchlock guns, old maps, armor and helmets, scrolls, paintings, and video presentations available to help illustrate this important battle. While English guidance is scarce, simply seeing these relics of history helps to portray the epic fight. And remember to take a trip up to the roof for a view of the surrounding area where the action took place.
You can also learn about Tadanori Iwase, a diplomat around during the end of the Shogunate, when Japan was reopened to the rest of the world, who had ties with the city of Shinshiro.

The battlefield and museum are a must see for fans of Japanese history and samurai. Add to your trip a visit to the nearby ruins of Nagashino Castle and their excellent but small museum too for a full experience of samurai history that took place in Aichi Prefecture.