Kai Province

Kai Province (甲斐国, Kai-no-kuni) was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Yamanashi Prefecture. Kai bordered on Sagami, Suruga, Shinano and Musashi Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Kōshū (甲州). The origin of its name is uncertain. It lies in central Honshū, west of Tokyo, in a landlocked mountainous region that includes Mount Fuji along its border with modern Shizuoka Prefecture.

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History

Kai was one of the original provinces of Japan established in the Nara period under the Taihō Code. The original capital of the province was located in what is now Fuefuki. Under the Engishiki classification system, Kai was ranked as a "superior country" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the 16 “middle countries” (中国) in terms of distance from the capital. Although not directly on the Tōkaidō, it was also included as one of the Tōkaidō provinces.

Numerous remains from the Kofun period have been found in Kai. During the Heian period, the area came under the control of the Kai Genji, who controlled the province throughout the Kamakura period. During the Sengoku period, a branch of the clan, the Takeda clan rose to prominence. The warlord Takeda Shingen, ruled Kai from his stronghold at Kōfu and expanded the holdings of the clan to include Shinano and Suruga Provinces, and engaged in constant warfare against the Uesugi clan in Echigo Province. After the Takeda were defeated by a coalition led by Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, Kai Province came briefly under the rule of Nobunaga’s retainer Kawajiri Hidetaka. After Nobunaga’s assassination, the province was contested between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Go-Hōjō clan based in Odawara. However, after the destruction of the Go-Hōjō by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590, the province was ruled by a succession of Toyotomi loyalists.

Samurai Warriors 3

Samurai Warriors 3 (戦国無双3, Sengoku Musō 3, Sengoku Musou 3 in Japan) is the third installment in the Samurai Warriors series, created by Tecmo Koei and Omega Force. The game was released in Japan on December 3, 2009, in Europe on May 28, 2010, in Australia on June 10, 2010, and in North America on September 28, 2010 for the Wii.

Shigeru Miyamoto from Nintendo attended the game's Press Conference on August 5, 2009, to present a new mode in the game based on the Famicom Disk System game The Mysterious Murasame Castle. Nintendo published and distributed the game outside Japan for the Wii.

A sequel, Samurai Warriors 4, was announced at a SCEJ press conference in September 2013.

Story

Like other games in the series, the game reinvents the story based on the Sengoku period of Japan, a period where Japan was ruled by powerful daimyos and where constant military conflict and much political intrigue happened that lasted from the middle of 16th century to the beginning of 17th century. However, the game has a slightly extended time frame compared to the previous game; while Samurai Warriors 2 is mostly focused on the events leading to the great battle of Sekigahara, this game also covers the events beforehand.

Samurai Warriors

Samurai Warriors (戦国無双, Sengoku Musō, Sengoku Musou in Japan, lit. Unrivaled Warring States) is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based loosely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and it is a sister series of the Dynasty Warriors series, released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004. A port of this game called Samurai Warriors: State of War has been released for the PlayStation Portable, which includes additional multiplayer features.

Gameplay

In the basic gameplay of Samurai Warriors, the player takes the role of a single officer in battle and must fend off hordes of enemy soldiers and defeat the enemy commander. The player has at their disposal a range of combo attacks and crowd-clearing special moves known as Musou attacks. The variety of attacks available increase as the character increases in level and gains new weapons.

Musou attacks can only be performed when the character's Musou gauge has filled up, which does so gradually when the player inflicts or receives damage. Additionally, if the player is low on health or possess a special skill, they can use their special True Musou attack which causes elemental damage in addition to normal damage as well as adds on a trio of attacks that cleans up the final few enemies in the vicinity. One difference between Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors is the ability to perform free-style combo attacks during Musou attack mode, during which the game enters bullet-time; common soldiers move very slowly, however officers are unaffected. Other abilities that Samurai characters have over the Dynasty series include the ability to perform a roll to dodge attacks, and deflect incoming arrows with their weapon.

Takeda

Takeda (武田氏, Takeda) is a Japanese family name. Throughout the course of the Sengoku period (16th century) of Japan, the famed Takeda clan of Kai province had many descendant branch families.

People

Takeda clan

The Takeda clan (武田氏, Takeda-shi) is a Japanese clan active from the late Heian Period (794 – 1185). The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture.

Crests

Major figures

Nobushige, Nobutake, Nobumitsu, Nobuyoshi, Nobutora, Harunobu (Shingen), Katsuyori

History

Origin

The Takeda were descendants of Emperor Seiwa (850-880) and are a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji), by Minamoto no Yoshimitsu (1056–1127), brother to the Chinjufu-shogun Minamoto no Yoshiie (1039–1106). Minamoto no Yoshikiyo (1075? – 1149?), son of Yoshimitsu, was the first to take the name of Takeda.

Kamakura to early Azuchi–Momoyama periods

In the 12th century, at the end of the Heian period, the Takeda family controlled Kai Province. Along with a number of other families, they aided their cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo against the Taira clan in the Genpei War. When Minamoto no Yoritomo was first defeated at Ishibashiyama (1181), Takeda Nobuyoshi was applied for help and the Takeda sent an army of 20,000 men to support Yoritomo. Takeda Nobumitsu (1162–1248), helped the Hōjō during the Shokyu War (1221) and in reward received the governorship of Aki Province. Until the Sengoku period, the Takeda were shugo of Kai, Aki and Wakasa provinces.