Yamagata Masakage: A Samurai Warrior

A samurai, one of Japan’s most fierce warriors, came from many years ago. There are many samurai warriors that have made history and are now famous samurai warriors. One example of a famous samurai warrior is Yamagata Masakage. Yamagata Masakage is know as one of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen”. He was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. According to the text, Yamagata was a fierce warrior who fought in many battles and was given a fief in Shinano and he was present at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1569 and captured Yoshida Castle, a Tokugawa possession, during the Mikatagahara Campaign (1572–73) and was present for the following Battle of Mikatagahara. In the text, in also says that during the "3rd Kawanakajima" campaign (1557) he raided far into Uesugi territory, capturing Otari castle which until then had safeguarded the Itoigawa route into the Uesugi heartland, and this weakened the Uesugi strategical position and prompted their withdrawal. In his time, Yamagata was known as one of the fiercest of the Takeda warriors for his ability to fight and for capturing a

In 1575, Yamagata tried to persuade Takeda Katsuyori to call off twice at the attack of Nagashino, for he knew there was a trap. Katsuyori didn’t listen to Yamagata, so they all had to pay the price for Katsuyori’s mistake. Yamagata, Takeda, and all their other men went into battle with their planned attack, but only they lost. Yamagata and his “red fire unit”, were all shot down on horse while charging together. They all died together in 1575. According to the text, there was a legend. According to legend, Shingen called out to Yamagata from his deathbed in 1573 and ordered him to plant his banners at the Seta Bridge, the traditional eastern gateway to Kyôto. Li Naomasa from the Tokugawa clan was inspired by Yamagata's red color, he made tribute to him by naming his army the "Red Devil