Baba Nobuharu

Baba Nobuharu

Baba Nobuharu ( Japanese 馬 場 信 春 ; * 1514/15; † June 29, 1575 in Nagashino ), also known as Baba Nobufusa ( 馬 場 信 房 ), was a samurai of the Japanese Sengoku period and one of Takeda Shingen's 24 generals , his most valued commanders. Baba fought in the battles of Mikatagahara and Nagashino , where he led the vanguard of Takeda Katsuyori , Takeda Shingen's son, on the right flank. At Fukashi Castle (now Matsumoto Castle ) in 1550, he relied on Baba. At Mikatagahara in 1573 he led the vanguard in the pursuit of Tokugawa Ieyasu 's army and threw them back as far as Hamamatsu fortress; when he saw that the gates were open and the braziers lit, he mistook it for a trap and stopped pursuing the fleeing army. He died in Nagashino three years later when two samurai attacked him with spears at the same time and cut off his head.

He got the title Mino no Kami after his predecessor Hara Toratane succumbed to his injuries from the battle.

The Koyo Gunkan says that Shingen often entrusted Nobuharu with important tasks. Before Nagashino he fought in 21 battles without being wounded once. He was one of Takeda Shingen's closest confidants , one of his 24 generals and the messenger of Shingen's family treasures in the Enkoin Temple at the foot of Amano Mountain in Kofu . Among the 24 generals he is also one of the five to whom Shingen announced his last will and who guarded the secret of his death. There was an official burial six years later, but his real grave was not discovered by chance until over 200 years later in Kofu near the Enkoin Temple. He died in 1575.

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  Tomb of Baba Minonokami Nobuharu

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  Nobuharu at the Battle of Nagashino

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  General's coat of arms

literature

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook . London: Cassell & Co.
• http://www16.plala.or.jp/enkoin/

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Baba is the family name, Nobuharu the first name.