Who was this person?
A commander of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods whose real name was Sanada Nobushige. The second son of Sanada Masayuki, he sided with the West at Sekigahara and was exiled to Kudoyama (Wakayama). Joining the Toyotomi at Osaka, he repelled Tokugawa troops from the "Sanada-maru" outwork in the winter campaign and, in the summer campaign, charged as far as Ieyasu’s headquarters before he died.
| Name | Sanada Yukimura (Nobushige) (真田幸村（信繁）) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1567 – 1615 |
| Period | Sengoku–Edo |
| Also known as | Sanada Nobushige (real name), Saemon-no-suke |
| Main achievements |
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Born the second son of Sanada Masayuki, a warrior of Shinano (Nagano) (birth year debated). His real name was Nobushige; "Yukimura" spread through Edo-period tales.
In the year his father Masayuki repelled Tokugawa Ieyasu's large army at Ueda castle, he was sent as a hostage to Uesugi Kagekatsu. The small Sanada house was fighting to survive among great powers.
When the Sanada submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he served Hideyoshi in Osaka, won his favor and later married a daughter of Hideyoshi's senior retainer Ōtani Yoshitsugu.
At Sekigahara he and his father joined the Western Army, while his brother Nobuyuki, married to a daughter of Tokugawa general Honda Tadakatsu, joined the East—so the family would survive either way, it is said (the Inubushi parting). At Ueda castle they held up Tokugawa Hidetada's large army, which arrived too late for Sekigahara.
After the West's defeat, his brother's pleas spared him death, and he was exiled with his father to Kudoyama in Kii. Life was hard; one story says they made and sold Sanada braided cord.
His father Masayuki died at Kudoyama. Nobushige took vows under the name Kōhaku and lived quietly.
Invited by Toyotomi Hideyori, he slipped out of Kudoyama and entered Osaka Castle. He built the outwork "Sanadamaru" south of the castle and inflicted heavy losses on the attacking Tokugawa forces.
In the Summer Siege of Osaka he charged Ieyasu's headquarters again and again, coming within a step of him, it is said. Exhausted after the battle, he was struck down and lost his life. A Shimazu record praised him as "the finest warrior in Japan".
A. A commander of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods whose real name was Sanada Nobushige. The second son of Sanada Masayuki, he sided with the West at Sekigahara and was exiled to Kudoyama (Wakayama). Joining the Toyotomi at Osaka, he repelled Tokugawa troops from the "Sanada-maru" outwork in the winter campaign and, in the summer campaign, charged as far as Ieyasu’s headquarters before he died.
A. Period: Sengoku–Edo. Born in 1567, died in 1615.
A. Letters from his lifetime are signed Nobushige; the name Yukimura seems to have spread through Edo-period war tales and storytelling. Today he is popularly known as Sanada Yukimura.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Toyotomi HideyoshiTokugawa IeyasuSanada MasayukiHonda TadakatsuUesugi KagekatsuToyotomi HideyoriTokugawa HidetadaŌtani Yoshitsugu
William Adams (Miura Anjin)Ikeda TerumasaŌtani YoshitsuguDate MasamuneTachibana MuneshigeKuroda NagamasaYodo-donoItō Mancio
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.