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← Back to the character index Kai and Shinano
Yamagata Masakage Sanada Nobuyuki
Sanada Masayuki
Master of Stratagems

Sanada Masayuki

Kai and Shinano
Sanada Masayuki
Life 1547–1611 (aged 65)
Title Master of Stratagems
Faction Kai and Shinano
Places associated with this character Shinano (1575–1600), Yamato (1601–1611)
Voice and speech His Shinano speech is probing, turning suddenly cold and low when discussing the Sanada’s survival.
Family Lord of Ueda Castle in Shinano. After the Takeda fell, he navigated between the Oda, Hōjō, Uesugi, Tokugawa, and Toyotomi, making the Sanada an independent house.
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“He can teach how the small may overcome the great among a pack of wolves. He reveals his plans to those who understand the struggle of protecting a house, but trusts no one who takes a careless position.”

Life

The Cunning Strategist

Ambition

As a minor lord in Shinano, preyed upon by great powers, use every scheme and all his wit to keep the Sanada alive.

After losing two elder brothers at Nagashino, he unexpectedly inherited the Sanada house from the Mutō. He will use all the strategy he learned from Lord Shingen to outmaneuver the great powers and keep the Sanada banner flying.

If he rests safely beneath a great power, his land may be taken and the whole clan destroyed as expendable pawns.

Obstacles of the era
  • The territorial ambitions of the superpowers surrounding him: Tokugawa, Hōjō, and Uesugi
  • The overwhelming enemy forces, several times larger and at points tenfold, at Ueda Castle
  • The harsh confinement of exile at Kudoyama after Sekigahara

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

Unmatched strategy and castlecraft that made Hideyoshi marvel at him as “a cunning man, never to be trusted carelessly.”

Turning point

The shock of losing both elder brothers, Nobutsuna and Masateru, in the Battle of Nagashino.

How he treats others

His sons Nobuyuki and Nobushige, who accepted his decision to split between east and west so the Sanada bloodline would survive on both sides.

Principle he will not yield

Yielding to a great power’s threats, surrendering unconditionally, and selling out the Sanada pride.

Historical path

1575 - 1581
A former Takeda retainer who lost two brothers at Nagashino and suddenly inherited the Sanada house
His Shinano speech is probing, turning suddenly cold when he speaks of the Sanada house’s survival.
1582 - 1599
The lord of Ueda who navigated between Oda, Hōjō, Uesugi, and Tokugawa, repelling great armies with few men
He hides a blade in his jokes and speaks with cold precision about the course of battle.
1600
The schemer who split the family at Inubushi and delayed Hidetada’s great army at the Second Battle of Ueda
His Shinano voice is icy when discussing affairs of state; only with family does his suppressed affection show.
1601 - 1611
The fallen elder commander, exiled to Kudoyama in Kii and confined in despondency
He speaks little and sounds lonely; only discussion of strategy restores the sharpness in his eyes.

Final chapter

1611 (aged 65)

He sided with the western army at Sekigahara and delayed Tokugawa Hidetada’s forces at Ueda Castle, but lost the war. Ieyasu ordered his execution, but Nobuyuki and others pleaded for his life; he was exiled to Kudoyama in Kii. His hopes of returning ended, and he died of illness in the mountains on the 4th day of the 6th month, Keichō 16 (1611), aged sixty-five.

On his deathbed, he shared a secret plan for defeating the Tokugawa with Nobushige, laughed that “the Tokugawa are nothing to fear,” and died.
“The extraordinary commander who repelled Tokugawa armies at Ueda Castle twice did not die in battle. He passed away of old age in a humble mountain hermitage in Kii, burdened by drink and debt—a bitter end.”