Letter from Sanada Masayuki, addressed to Takahashi Keisuke
6 September 1581 (Tenshō 9)
Donated by the Homma family
This is a letter from Sanada Masayuki to his retainer Takahashi Keisuke (date of birth/death unknown). Masayuki was a daimyō active during the Sengoku period (lit. Warring States period). He was the head of Sanada clan, a regional house of Shinano Province, which became a vassal of the Takeda clan of Kai Province.
At the time this letter was written, Masayuki had secured an important position for himself within the Takeda family. Masayuki had ordered his younger brother Sanada Nobutada (also known as Katsuno Nobumasa) to kill Unno Teruyuki, a member of the provincial landowner class who was suspected of treason. In the letter, he also praised and expressed his immense gratitude to Takahashi Keisuke for his success in eliminating a certain Urano Suou (identity unclear).