October 12th 1569 (Eiroku 12)
Important Cultural Property, “Ichikawa-ke Document”
Donated by the Homma family
In 1569, Takeda Shingen (1521–1573), the daimyō of Kai Province, gave his vassal and military commander Ichikawa Nobufusa nine instructions regarding armour and armaments for going into battle. Military weapons and equipment were being improved and standardised in Takeda’s territory, and wearing armour became mandatory from this year onwards. Preparing several horses when heading to battle was also common practice, and the instructions here specify the minimum number required.
During this time, the four districts of Kawanakajima—Minochi, Takai, Hanishina, and Sarashina—in northern Shinano were almost entirely under Takeda’s control. However, Uesugi Kenshin (of Echigo Province, present-day Niigata Prefecture) maintained defensive strongholds at castles in Nojiri, Iiyama, and Ichikawa near the border between Shinano and Echigo. Commander Ichikawa maintained his position on the frontlines on the Takeda side.
Consisting of approximately 146 documents in 16 volumes, the Ichikawa Documents are a Nationally Designated Important Cultural Property. These documents are valuable records from the Ichikawa clan, a powerful samurai family that ruled Oku-Shinano (present-day Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture) for approximately 400 years, from the end of the Heian period (794–1185) to the end of the Warring States era (1467–1615).
Isahaya Ken, a local historian in Yonezawa, handed these documents down to the Homma family around the beginning of the Shōwa period (1926–1989).