Cross the bridge over the moat and look up at the Tsuzumimon gate. It leads to the center of the castle called Honmaru. At the entrance of this magnificent castle, we’d like to introduce you to the story of Matsushiro and the Sanada Family.
From the beginning of the Edo period to the Meiji period, Matsushiro remained under the Sanada Family's reign for ten generations. The name of the first feudal lord, or Daimyo, was Nobuyuki Sanada. He is the older brother of Yukimura Sanada, a military commander whose unrivaled strength earned him the title of "Japan's best warrior" during the Warring States period (1467-1615).
There’s an anecdote about Nobuyuki and Yukimura. Around the time of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, two brothers and their father were ordered under the command of the Eastern Army led by Ieyasu Tokugawa to defeat the Western Army. Along the way, however, they received a secret message from the Western Army asking them to side with them instead and defeat Ieyasu. Back then, during the Warring States period, betrayal in return for survival and serving under those who were once your enemy was a commonplace occurrence.
Yukimura and his comrades, who didn’t hold a favorable impression of Ieyasu, decided to accept the offer. However, Nobuyuki was torn. He was indebted to Ieyasu, and his wife was the adopted daughter of the Tokugawa Family. Which family should he side with? After much discussion, he decided it was best to divide the Sanada Family into two. Nobuyuki stayed with the Eastern Army on Ieyasu’s side, and Yukimura and his comrades joined the Western Army.
If you follow the fork in a river, you will find that one continues to flow a long distance even if the other dries out. This decision was ultimately a choice to keep the Sanada Family alive, no matter which side would win.
The East Army won in the Battle of Sekigahara. During the turbulent time of change, Nobuyuki was appointed as the feudal lord of Matsushiro. Matsushiro was the land of Sanada for about 250 years until the Meiji period. Nobuyuki became the pillar for the Matsushiro Sanada Family for generations to come.
