The Wisdom of Lord Ieyasu, Who Survived the Sengoku Era

Who Were the People He Respected?

Lord Ieyasu respected Minamoto no Yoritomo, the senior member of the Minamoto clan.

This may have been because he saw kinship in Yoritomo’s unfortunate youth which he could relate to his own experiences. His favorite book was “Azuma Kagami”, a history of the Kamakura shogunate. He also respected his old enemy, Shingen Takeda, who had suffered a major defeat. When Shingen passed away, Ieyasu’s retainers initially rejoiced, however Ieyasu instead praised him for his excellent military tactics and called for a mourning of his death. From this, the retainer also paid his respects to Shingen. Shingen’s Koshu military strategy was later pass on to the Tokugawa family.