Honda Tadakatsu

1548–1610

A Warrior of Unmatched Bravery, Admired Even by His Enemies

Starting his military career at the age of thirteen, Honda Tadakatsu participated in over fifty battles and earned numerous military honors. Remarkably, he never sustained a single wound throughout his long career as a seasoned warrior.

Admired by the most formidable figures of his time—Takeda Shingen called him “something beyond even Ieyasu,” Oda Nobunaga referred to him as “a warrior with both talent and valor,” and Toyotomi Hideyoshi hailed him as “a one-man army.” His legacy endures to this day.

Honda Tadakatsu was famously depicted wearing a helmet with deer antlers, wielding the renowned spear Tonbogiri (“Dragonfly Cutter”). It is said that when the blade merely touched the tip of a dragonfly, the insect was split in two. The enemies were all in fear.