Matsuhime (松姫, 1562 - 31 May 1616) or Shinsho-ni (信松尼) was a Japanese noblewoman who was a member of the Takeda clan, an important samurai family of the Sengoku period. She was the daughter of Takeda Shingen and wife of Oda Nobutada. She is best known for trying to strengthen an ailing alliance between Takeda and Oda, two rival families. Matsu is also known for her rightful love and undying devotion to Oda Nobutada, which is considered unusual for the time period. A mountain pass is named Matsuhime Tōge in her honor due to her having used the path to escape Oda Nobunaga's army. The Shinsho-in temple in Hachioji (Tokyo) preserves to this day a wooden statue of Matsuhime and the naginata (polearm) she wielded.
Early life
Matsuhime was born in Kai province as Shingen's fifth daughter. Her mother was Shingen's concubine Aburakawa-fuujin. She was a younger sister of Nishina Morinobu. According to Kai Kokushi, Shingen devoted himself to prayer for the healthy recovery of one of his ill daughters in 1565; the common consensus is that the girl in question is Matsuhime.
According to the tales, Matsuhime's mother Aburakawafujin was famous as the most beautiful woman in Koshu, and Matsuhime herself was also famous for her beauty along with her sister, Kikuhime who was the wife of Uesugi Kagekatsu. According to the theory that Matsuhime's other older sister Shinryuin's mother was also Aburakawafujin, Matsuhime's sisters were Marihime and Kikuhime.
Engagement with Nobunaga's heir
The Kōyō Gunkan states that the Oda-Takeda alliance was threatened in 1567 when Takeda Katsuyori's wife (Ryūshō-in) and Oda Nobunaga's niece and adopted daughter, died. In an effort to keep the alliance intact, an engagement was arranged for the eleven-year old Oda Nobutada, an heir of the famous Oda Nobunaga, to wed the seven-year old Matsuhime. However, as they were both still very young, Nobunaga decides to wait for the two to grow up and have a wedding ceremony. Oda Nobunaga says that he instructed his son, Nobutada, to give Matsuhime gifts and letters diligently. For this reason, correspondence began between Nobutada and Matsuhime, and although it was a form of political marriage, she and Nobutada had not actually seen each other in person, but spent time exchanging mail, and eventually had a spiritual connection. She stayed with the Takeda family and was formally treated as 'the entrusted lawful wife of Nobutada,' and was called Niitachi-Goryōnin.
Fall of the alliance
In 1572, when Takeda Shingen started to conquer westward, the Battle of Mikatagahara broke out against Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Takeda clan emerged victorious from the battle, Ieyasu's troops were almost completely annihilated. Among Ieyasu's soldiers were 3,000 soldiers from the Oda clan. Because Nobunaga sent reinforcement to Tokugawa, the relation between the Takeda and Oda families broke, they cut off all ties to the Takeda. At that time, Matsuhime was 12 years old and it was almost time to get married. The engagement between Matsuhime and Nobutada Oda has been called off. It was said that the feeling between the two was legitimate.
Shigen's death
The mighty daimyo of Kai Province died in 1573, a year after breaking allegiance to Oda Nobunaga's powerful Oda clan. When Takeda Shingen was 49 years old, he was the only daimyō with the power and tactical skill needed to stop Oda Nobunaga's race to rule Japan, with his death the Oda clan grew stronger and the Takeda's end was inevitable. With the death of Shigen, Takeda Katsuyori, Matsuhime's half-brother became the clan's leader.
After the cancellation of her engagement to Oda Nobutada and the death of Shigen, Matsuhime moved to Takato Castle under the patronage of her brother Nishina Morinobu. She lived with her brother for several years, and in 1580 her brother finally became castellan of Takato Castle.
The fall of the Takeda clan
In 1575, Takeda Katsuyori suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Nagashino, causing the Takeda clan's power to wane even further. Matsuhime was under his biological brother's protection in Takato until 1582, when Oda Nobunaga turned his attention to Matsuhime's home.
Siege of Takatō Castle (1582) In April 3, 1582, the Oda army lead by Oda Nobutada who departed for the front from Gifu Castle besieged Takato Castle. Nobutada recommended surrender, but Nishina Morinobu refused it. In the meantime, Oda Nobutada with his bodyguards tore down the palisade at the postern and breached inside the castle. A fierce battle ensued in the bailey and the castle's buildings, and the defenders fought to the last, including women and children.