The 1582 was one of the final battles of the Takeda clan against the forces of Oda Nobunaga. The only Takeda stronghold in Shinano province to put up any resistance to Nobunaga's final invasion of Takeda domain (in February 1582), the castle was taken by storm on March the 2nd 1582.
Prelude
War of the Takeda clan against Oda Nobunaga begin in 1572. with battle of Mikatagahara, where Takeda Shingen, overlord of Kai, Shinano and Suruga provinces, defeated combined forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu in Totomi province. Shingen's heir Takeda Katsuyori was decisively defeated in the battle of Nagashino (1575), losing more than 10.000 men and the core of his generals. However, thanks to Oda Nobunaga's engagement on other fronts (mostly his war against Ikko-Ikki 1570–1580), Takeda Katsuyori managed to preserve his family domain and by 1582. Takeda clan was still considered a regional power in Eastern Japan, holding provinces of Kai, Shinano and Suruga. However, by that time their strength was very much spent by more than 10 years of war with Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, their eastern neighbors: their warriors thinly stretched in tiny garrisons over vast borders, their serfs exhausted by conscription and over-taxation, and their retainers and allies disillusioned and uncertain. So, when the time of final Nobunaga's offensive finally came, he had 15 of the richest provinces in Japan against the three poor and devastated provinces of Takeda.
Oda-Tokugawa's offensive in Shinano province
On February 1, 1582 (Lunar calendar) Kiso Joshimasa, one of the Takeda vassals in Shinano, defected to Oda Nobunaga. On February 2, Takeda Katsuyori and his generals left their capital near Kofu in Kai and entered Shinano with some 15.000 men. In response, on February 3, Oda Nobunaga decided to invade Takeda domain from all sides: Tokugawa Ieyasu was to invade Suruga province, Hojo Ujimasa was to attack from Kanto, and Oda Nobutada from Mino. Takeda forts on Mino border had fallen by treachery on February 6, and on February 12 Oda Nobutada entered Shinano province, leading troops from Mino and Owari, advancing to the north-east. Along the way, Takeda castles of Matsuo and Iida surrendered without a fight (February 14) with some commanders defecting to Nobutada, the first of them Ogasawara Nobumine of Matsuo. The only fight was put up at Yagohara castle (February 16), where Takeda lost some 40 samurai. Oshima Castle further north-east fell without a fight, while villagers and lesser gentry (ji-samurai) of Shinano province flocked to Nobutada's army and greeted them as liberators. In the meantime, on February 25, the main Takeda fortress in Suruga surrendered to Tokugawa Ieyasu through treachery of its commander, Anayama Baisetsu, Takeda Shingen's nephew, who was considered one of the principal pillars of the house of Takeda. As Oda forces reached the middle of Shinano province with no opposition to speak of, and the main Takeda supporters in Shinano and Suruga defected to Oda, on February 28. Takeda Katsuyori retreated from Shinano to his home province of Kai, seeking to defend his castle of Shinpu, the new capital of Takeda clan. Katsuyori moved his seat to Shinpu Castle in December 1581, as the old Takeda capital in Kofu was practically undefendable, not a castle but a simple one-story daimyo residence defended by a single moat (built by Takeda Nobutora in 1519), as Takeda chieftains of former generations relied on their army for protection.
Battle
On the March 1st, Oda Nobutada's army reached the Takeda castle of Takato in eastern Shinano, which was a sturdy mountain fort protected by steep cliffs on three sides (except the rear) and the Fujisawa River that cowered eastern and northern approach: the road leading to the main gate was barely passable even to a single rider.
Takeda Morinobu (also known as Nishina Morinobu), the fifth son of the famed Takeda Shingen, fortified himself and his forces within the Takatō castle. Oda Nobutada ordered that a priest be sent to Morinobu to mediate, but Morinobu responded by cutting off the unfortunate man's nose and ears, and sending him back to Nobutada.