The samurai spirit on a battlefield.
According to the chronicle "Kouyou Gunkan",
Kasai Mitsuhide from Kai Genji was died in the battle of Nagashino
giving his horse to Takeda Katsuyori. He saved the life of Katsuyori,
the lord of Takeda clan.
Mitsuhide : "Please get on my horse, lord."
Katsuyori : "But you'll be killed by the enemies."
Mitsuhide : "My life is to exist for the noble cause of
your blessing."
People at that time never forgot his loyalty and build the
grave at
Ryuusen temple in Nagashino. He was a descendant of Kagami Toumitsu who
was a younger brother of Takeda Nobuyoshi. Mitsuhide's father Nanbu
Munehide was a violent man and expelled from the country. He lived in
the land called Kasai in Koma district and changed the last name"Nanbu"
to "Kasai". He restored the honor to save Katsuyori and became the hero
in Kasai family.
Descendants of Kasai Mitsuhide.
In 1886 Kasai Jyuuji was born as eldest son
of Heikichi in Nishijima. He was a graduate
of Harvard University. He tried to
mitigate the anti-Japanese movement and negotiated with the U.S.
goverment. After World War II he had a good
friendship with GHQ and made an effort to keep peaceful Japan-U.S.
relations. He was a members of the Representives and honored to the
citizen award-winning San Fransisco. He was said to be a
descendant of Kasai Mitsuhide. He was a family member of the Kasai clan
in Nishijima district.
Other descendants
There is a book titled "Seichu kyu karoku" written in 1832 by Kagami
Mitsutou who was a descendant of Kagami Toumitsu. Kagami clan started
from Toumitsu.
This book tells me an ancestor Kasai Ryoushou. He was
taken over the Nishijima and Iwama district by Takeda
Katsuyori and given the name of "Shikibu no shou". In this
book he was said to be from Heishi clan. He is my ancestor.
And now I am a member of "Takeda ke kyuuon kai" whose
ancestors were vessals of Takeda clan. Mitsuhide also was a vessal,too.
I am under investigation about a relationship with
Mitsuhide and Ryoushou.
