The Battle of Nagashino was fought on the 28 of June 1575. Historians have often remarked the battle was the first ‘modern’ warfare in Japan. The Portuguese had recently introduced the arquebus, a type of flintlock musket, to the Japanese.

Katsuyori underestimated the firepower of the new arquebus against his cavalry in the rainy conditions of the battle. He assumed the rain would dampen the gunpowder, the firing rate was slow due to the need to reload, and his cavalry could cover the ground between shots. He was wrong. Nobunaga used volley firing tactics, and Katsuyori’s forces, bogged down in the muddy rice fields and held up by defensive palisades, were all but wiped out. However, he survived and continued as head of the Takeda clan.

After defeat in 1577, Katsuyori lost more allies, and his position weakened. He began to build a castle but was surprised by his enemies and was forced to flee. He retreated to Mount Tem-moku but was surrounded and defeated, he committed suicide.