Takeda Shingen -
In Yamanashi prefecture, Takeda Shingen is known as 'lord' Shingen, or 'honorable' Shingen -- never without some sort of honorific title before his name. To the people of Yamanashi prefecture, Takeda Shingen is a special hero. To the people of Japan in general, he is seen as a perfect representation of warring states Daimyo, and his life has been adopted to novels countless times (only in Japanese, of course L .) However, if there are people who like Shingen because of his political strength or the strength of his mounted Calvary, then there are also people who dislike/can't like him for his horrible/gruesome image. There are few warlords who cause such clearly divided judgement/opinions.

if you were to visit a place that has a connection to Shingen, such as Kofu or Enzan, you would see that it has been changed to a siteseeing destination, with souvenirs and trinkets bearing Shingen's name lining the walls. However, the more surprising thing is all of the things founded by Shingen which still bear his name, such as the Shingen dykes or the gold mines, among other things, that are still in existence today.

2)Re-examination of the 'common opinion'

It is well known the Shingen didn't build many permanent castles in his territory -- as it is said, and attributed to Shingen: "people are the stone walls, people are the castles", and what's more, legends and stories of Shingen still abound. However, in recent years, Shingen has been re-examined, and the view on him is changing greatly.

A good representation of this change is the "problem" of the portrait of Shingen located at the Koyasanseikei (as least that’s what the name seems to be - translating names is never a sure thing…) monastery. This famous portrait of Shingen is often noted in history textbooks. However, recently the allegation has been put forth (it has been alleged)that this isn't even a picture of Shingen at all. (the explanation ends here - it doesn't say who made the allegations, why they believe that it might not be Shingen, who it may actually be, if it is possibly just some artists rendition of what he thinks Shingen may have looked like or if it's a forgery -- basically no info whatsoever. this article is less scholarly and more for the average Japanese layman, something you wouldn't find in English, since there is nothing out there for the layman in English.) As of yet, the debate has not been concluded. Good or bad, we have gotten our image of Shingen from this picture. If you challenge the common opinion, you can make interesting discoveries. This is the true charm of historical research. It is good that we are able to learn such things.

Shingen was born Feb. 3^rd, 1521, the eldest son and heir of the Shugo of Kai province, Takeda Nobutora. Shingen was born in the middle of a battle.
Due to the fact that Nobutora had won this battle, he named his son Katsuchiyo (the kanji roughly put together look something like "1000 wins in turn [one after the other])". However, in regards to this battle, the Takedas were fairly dramatic, and thus the particular details of this battle have been lost as this has fallen into legend.

___________________________________________________________________Translated by C.E. West