Historically: Second daughter of Sanjou Kinyori, Minister of the Left and second legal wife of Takeda Shingen, a woman of courtly blood who was mother of his original heir, Takeda Yoshinobu as well as two other sons and two daughters (the older of whom married Houjou Ujimasa). Her name is literally written as "person of Sanjou (Clan)".

She was described as a great beauty and fervent in her devotion to Buddhism. Since Shingen eventually named the grandson of a concubine heir to the clan, it is thought that Sanjou and Shingen did not get along.

In Mirage of Blaze: She and Kousaka Masanobu break the barrier over Takeda Shingen's tomb, the Maenduka, and attempt to resurrect Shingen by using Narita Yuzuru as a vessel for his spirit. She herself takes over the body of Takeda Yuiko but is exorcised by Takaya and Naoe with kouhou-choubuku.

The "warring states" period, lasting from 1467 to 1615, in which the warlords of Japan battled each other for the rule of the country.

Abbreviated name for Shinano, an ancient province in central Japan.

An ancient name for Matsumoto, which means "Salt City". The name comes from a story of the Sengoku.

Kai, Takeda Shingen's territory, was a land-locked region which had to import salt from other territories. These rival territories decided to cut off Shingen's salt supply, and Shingen's people suffered. Uesugi Kenshin, whose territory of Echigo bordered the sea, sent him salt on oxen-back with a letter attached: "I fight you, but I fight with bow and arrow, not with rice and salt." The salt arrived on Jan. 10th, 1568, and a festival was held in Matsumoto to celebrate its arrival.

This festival has now become the Ame-Ichi.

Also known in Sanskrit as 'bīja' or 'seed', these 'seed syllables' are thought to be connected to spiritual principles in Esoteric Buddhism and are used in mantras. Bai is one example.

The headman of Nakagaya village in Matsumoto who submitted a petition to lower taxes in Matsumoto to the same level as that of surrounding areas, thus inciting the Kasuke Uprising. He was one of the 28 ringleaders executed, along with his two sons and younger brother.

It was said that as he was being crucified, Kasuke set a curse against Matsumoto Castle, whose main tower began to tilt from that time and remained tilted until its major renovation in the 1950s.

He was enshrined in 1736, fifty years after the uprising, in a small shrine within the Kasuke home. Two hundred years after his death, the Joukyou Gimin Shrine was built in his hometown (now Sankyou Nakagaya in Azumino), and his and the remains of twelve other people executed with him were transferred there. In 1992 the Joukyou Gimin Memorial was founded.

Also known as: Suwa Katsuyori (諏訪勝頼)

Fourth son of Takeda Shingen. His mother was not Sanjou, but Suwa Goryounin, the daughter of the head of a defeated clan, Suwa Yorishige, Shingen's concubine. He was originally kept out of the line succession to the Takeda clan by being made head of the Suwa Clan. However, when Shingen's heir, Takeda Yoshinobu was found plotting against his father and ordered to commit suicide, Shingen named Katsuyori's son, Nobutatsu, his heir and Katsuyori guardian. Katsuyori took over rule of the Takeda clan when his father died.

Katsuyori was decribed as a brave and exceptionally skilled fighter, but lacking in strategy when he took over the Takeda army. In 1578, during the Otate no Ran, he betrayed his allies the Houjou clan and took Uesugi Kagekatsu's side, thus adding the Houjou to his list of enemies. He was increasing unpopular with the people of Kai due to heavy drafts caused by defeats in battle with the Oda, Tokugawa, and Houjou clans.

In 1582 Kai and Shinano were invaded by the combined arms of Oda, Tokugawa, and Houjou. Most of Katsuyori's troops abandoned him, and he committed suicide.

Tenkai was a Tendai Buddhist monk who achieved the highest rank of the priesthood and became abbot of Kita-in at Kawagoe in 1588. He served Tokugawa Ieyasu as liaison between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Imperial Court at Kyoto. After Ieyasu's death in 1616, he also served the 2nd Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, and the 3rd, Tokugawa Iemitsu. Among his projects were the rebuilding of Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei, the restoration of Rinnou Temple in Nikkou, and the establishment of Kan'ei-ji in Ueno.

Also called: Matsudaira Takechiyo, Matsudaira Motoyasu
Titles: Mikawa no Kami, Shogun

Historically: The third of the "Three Unifiers"; an ally of Oda Nobunaga, after Nobunaga's death he first battled against then became an ally of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. When Hideyoshi died in 1598, Tokugawa moved against Hideyoshi's son and heir Toyotomi Hideyori and the five regents appointed to protect the Toyotomi rule. Tokugawa, along with his allies the Date and Mogami, and the defected Kobayakawa and Mouri clans, defeated the opposition at the Battle of Sekigahara and established the Tokugawa Shogunate.

A daimyo of the Sengoku era who rose from the lowly position of foot soldier to serve as a commander of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's fleet in the invasions of Korea. He was one of Toyotomi's main generals in the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), but switched his allegiance to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who gave him the 200,000-koku fiefdom of Iyo-Imabari and later made him lord of the 320,000-koku domain of Tsu, with land in both Iga and Ise.

Toudou Takatora was a famous designer of castles, involved in in construction of as many as twenty castles, including: Edo Castle, Wakayama Castle, Uwajima Castle, Imabari Castle, Iga Ueno Castle and Sasayama Castle.

Artifacts and items that are older than 100 years and become spirits who are alive and aware. (The characters were originally written "九十九", meaning "ninety-nine" and were later changed to the homonym "付喪神", with the characters for "adhere", "mourning", and "god").

In Mirage, however, the kaki are also a type of tsukumogami.

A city located in Nagano Prefecture founded on May 1, 1919. It merged with the towns of Maruko and Sanada and the village of Takeshi to become the new city of Ueda on March 6, 2006.

Also known as: possibly Houjou Ujihide (北条氏秀), Houjou Saburou (北条三郎), Saburou Kagetora (三郎景虎)

Historically: Uesugi Kagetora was the seventh son (sixth to survive to adulthood) of Houjou Ujiyasu, younger brother of Houjou Ujimasa, Houjou Ujiteru, Houjou Ujikuni, Houjou Ujinori, Houjou Ujitada, and older brother of Houjou Ujimitsu. His mother was the sister-in-law of Tooyama Yasumitsu, a vassal of the Houjou Clan (other sources say Zuikeiin, Ujiyasu's principle wife). It's likely that he and Houjou Ujihide were two different people and that Ujihide was the son of Houjou Tsunashige and living in Edo while Saburou was living in Echigo, so most historians refer to him as Houjou Saburou when describing his early life.

As a child, he was sent into the priesthood at Souun Temple in Hakone, then sent as hostage to Takeda Shingen of the Takeda Clan in the three-way alliance between Houjou, Takeda, and Imagawa formed in 1554 (though this last point is now in dispute, as it is told only in the Records of Ancient Battles of the Eight Kanto Provinces and recorded in none of the Takeda Clan records.)

He was adopted by his uncle Houjou Genan in 1569 and married Genan's daughter.

When the Houjou and Uesugi clans formed an alliance in 1569, Saburou was sent to Uesugi Kenshin in an exchange of hostages with Kakizaki Haruie. (At first, the hostage was set to be Houjou Ujimasa's third son Kunimasumaru, but Ujimasa could not bring himself to send off his son, who was then still a baby.) Saburou was sent to the Uesugi clan in early 1570. Kenshin, who never married, developed a liking for the handsome and intelligent Saburou. He married his niece Seienin, the daughter of Nagao Masakage and older sister of Nagao Akikage (Uesugi Kagekatsu) to Saburou, gave him the name Kagetora (a name that had once belonged to Kenshin himself), and adopted him into the Uesugi Clan.

When Kenshin died suddenly in 1578 without naming an heir, Kagetora and Kagekatsu, similarly adopted by Kenshin, fought for succession to the position of clan head (the Otate no Ran). Though Kagetora held the early advantage with the backing of Uesugi vassals such as Uesugi Kagenobu, Honjou Hidetsuna, Kitajou Takahiro, and the Houjou Clan, the tide of the battle turned with Takeda Katsuyori's betrayal to Kagekatsu's side.

When the Otate fell in 1579, Kagetora attempted to escape to Odawara Castle, but was betrayed at Samegao Castle by Horie Munechika and committed suicide. His wife committed suicide along with him (though there are also accounts that she remained behind at the Otate and committed suicide there when her brother Kagekatsu refused Kagetora's surrender.) His oldest son Doumanmaru died at the hands of Kagekatsu's troops along with Uesugi Norimasa, and the rest of his children were believed to have died along with their parents.

In Mirage of Blaze: He was born to Houjou Ujiyasu and Zuikeiin as their eighth (seventh to survive to adulthood) and youngest son. After his death in the Otate no Ran, he was charged by Uesugi Kenshin to become kanshousha in order to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou as the leader of the Yasha-shuu and the commander of the Meikai Uesugi Army.

The capital of Tochigi Prefecture.

The five kanshousha at the head of the Meikai Uesugi Army ordered by Uesugi Kenshin to hunt for the onshou who are disrupting the peace of modern-era Japan in a battle which has lasted four hundred years. Led by Uesugi Kagetora, with Naoe Nobutsuna, Kakizaki Haruie, Yasuda Nagahide, and Irobe Katsunaga. The name "Yasha" refers to soldiers in the army of Bishamonten, called "Yaksha".

Lit.: "Four Pillars Shrine"; a Shinto shrine located in Matsumoto, built in 1872, dedicated to the four gods Amenominakanushinokami, Takamimusubi, Kamimusubi, and Amaterasu Oomikami.

In Japanese folklore, a youkai is a monster, spirit, or demon who range from malevolent to mischievous to benevolent. They can take various shapes, some human- or animal like, or appear to be or possess inanimate objects. Some are shapeless, and others shape-shifters. They usually have spiritual or supernatural abilities.