Takeda Shrine

The Takeda Shrine was established in 1919 on the site of the former Shingen Hall, where three generations of the Takeda family (Shingen, Shingora and Katsuyori) lived for 63 years. The site is still used as a museum.
Even today, the people of the prefecture call him ‘Shingen-san, Shingen-san’ to express their respect for him and take pride in him as a local hero, as he devoted himself to the management of his territory, particularly in flood control works, agriculture and commerce.
In the grounds of the shrine, moats, stone walls and old wells from those days still remain, and the scent of Shingen and his family's legacy is passed down to the present day.
In spring, the shrine holds an annual festival from 9am on 12 April, the anniversary of Lord Shingen's death, when a portable shrine makes a parade to the YUKI Park in Ota-cho, Kofu City, 4 km away, accompanied by mounted warriors of the 24 Takeda generals. On the Saturday evening immediately before 12 April each year, the Koshu Gundan (Koshu army) parades through the city, centred on the south exit square of Kofu Station, with a force of about 1,600 people.
On the 30th of the summer month, a purification ceremony is held to purify the body and soul through the ‘thatch ring’, in which sins and defilements committed unknowingly are entrusted to paper dolls.
The 'three-leaf pine tree' on the grounds of the shrine is rare in Japan and is said to bring good luck in terms of money when worn as it turns golden and leaves fall.