Kagemusha narrative location Japan
Plot
During the Sengoku period, in 1571, Takeda Shingen, daimyō of the Takeda clan, meets a thief his brother Nobukado spared from crucifixion due to the thief's uncanny resemblance to Shingen; the brothers agree that he would prove useful as a double, and they decide to use the thief as a kagemusha, a political decoy. Later, while the Takeda army lays siege to a castle belonging to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shingen is shot while listening to a flute playing in the enemy camp. He then orders his forces to withdraw and commands his generals to keep his death a secret for three years before succumbing to his wound. Meanwhile, Shingen's rivals Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Uesugi Kenshin each contemplate the consequences of Shingen's withdrawal, unaware of his death.
Nobukado presents the thief to Shingen's generals, proposing to have him impersonate Shingen full-time. Although the thief is unaware of Shingen's death initially, he eventually finds Shingen's preserved corpse in a large jar, having believed it to contain treasure. The generals then decide they cannot trust the thief and release him. Later, the jar is dropped into Lake Suwa, which spies working for the Tokugawa and Oda forces witness. Suspecting that Shingen has died, the spies go to report their observation, but the thief, having overheard the spies, returns to the Takeda forces and offers to work as a kagemusha. The Takeda clan preserves the deception by announcing that they were simply making an offering of sake to the god of the lake, and the spies are ultimately convinced by the thief's performance.
Returning home, the kagemusha successfully fools Shingen's retinue by imitating the late warlord's gestures and learning more about him. When the kagemusha must preside over a clan meeting, he is instructed by Nobukado to remain silent until Nobukado brings the generals to a consensus, whereupon the kagemusha will simply agree with the generals' plan and dismiss the council. However, Shingen's son Katsuyori is incensed by his father's decree of the three year subterfuge, which delays his inheritance and leadership of the clan. Katsuyori thus decides to test the kagemusha in front of the council, as the majority of the attendants are still unaware of Shingen's death. He directly asks the kagemusha what course of action should be taken, but the kagemusha is able to answer convincingly in Shingen's own manner, which further impresses the generals.
Soon, in 1573, Nobunaga mobilizes his forces to attack Azai Nagamasa, continuing his campaign in central Honshu to maintain his control of Kyoto against the growing opposition. When the Tokugawa and Oda forces launch an attack against the Takeda, Katsuyori begins a counter-offensive against the advice of his generals. The kagemusha is then forced to lead reinforcements in the Battle of Takatenjin, and helps inspire the troops to victory. In a fit of overconfidence however, the kagemusha attempts to ride Shingen's notoriously temperamental horse, and falls off. When those who rush to help him see that he does not have Shingen's battle scars, he is revealed as an impostor, and is driven out in disgrace, allowing Katsuyori to take over the clan. Sensing weakness in the Takeda clan leadership, the Oda and Tokugawa forces are emboldened to begin a full-scale offensive into the Takeda homeland.
By 1575, now in full control of the Takeda army, Katsuyori leads a counter-offensive against Nobunaga in Nagashino. Although courageous in their assault, several waves of Takeda cavalry and infantry are cut down by volleys of gunfire from Oda arquebusiers deployed behind wooden stockades, effectively eliminating the Takeda army. The kagemusha, who has followed the Takeda army, desperately takes up a spear and charges toward the Oda lines before being shot himself. Mortally wounded, the kagemusha attempts to retrieve the fūrinkazan banner, which had fallen into a river, but succumbs to his wounds in the water where his body is carried away by the current.