For those who are skilled in the Japanese language, the best modern history of the battle is Nagashino no tatakai by Kenichi Futaki in the series Rekishi Gunzo – Kassen Dokiyumento Vol 1. (Gakken Mook 1989, Book code: 62534-77). There is a wealth of detail, including full lists of participants. Also recommended is Shiro to Kassen: Nagashino no tatakai to Shimabara no Ran, by various authors, in the series Rekishi o yomi naosu Vol. 15 (Asahi Shimbunsha 1993, Book Code: 61381-01), which includes superb reconstructed drawings of Nagashino and the Shimabara revolt of 1638, and a full-colour reproduction of the Nagashino screen.
For books in English, readers will find much extra useful information about warfare during the ‘Period of Warring States’ in my comprehensive work The Samurai Sourcebook (Cassell 1998). My earlier book, The Samurai, A Military History, was reprinted as a paperback in 1995, but unfortunately does not include the photograph of the Nagashino Screen that appeared in the hardback edition. Samurai: The Warrior Tradition (Cassell 1996) contains colour plates of the Takeda heraldry, while Samurai Warfare (Cassell 1996) has detailed case studies of samurai battles and many colour illustrations.
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The highly entertaining film Kagemusha tells a fictionalised version of the story of the downfall of the Takeda family under Katsuyori. Most of the film is quite superb, and is only let down by the final scene, which is the battle of Nagashino. Almost all the details of the battle are sadly wrong. It is fought on a wide open plain. Katsuyori’s decision to attack is made to look even more nonsensical than it actually was, and the carnage inflicted by the arquebus corps acting alone would make one think that they were using Maxim guns. Apart from this the film paints a magnificent picture of samurai warfare that is only equalled by Kurosawa’s other colour masterpiece Ran, and must be viewed by anyone who has read this book.