Great Figures of the World Series | Episode 38: Masayuki Sanada, Sengoku Warlord and Head of the Sanada Clan

In this world,

there are people who build large corporations.
There are people who monopolize markets.
There are people who become industry leaders.

However,

“people who kept their organization alive while in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation”

are rare.

If you have capital, you can fight.
If you have talent, you can fight.
If you have a brand, you can fight.

But,
what do those who have nothing do?

Small and medium-sized enterprises surrounded by large corporations.
Local businesses caught between massive capital.
You cannot win on price competition.
You cannot win on talent acquisition either.

Yet, you must survive.
Sanada was,
precisely that kind of business manager.

He did not conquer the country.
He did not become the best in Japan.
He was not the greatest daimyo.

However,

he survived the Sengoku period—an era of bankruptcy, acquisitions, and culling—and left the Sanada brand to posterity.
That is precisely why, for modern small and medium-sized business owners,
he is one of the warlords most worth learning from.

Masayuki Sanada
The greatest survival strategist of the Sengoku period.
Builder of Ueda Castle.
The man who built the Sanada brand.
1547-1611 | Sengoku Warlord and Head of the Sanada Clan.

【It was a company that could have gone under at any time】

Born in Shinano Province in 1547.
His father was Yukitaka Sanada.
He was a famous commander who served Shingen Takeda.

However, the Sanada family were not daimyo.
They were a local clan in Shinano.
Vassals of the Takeda family.

In modern terms,
they were a local subcontractor.

Their sales were limited.
Their influence was small.
It would not have been strange for them to disappear at the convenience of their parent company.

That was the Sanada family.
People in later generations think the Sanada family was famous.

But it was different back then.
Nationally, they were nearly unknown.

【Management learned at Takeda Co., Ltd.】

In his youth, Masayuki grew up in the Takeda family.
This is extremely important.

Shingen Takeda was one of the greatest managers in the Sengoku period.
He was not just strong.

He gathered information.
He organized logistics.
He utilized talent.
He leveraged the terrain.

In other words,

he won through systems.
Masayuki learned that know-how on the front lines.

The diplomatic skills he would later display,
as well as his information warfare,
and defensive battles,

were all based on the Takeda style.

【Learning reality through the fall of the Takeda family】

In 1582, the Takeda family fell.
A massive organization vanished in an instant.

A company that was absolute until yesterday,
did not exist today.
Masayuki witnessed that reality firsthand.

Strong companies can also go bankrupt.
Famous companies can also disappear.
Scale is not absolute.

This experience changed Masayuki.
From here on, he began to think about

how to remain rather than how to win

.

【The survival strategy taught by Iwagitsu Castle】

Around the time of the Takeda family's fall,
Masayuki placed great importance on Iwagitsu Castle.

This castle was not flashy.
However, it was excellent for defense.
It was a natural fortress.

It is said that he even recommended that Katsuyori Takeda retreat to Iwagitsu Castle.
Why?

Because it was a place where one could survive.
From a young age, Masayuki

thought more about remaining
than about attacking.
This philosophy is also strongly reflected

in the later Ueda Castle.

【His goal was not to conquer the country】

Nobunaga aimed to unify the country.
Hideyoshi also aimed to unify the country.
Ieyasu also aimed to unify the country.

But Masayuki was different.
He had one goal.

To keep the Sanada family alive.

That was all.
That is why his criteria for judgment were different.

Reality over face.
Survival over ideals.
Continuity over victory.

This was the decisive difference between him and the unifiers.

【He sent both his mother and son as hostages】

Masayuki sometimes offered his mother as a hostage.
He also sent his son as a hostage.

To modern people, this is shocking.
But at the time, it was politics and management.

Protect your pride?
Or protect the company?

Masayuki did not hesitate.
Protect the company.

The reason many managers fail is
because they judge based on emotion.

Masayuki chose reality over emotion.
That is why he survived.

【A local company surrounded by large corporations】

Around Masayuki were

the Hojo,
the Uesugi,
the Tokugawa,
and the Toyotomi—

all massive powers.
The Sanada family could not compare.

In modern terms,
it would be like a local company with a few hundred employees

being surrounded by
Toyota,
Mitsubishi,
SoftBank,

and Itochu.
Normally, they would be absorbed.
They would disappear.

But Masayuki was different.

He negotiated with the Hojo.
He negotiated with the Uesugi.
He negotiated with the Tokugawa.
He negotiated with the Toyotomi.

It was not about friend or foe.
It was about who to partner with to survive.

He acted with that perspective.

【The management model of Ueda Castle】

Masayuki's greatest project.
That was Ueda Castle.

This castle was not huge.
However, it was extremely rational.

It could be defended with a small number of people.
It could divide the enemy.
It could cut off supply lines.
It put the attacking side at a disadvantage.

In other words,

it was a system that produced maximum results with minimal capital.
In modern terms, it is a differentiation strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises.

【The man who troubled the Tokugawa twice】

It was the Siege of Ueda that spread Masayuki's name throughout the country.
The First Siege of Ueda.

The Second Siege of Ueda.
His opponent was the Tokugawa army.
The future ruler of the nation.
The difference in military strength was overwhelming.

However, Masayuki did not fight them head-on.
He lured them in.

He divided them.
He cut off their supplies.
He threw them into confusion.
In modern terms,

this is management that avoids price competition.
As a result, the Tokugawa army suffered.

Hidetada's army did not make it to the main Battle of Sekigahara in time.
This was less of a victory,

and more of a success story in using management resources with maximum efficiency.

[A Man of Double-Dealing]

Masayuki was called
"a man of double-dealing" by Ieyasu.

A man whose thoughts could not be read.
However, there is another way to look at it.

It means he was a man
that even Ieyasu could not fully read.

Masayuki did not enjoy betrayal.
If the situation changed, he changed his strategy.
That was all.

If the market environment changes, you change your management strategy.

This is common sense for modern companies.
However, it was rare in the Sengoku period.

[The Greatest Decision]

In 1600, at Sekigahara.
Masayuki performed the ultimate risk diversification.

He and Yukimura joined the Western Army.
Nobuyuki joined the Eastern Army.
He split his family in two.

This was a Sengoku-era hedging strategy.
No matter who won,
he increased the chances of the Sanada clan surviving.

Survival over victory.
His criteria for judgment never changed until the end.

[The Greatest Failure of His Life]

The result was the defeat of the Western Army.
Masayuki was exiled to Kudoyama.

His territory was confiscated.
His political life was over.

Generally speaking, this is a failure.
But is that really the case?

[The Company Remained]

Nobuyuki was in the Eastern Army.
Because of that, the Sanada clan survived.

Masayuki himself became a loser.
But the organization remained.

This is important.

The company remains even after the manager leaves.
That is the ideal succession.
Masayuki achieved that in the end.

[Implications for Modern SME Managers]

Masayuki teaches us:
Winning and surviving are different.

Do not imitate large corporations.
Use your own strengths.
Do not judge based on emotion.
Adapt to the environment.

And,

leave the company to the next generation.
A manager does not need to be a winner.
They must first become a survivor.

Let's compare him to the great daimyo who lived in the Sengoku period.

Nobunaga was a revolutionary.
Hideyoshi was an expander.
Ieyasu was a system designer.

Then what was Masayuki?

He was a survival strategist.

Market share less than 1%.
Lack of funds.
Lack of talent.
Surrounded by large corporations.

Normally, he would go bankrupt.
But Masayuki was different.

He adapted to the environment.
He polished his strengths.
He diversified his risks.

That is why he survived.

[Who He Was Fighting]

The one Masayuki was fighting was not

Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Nor was it Hojo Ujimasa.
Nor was it Uesugi Kagekatsu.

Who he was really fighting was:

• The reality of being a small force
• The fall of the Takeda clan
• A location surrounded by great powers
• Lack of military strength
• Lack of funds
• Lack of talent
• The survival of his house
• The changing times
• The massive risk of Sekigahara
• The fear of extinction

He did not want to rule the nation.
He wanted to keep the Sanada clan alive.

[Was This a Strategy?]

Looking only at the results, it is one of the greatest survival success stories of the Sengoku period.
However, there is a consistent pattern within it.

Learn from the Takeda clan
↓
Fall of the Takeda clan
↓
Face reality
↓
Prioritize survival above all else
↓
Value Iwagitsu Castle
↓
Build Ueda Castle
↓
Negotiate with the Hojo
↓
Negotiate with the Uesugi
↓
Negotiate with the Tokugawa
↓
Negotiate with the Toyotomi
↓
Repel the Tokugawa army
↓
Create the Sanada brand
↓
Diversify risk at Sekigahara
↓
Fall from power himself
↓
The Sanada clan remains
↓
Inherited by descendants

Furthermore,

Admit that you are the underdog
↓
Do not imitate the strong
↓
Gather information
↓
Act flexibly
↓
Negotiate
↓
Diversify risk
↓
Survive

In other words, Masayuki
did not fight to win.
He fought to remain.

In the Sengoku period, there were many warlords stronger than Masayuki.
But most of them disappeared.
The Sanada clan remained.
That is why Masayuki is still talked about today.

[Summary]

Masayuki Sanada is not a ruler of the nation.
He is not the greatest daimyo.
He is not the strongest warlord.

However, he was

the man who kept his organization alive in the harshest environment.
Nobunaga started a revolution.

Hideyoshi expanded.
Ieyasu created a system.
And Masayuki

showed how to survive.
Many managers aim for success.

But there is something harder than success.
It is survival.
Markets change.

Competitors change.
Times change.
Continuing to keep an organization alive amidst all that.

That is not easy.
Masayuki Sanada was

a figure who appeared in the Sengoku period as


"a manager who never let his company go bankrupt in any environment."

Next Episode Preview

Great Figures of the World Series | Episode 39: Jiro Shirasu
Civilian Diplomat and Businessman

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