Battle of Kawanakajima. Woodblock illustration of Japanese warlords (daimyos) fighting at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561. The engagement is between Uesugi Kenshin (1530-1578), warlord of the Echigo province, and Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), warlord of the Kai Province. This scene illustrates the moment when Kenshin rode up to Shingen and slashed at him with his sword. Shingen fended off the blows with his iron war fan or tessen. Kenshin failed to finish Shingen off before a Takeda retainer drove him away. Shingen made a counter-attack and the Uesugi army retreated. This 1906 Meiji-era woodblock print (nishiki-e) is by Chikanobu Toyohara (1838-1912).