Can you sing? Takeda Shingen could.

Everyone should be able to sing at least one song. That's what my favorite teacher always says. He has entertaining friends in mind, but in the age of Takeda Shingen, your song was your autobiography.

Shingen's song is still sung today. It is called "Takeda Bu-shi", and both the tune and the words are memorable.

Yesterday I was in Yamanashi and climbed to the top of the ruins of one of Shingen's castles in the capital city, Kofu. Where I saw the bustle of building after building sprawling almost to the horizon, Shingen would have seen prospering fields and forests. The one thing we both would have seen was the ring of mountains circling the land, with Mount Fuji standing head and shoulders above them all.

The mountains of Yamanashi figure prominently in Shingen's song. They inspired him to be a leader who stands steadfast and sure between his people and every threat to their well being, as steady and reliable as a mountain.