The “Yellow Hachiman Flag” (地黄八幡) was the exclusive battle flag and seal of Hojo Tsunashige (1515 – 1587), a famous general of the Later Hojo clan during Japan’s Sengoku period. The banner had a yellow background and bore the characters “Hachiman,” symbolizing his faith and determination as a direct descendant of the god Hachiman, making it extremely intimidating on the battlefield.

Historically, this banner was known to have been mounted from 1537 onwards. When the time came for battle, even though he was a general, Hojo Tsunashige would always stand at the forefront of his troops, should “Victory! Victory!” before leading the charge into eneymy lines. In 1571, when Tsunashige was stationed at Fukasawa Castle in Suruga (Gotemba, Shizuoka), he was attacked by Takeda Shingen. Outnumbered and in order to preserve his strength, he retreated out to Odawara Castle. Unexpectedly when the Takeda army entered Fukasawa Castle they discovered the “Yellow Hachiman Flag” left behind. The troops would use and wave the flag shouting mockery out of Tsunashige’s cowardness for retreating out of panic and leaving behind his prized asset.

The scene eventually reached Takeda Shingen who ordered his men to fetch the banner and reprimanded his troops by saying “Zoemon-daifu” (Official title of Hojo Tsunashige) is an exceptionally brave general; he would never abandon his banner during a retreat. It was merely a momentary lapse of judgement instead of his flag bearer who carelessly left it behind, Please do not say anything more!”

Later, Takeda Shingen bestowed this highly significant trophy upon Sanada Masayuki’s younger brother, Sanada Masateru (1543 – 1575) so that he might benefit from Tsunashige’s bravery. When news of the event reached Tsunashige, he was instead grateful for Takeda’s Shingen action. The banner subsequently became a treasured possession of the Sanada family and kept at the Sanada Treasure Hall in Nagano.