Lady Ōi (1497-1552) was the wife of Takeda Nobutora, and Shingen’s mother. She was born a daughter of the Ōi clan who lived in the western part of the Kōfu Basin and were a local rival of Nobutora. Following the peace between Nobutora and her father, she married into the Takeda family as Nobutora’s wife. She was blessed with four sons and a daughter, and was very dedicated to the education of her children, including inviting outstanding monks to Kai Province, modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture, as teachers. There is also an anecdote that she advised Shingen on the battlefield. Lady Ōi continued to stay at the Takeda residence after her husband, Nobutora, was banished by Shingen. A portrait painted by Nobukado, one of her sons, is held at her family temple, Chōzen-ji.

Shingen took a noblewoman, Lady Sanjyō (1521-1570), as his wife. She married into the Takeda family through an intermediary of Imagawa Yoshimoto, a feudal lord of Suruga Province, modern-day Shizuoka Prefecture. She gave birth to three boys and two girls. Lady Sanjyō also had a sister who married a Buddhist priest who was hostile to Oda Nobunaga, a powerful feudal lord and rival of Takeda Shingen. Lady Sanjyō allegedly introduced this brother-in-law to her husband, Shingen. Death records of Enkoin, her family temple, describe Lady Sanjyō as one of the most beautiful women in western Japan.

Shingen’s eldest son, Takeda Yoshinobu (1538-1567), was blessed with military prowess, and was expected to be the heir to the Takeda clan. In 1550, he took the daughter of Imagawa Yoshimoto as his wife, and the western quarter of the Takeda residence was built upon their marriage. However, he later rebelled against his father’s rule and was forced to commit ritual suicide in 1567.

Shingen’s second son was Takeda Ryūho (1541-1582), also known as Unno Nobuchika. In 1556, Nobuchika became ill and a copy of a letter showing that Takeda Shingen requested prayers for the recovery of Nobuchika’s sight has survived. Despite Nobuchika’s blindness, Shingen named Nobuchika heir to the Unno clan of Shinano Province, modern-day Nagano Prefecture, to further expand his influence. However, he was ordained as a semi-clerical half-monk and never appeared on the political stage. During the invasion of Kai by Oda Nobunaga, he learned of his brother Katsuyori’s death and committed suicide.

Shingen’s fourth son, Katsuyori, took Lady Hōjyō (1564-1582) as his wife. She was born the daughter of Hōjyō Ujiyasu of Sagami Province, modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture. She married 31-year-old Katsuyori at the age of 13 to secure an alliance between the Takeda clan of Kai Province and the Hōjyō clan of Sagami Province in 1577. Due to the swift advance of the Oda-Tokugawa forces into Kai and Shinano Provinces, and the defection of influential vassals from the Takeda army, her husband, Katsuyori, was plunged into a struggle for survival. To support him, she sent prayers for the safety of the Takeda clan to Takeda Hachiman Shrine. Ultimately, she committed ritual suicide with her husband and Katsuyori’s son from a previous marriage, Nobukatsu, in 1582.

Takeda Nobukatsu (1567-1582) was born the eldest son of Takeda Katsuyori and Lady Tōyama, the adopted daughter of Oda Nobunaga. In the Kōyō Gunkan (The Military History of the Takeda Clan) it is said that while being cornered by the Oda forces invading Kai, Nobukatsu insisted to his father, who was about to set fire to his unfinished castle, that they should commit ritual suicide gracefully there. They ultimately retreated into the mountains and relied on the Oyamada clan based in the eastern part of Kai Province. Due to Oyamada’s treachery, the 16-year-old Nobukatsu committed suicide along with his father, his father’s young wife, and about 60 members of their retinue.