which was close to Norimasa's territories. In the ambush, Shingen defeated Uesugi's army. He decapitated 15 senior samurai and 300 ashigaru and displayed the severed heads in front of the Shika castle. Aftermath Despite the gruesome spectacle of the severed heads, the Shika garrison continued to hold out for another four days. However, at noon on 23 September a fire broke out within the castle, greatly damaging the defences, and Shingen seized the opportunity to mount an assault that evening, which overran the defences and captured the fortress. With Shika reduced, the Takeda war machine rolled on into the northern part of Shinano, provoking a renewed intervention by the Uesugi, now led by their new daimyo Uesugi Kenshin, which resulted in the famous Battles of Kawanakajima. In popular culture The parading of the severed heads from the Odaihara battlefield is famously depicted in the 1969 Japanese film Fūrin Kazan ('Samurai Banners'), which follows the careers of Takeda Shingen's general Yamamoto Kansuke. References Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co. Odaihara 1547 in Japan Odaihara