Grandfather of Sanada Yukimura (Nobushige). Serving Takeda Shingen, he made his name by taking the supposedly impregnable Toishi Castle through subversion — turning insiders against their own lord — in what became known as the "Fall of Toishi." Rather than force, he specialized in cunning and subversion, drawing one Shinano warlord after another into the Takeda fold. He was one of the foremost schemers of the Sengoku era who laid the foundation of the Sanada clan.

A wise general who preferred cunning and subversion over brute force. His skill in working from within enemy ranks to take castles became the origin of the Sanada style of scheming, inherited by Masayuki and Yukimura.

He laid the foundation for three generations of Sanada (Yukitaka, Masayuki, Yukimura). By earning Shingen's trust as a master of subversion, he elevated the Sanada into a renowned Sengoku house. His cunning flows through to his grandson Yukimura's legend as "Japan's Greatest Warrior."