Born in 1521 at Tsutsujigasaki Yakata in Kai Province as the eldest son of Takeda Nobutora, his childhood name was Taro. His father Nobutora was a fierce warrior but his harsh rule bred discontent among the retainers; in 1541 Shingen exploited this to exile his father to Suruga and inherited the Kai domain at 21. He then led a powerful cavalry army in the conquest of Shinano, driving out Murakami Yoshikiyo and others to bring most of Shinano under control. This brought him into collision with Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo, who had supported northern Shinano lords; they fought five times at Kawanakajima (in present-day Nagano city) between 1553 and 1564. The Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima in 1561 was particularly fierce, and tradition holds the two commanders fought in personal combat. Flying his Furinkazan banner — drawn from Sun Tzu: "swift as wind, quiet as forest, fierce as fire, immovable as mountain" — he brought Kai, Shinano, Kozuke, and Suruga under his sway. He also excelled in domestic administration, most famously through the Shingen embankment flood-control works on the Kamanashi River. In 1572 he launched his western campaign to crush the Tokugawa and Oda, crushing Ieyasu's forces at the Battle of Mikatagahara, but died of illness in camp the following year at age 53.

A rare commander who combined strategic brilliance with martial valor. As demonstrated by the Shingen embankment flood-control works, he excelled in civil administration and worked tirelessly to strengthen Kai's national power. A devout Buddhist, he took holy orders and adopted the dharma name Shingen. His fateful rivalry with Kenshin is still legendary.

The Shingen embankment on the Kamanashi River remains a model of flood control that still protects the Kofu basin. His dictum — "People are the castle, people are the stone walls, people are the moats; compassion is an ally, enmity is an enemy" — is widely quoted today as a management philosophy that treats human talent as the supreme resource. The Takeda cavalry was called the strongest of the Warring States era, and his military methods deeply influenced many daimyo.