In the center of the print we see Uesugi Kenshin (1530-1578) in a direct surprise attack upon Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), on the left. From 1553-1564, during the period of Warring States (sengoku jidai, 1467-1568), these warlords fought five battles on the Kawanakajima plain in the Northern Japanese Alps. At the time, this area was a "no-man's land" between their respective territories of Kai and Echigo. The fourth battle, which is described in the Kōyō Gunkan, was the best documented and the most bloody of the five. During this battle, an epic encounter took place, which served as the subject of this print. Before Takeda Shingen's foot-soldiers-seen here standing in the lower-left corner-could save their lord, Uesugi Kenshin manages to administer three cuts on his body armor and seven cuts on his war-fan, which Takeda Shingen uses to fend off sword blows. This event is famous as a rare one-on-one duel between two great warlords.

The Sengoku Period (circa 1467-1568), usually translated as the Warring States Period, was a prolonged era of civil war between numerous feudal domains. Lack of effective central leadership led domain lords to vie for larger areas of influence, and to create territories that were independent of outside rule. This situation remained until Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), worked together to effect a unification of the country under central rule. Characterized by ruthless ambitions and contested territories, the legends of the Sengoku Period maintained the themes of strength, honor, bravery, and loyalty established in the classical period and Genpei War (1180-1185). The prints here depict an era of grotesque violence and ingenious military tactics; warlords slaughtered their rivals families, and collected their enemies heads. Brilliant military strategies unfolded as smaller infantries toppled much larger armies using traps, diversions, and recently imported firearms. It was a time of gekokujō, , which can be translated as the low overcoming the high, and the ultimate victor of the Sengoku Period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was a man born to humble beginnings with no samurai lineage. These prints celebrate men like Hideyoshi, whose aggression and strategic genius brought them great status.