text: Retirement & death In 1609, Tadakatsu retired, and his other son Tadamasa took over the position of the head of Honda clan. Tadakatsu's daughter, Komatsuhime was Sanada Nobuyuki's lawful wife and mother of Sanada Nobumasa, daimyō of Matsushiro Domain. His grandson, Tadatoki, married the granddaughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Senhime. Despite his years of loyal service, Tadakatsu became increasingly estranged from the Tokugawa shogunate (Bakufu government) as it evolved from a military to a civilian political institution. This was a fate shared by many other warriors of the time, who were not able to make the conversion from the chaotic lifetime of warfare of the Sengoku period to the more stable peace of the Tokugawa shogunate.
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  Tadakatsu reputation has gained praise from Oda Nobunaga, has praised him, called him a "samurai among samurai". Moreover, Toyotomi Hideyoshi noted that the best samurai were "Honda Tadakatsu in the east and Tachibana Muneshige in the west". Even Takeda Shingen praised Honda, saying that "he is a luxury of Tokugawa Ieyasu". It was widely acknowledged that he was a reputed samurai, war hero and a loyal retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
  Tadakatsu is nicknamed as "The Warrior who surpassed Death itself" because he never once suffered a significant wound, despite being the veteran of over 57 battles by the end of his life. An anecdote recorded by Japanese writer Kusudo Yoshiaki has stated that Honda Tadakatsu always compared to another Tokugawa general Ii Naomasa, where despite being lightly armored, Tadakatsu never received any injury during his life, while Naomasa always received wounds every battle despite heavily armored.