was a Japanese ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of the late

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, and the final head of the

Later Hōjō clan The was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan in the Sengoku period and held domains primarily in the Kantō region. Their last name was simply , but were called "Later Hōjō" to differentiate between the earlier Hōjō clan who h ...

. An important figure in the history of Azuchi–Momoyama politics, he lost his entire domain following the Siege of Odawara (1590). Despite this, he survived, and his family carried on as small daimyō in the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Biography

Born in Odawara Castle in 1562, Ujinao was the grandson of Hōjō Ujiyasu and the son of Hōjō Ujimasa and was first named . His mother was the daughter of

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

. Coming of age in early 1577, he took the formal name Ujinao. Ujinao married Tokuhime, the second daughter of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

, as a condition for peace between their two clans. In maturity, Ujinao held junior 5th court rank, lower grade (''ju-go-i-ge'') and the title ''Sakyō-dayu''. Later, he took part Ujimasa invasion at Kazusa Province. This battle marked the first battle for Ujinao.

Tenshō-Jingo Conflict

However, Nobunaga soon died at the Incident at Honnō-ji on June 21, 1582. Upon Nobunaga's death, Oda clan's grasp over former Takeda territories weakened. Amidst the chaos, Oda retainers who were assigned by Nobunaga to govern those territories, such as Mori Nagayoshi and Kawajiri Hidetaka amongst others, either fled or were killed by local insurrection. In 1582, after the death of Oda Nobunaga, Ujinao and the Hōjō family took the advantage of the situation to launch invasion to the Kai and Shinano province. However, at the same time,

and the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi period, Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries).Georges Appert, Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its heigh ...

also aspired to seize the vast area in

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

, Kōzuke Province, and Kai Province (currently Gunma Prefecture), which was ruled by the remnants of many small clans formerly serving the Takeda clan. Ieyasu invaded Kai and Shinano province to establish control there on the consent from senior vassals of

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they reached the peak of their power under Oda Nobunaga and fell soon after, several branches of the ...

. On the other hand, Uesugi Kagekatsu of Uesugi clan also made his move by supporting the former Takeda clan forces under the lead of Ogasawara Dōsetsusai from Ogasawara clan and Yashiro Hidemasa at Chikuma and the Nishina clan of Azumino. They defeated and expelled Kiso Yoshimasa, who was granted the control of both Chikuma and Azumino by Oda Nobunaga. However, facing this development, another branch of Ogasawara clan which led by Ogasawara Sadayoshi and his retainers appealed to the Tokugawa clan and offer their allegiance to Ieyasu. This caused the triangle conflict between those three factions in the event which dubbed by historians as Tenshō-Jingo War broke out. By June 13, the Hōjō clan had captured Iwadono Castle in Tsuru District, and instructed Watanabe Shozaemon, a local magnate from Tsuru District to assist them in their conquest. Subsequently, Sanada Masayuki led his army and received Numata Castle to the Uesugi clan. On June 14 however, Kawajiri Hidetaka killed Honda Nobutoshi. This followed with an uprising from many clans in Kai province against Hidetaka on the following day, which resulted in Hidetaka being killed in June 18. On June 24, Uesugi Kagekatsu of Echigo also advanced into northern Shinano and entered Naganuma castle. Later, Ujinao attacked the location of senior retainer, Takigawa Kazumasu at Battle of Kanagawa. On the border between the Kōzuke and

Musashi province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki and Yokohama. ...

s, Kazumasu faced off against the Hōjō forces at Kanegawa. Kazumasu had 18,000 troops, while the Hōjō wielded 55,000, Kazumasu's defeat and retreated to Nagashima. In response, on July 7, 1582,

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

sent a letter to Ieyasu authorizing him to dispatch troops to secure the two provinces of Kai and Shinano. Then as the main body of Tokugawa army led by Ieyasu met with and Hōjō clan main army stationed at Wakamiko castle, the series of military engagements between them occurred, where 8,000 of Tokugawa soldiers fought against around 50,000 soldiers of Hōjō soldiers led by Hōjō Ujinao. On July 12 as the troops under Ujinao advanced across Usui Pass, Nobushige resisted them, abandoned the Komoro Castle, and retreated to a fortress which he deemed more suitable to defend against the Hōjō army. Later on July 16 of the same year, Sadayoshi launched an attack on Fukashi Castle, forcing Dōsetsusai along with Hidemasa to surrender to Sadayoshi. In the final phase of the war, the Tokugawa forces engaged in the battle of Kurokoma against the alliance of the Hōjō and Satomi clans, where the Hōjō clan received a 10,000-man reinforcement from Satomi Yoshiyori, ruler of Awa Province (Chiba). During this conflict, Sakakibara Yasumasa once stormed one of the castle belonging to the Hōjō, while Matsudaira Ietada harassed the Hōjō food supplies. Later at certain moment during the standoff in Kurokoma, Tokugawa dispatched Mizuno Katsushige and Torii Mototada to lead 2,000 soldiers in a raiding operation, where they managed to repel the 10,000 Hōjō army detachment led by Hōjō Ujinao. Katsunari participated in this assault together with his colleague Yasusada Miyake. Hōjō Ujikatsu saw this and went to Ujitada's rescue, but Katsunari and Miyake manage to repel Ujikatsu's reinforcements. Despite some quarrel with Mototada as he viewed Katsunari being reckless and insubordinate, Katsunari was praised for his outstanding performance and received some rewards. Due to this raid by Mototada and Katsunari, the Hōjō army ultimately failed to encircle the Tokugawa army from behind. In the end, the Tokugawa clan managed to beat the alliance of the Hōjō and Satomi clans. On the aftermath of the battle of Kurokoma, Ieyasu once sent Sakai Tadatsugu in December to subdue Suwa Yoritada at Suwa in Shinano, where Tadatsugu manage to subdue Yoritada and secure his surrender to the Tokugawa clan. As the war turned in favor of Ieyasu, combined with the defection of Sanada Masayuki to the Tokugawa side, the Hōjō clan negotiated a truce with Ieyasu. The Hōjō clan then sent Hōjō Ujinobu as representative, while the Tokugawa sent Ii Naomasa for the preliminary meetings. Furthermore, in October, representatives from the Oda clan such as Oda Nobukatsu, Oda Nobutaka, and Toyotomi mediated the negotiation until the truce officially concluded. It was recorded that the invasion of Satake Yoshishige against the territory of Hōjō also encouraged them to accept the truce with Tokugawa.

Fall of Go-Hōjō clan

In 1590, Odawara fell to

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

at the hands of

; his father and uncle were forced to commit suicide, but Ujinao was spared because he was Tokugawa Ieyasu's son-in-law. Ujinao and his wife were exiled to Mount Kōya, where he died late the following year. His adoptive son, Hōjō Ujimori, was the first daimyo of Sayama-han (

Kawachi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in th ...

, 10,000 ''koku'').

Family

* Father: Hojo Ujimasa * Mother: Obaiin (1543–1569) * Wife: Toku Hime * Children: ** Son by Tokuhime ** Hoshuin-dono married Ikeda Toshitaka by Tokuhime ** Manshuin-dono by Tokuhime

Appendix

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hojo, Ujinao Go-Hōjō clan Samurai Daimyo 1562 births 1591 deaths People from Odawara