The was one of the most powerful

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

families in Japan in the

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 held domains primarily in the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

. Their last name was simply , but were called "Later Hōjō" to differentiate between the earlier

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

who had the same name and '' mon'', even though it was not their official family name.

History

The history of the family is written in the ''Hōjō Godaiki''. The clan is traditionally reckoned to be started by Ise Shinkurō, who came from a branch of the prestigious Ise clan, descendants of Taira no Toshitsugu, a family in the direct service of the Ashikaga shoguns, as close advisors and '' Shugo'' (Governor) of Yamashiro Province (Ise Sadamichi since 1493). During the Imagawa clan succession crisis in 1476, Shinkurō whose sister was married to Imagawa Yoshitada, Shugo (Governor) of

Suruga Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu Province, Izu, Kai Province, Kai, Sagami Province, Sagami, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Province, Tōtōm ...

, became associated with the Imagawa clan. At the death of Yoshitada in battle, Shinkurō went down to Suruga Province to support his nephew Imagawa Ujichika. Through this relationship Shinkurō quickly established a base of power in Kantō. His son wanted his lineage to have a more illustrious name, and chose Hōjō, after the line of hereditary regents of the Kamakura shogunate, to which his wife also belonged. So he became Hōjō Ujitsuna, and his father, Ise Shinkurō, was posthumously renamed Hōjō Sōun. The Later Hōjō, sometimes known as the Odawara Hōjō after their home castle of

Odawara is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in ...

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

, were not related to the earlier Hōjō clan. Their power rivaled that of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

, but eventually

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: ...

eradicated the power of the Hōjō clan in the siege of Odawara (1590), banishing Hōjō Ujinao and his wife Toku Hime (a 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 ...

) to Mount Kōya, where Ujinao died in 1591. The tea master Yamanoue Sōji, a disciple of Sen no Rikyū, was under the patronage of the Odawara lords. Following their fall, he was brutally executed on orders by

. The clan ruled Sayama Domain in

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 ...

through 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 ...

Heads

The heads of the Later Hōjō clan were as follows: * Hōjō Sōun (1432–1519) * Hōjō Ujitsuna (1487–1541), son of Sōun * Hōjō Ujiyasu (1515–1571), son of Ujitsuna * Hōjō Ujimasa (1538–1590), son of Ujiyasu * Hōjō Ujinao (1562–1591), son of Ujimasa

Prominent vassals

* Hōjō Genan * Hōjō Ujikuni * Hōjō Ujinori *

Hōjō Ujiteru (1540? – August 10, 1590) was a Japanese samurai, who was the son of Hōjō Ujiyasu and lord of Hachiōji Castle in what is now Tokyo. He fought in the Siege of Odawara (1561) and Battle of Konodai (1564). In 1568, Ujiteru defended Takiyama ...

* Hōjō Ujitada * Hōjō Tsunataka * Hōjō Tsunashige * Hōjō Ujishige * Tame Mototada * Matsuda Norihide * Daidōji Morimasa * Daidōji Masashige * Tōyama Kagetsuna * Shimizu Yasuhide * Tominaga Naokatsu * Fūma Kotarō * Naitō Tsunahide * Ōta Ujisuke * Narita Nagayasu * Tōyama Tsunakage * Chiba Naotane * Chiba Tanetomi

Later Hōjō clan's prominent castles

;Castles and retainers

Sagami Province

* Odawara Castle : Home castle of Later Hōjō clan, Hōjō Ujiyasu * Tamanawa Castle : Hōjō Ujitoki, Hōjō Tsunashige *Misaki Castle : Hōjō Ujinori * Ashigara Castle : Hōjō Ujimitsu * Tsukui Castle : Naito clan * Kawamura Castle

Izu Province

* Nirayama Castle : Hōjō Sōun * Yamanaka Castle : Matsuda clan * Nagahama Castle : (Hōjō navy's castle) * Shimoda Castle : (Hōjō navy's castle) Kasahara Yasukatsu, Shimizu Yasuhide * Kōkokuji Castle * Fukasawa Castle *Maruyama Castle

Musashi Province

* Edo Castle : Tominaga Naokatsu, Hōjō Tsunataka * Setagaya Castle * Kozukue Castle : Kasahara clan * Takiyama Castle : Hojo Ujiteru * Hachigata Castle : Hōjō Ujikuni * Hachiōji Castle :

* Kurihashi Castle :

* Iwatsuki Castle * Taki-no Castle *Aoki Castle : Tame Mototada * Oshi Castle : Narita clan * Kasai Castle : Tōyama Kagetsuna * Kawagoe Castle : Hōjō Tsunashige * Matsuyama Castle

Other Province

* Matsuida Castle : Daidōji Masashige * Moto Sakura Castle : Chiba clan * Karasawa Castle : Sano clan * Maebashi Castle : Kitajō Takahiro * Numata castle * Hirai Castle : Tame Mototada *Usui Castle * Oyama Castle * Sekiyado Castle * Koga Castle

In popular culture

'' Hyouge Mono'' (へうげもの Hepburn: Hyōge Mono, lit. "Jocular Fellow") is a Japanese ''

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

'' written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Yamada. It was adapted into an ''

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

'' series in 2011, and includes a fictional depiction of the Hōjō. The Hōjō are a playable faction in the video game '' Total War: Shogun 2''. The later Hōjō clan of the Sengoku jidai from the manga and anime of '' Inuyasha'', and the second movie '' Inuyasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass''. The Hojo/Houjou clan is a house/clan in '' AliceSofts 7th game in the Rance series, '' Sengoku Rance''. The Hojo clan's logo/symbol was the inspiration for the '' Legend of Zelda'' series' ''

Triforce The is a fictional artifact (archaeology), artifact and icon of Nintendo's ''The Legend of Zelda'' video game franchise. It first appeared in the original ''The Legend of Zelda (video game), The Legend of Zelda'' video game (1986) and has app ...

'' logo.