Misreading the Era of Hideyoshi: Hojo Ujimasa

Restrained by the Pride of being a Distinguished Family thus unable to Demonstrate strong Leadership

The Odawara Hojo clan, which began with Ise Sōzu’s son Ujitsuna, was a distinguished family that subdued the Kanto region by driving out the Kantō Shugo Uesugi clan. However, the 3rd and 4th generations, Ujimasa and Ujinao, are depicted as “ignorant fools” in later military chronicles and other sources. Particularly, Ujimasa tarnished the brand of the “Hojo of Kanto” that his predecessors Hōkō, Ujitsuna, and Ujiyasu had established, and he was labeled an incompetent daimyo who brought ruin to his family.

However, recent studies evaluate Ujimasa and Ujinao differently, stating that they settled the power struggle over Kanto’s control with Uesugi Kenshin, with whom Ujiyasu had spent half of his life in conflict, achieved a dominant alliance with the Satomi clan in Boso, extended their influence to the southern part of Hitachi Province, and formed the largest territory of the Hojo clan under Ujimasa and Ujinao.

Nevertheless, it is undeniable that Ujimasa and Ujinao brought about the downfall of the Hojo clan, the greatest noble family in Kanto.

Ujimasa, responding to Oda Nobunaga’s request, submitted to him in the 8th year of the Tenshō era (1580). After the Incident at Honnōji, a struggle for supremacy over the Kanto (Kōzuke and Shinano) erupted in the “Battle of Tenbun Mago” among three factions: Tokugawa Ieyasu, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and Hojo Ujimasa (Ujinao). The complexity increased with the involvement of Sanada Masayuki, a former retainer of the Takeda clan. As a result, Ujinao married the daughter of Ieyasu (Toku-hime), and the two families reconciled. Sanada Masayuki came under the protection of Hideyoshi. The division of the Kanto (Kōzuke and Shinano) was also settled by Hideyoshi’s decision.

Around this time, Hideyoshi repeatedly approached the Hojo clan with both peaceful and confrontational attitudes, demanding their submission and service. While Ujimasa outwardly complied with Hideyoshi, even sending envoys, he secretly pursued an alliance with Date Masamune, who became the “overlord of Ōshū.” Additionally, Ieyasu, a relative, played a mediating role, which further complicated the situation.

Ujimasa’s first failure lay in relying too much on the assistance of the Date and Tokugawa clans and being unable to grasp the reality of the situation. Hideyoshi could not tolerate Ujimasa’s ambiguous attitude and launched the Odawara Campaign in November of the 17th year of Tenshō. His army numbered 200,000. However, Ujimasa relied on the impregnable myth of Odawara Castle, which became his second failure.

One of the factors was the repeated meetings known as the “Odawara Council” that failed to reach a conclusion. At crucial moments, his indecisiveness and lack of leadership became apparent. While Ujimasa could expand his influence in Kanto during prosperous times, his lack of preparedness in times of crisis became his third failure (misrule).

Masamune was able to avoid downfall by accurately assessing Hideyoshi’s character and aligning himself with him, but Ujimasa was unable to match Masamune’s performance. He was too constrained by the pride associated with being from a prestigious family. This “pride” became the greatest failure that led to the downfall of the Hojo clan.

Supervised and Written by Emiya Takayuki

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