Hojo Ujinao (2/2)The last head of the Kanto Hojo clan

On July 11, Hojo Ujiyasu and Ujiteru committed seppuku, and on the 12th, it was decided that Ujinao would be confined to Mount Koya. On the 21st, Ujinao left Odawara with 30 of his retainers, and arrived at Mount Koya on August 12th. From here, he lived a life of confinement with his retainers, calling himself "Kenseisai."

In the following year, in 1591, Hojo Ujinao asked Tokugawa Ieyasu to intercede for him with Hideyoshi, and worked to secure his pardon. In May, he was pardoned and given a residence in Osaka.

On August 19th, Ujinao met with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was given territories in Kawachi Province and Kanto, and was restored as a feudal lord with a stipend of 10,000 koku. Tokuhime, who was in Odawara, was also summoned to Osaka, and Hojo Ujinao was to continue to act as a feudal lord under Toyotomi's vassal. However, in the winter of the same year, Ujinao fell ill. According to the Tamonin Diary, he was diagnosed with smallpox, and died on November 4th at the age of 30.
The Hojo clan, which was founded at the beginning of the Sengoku period, came to an end with the end of the period.

The Hojo clan and the Sayama domain

Hojo Ujinao married Tokugawa Ieyasu's second daughter, Tokuhime. They had a daughter, but no son to succeed him. So he adopted Hojo Ujimori, the son of Hojo Ujinobu, Ujinao's cousin. When Ujinao was placed under house arrest at Mount Koya, his adopted son Hojo Ujimori was also placed under house arrest at Mount Koya along with his real father, Hojo Ujinobu.

Later, after being released from house arrest, Ujinao died in 1591, and the main line of the Later Hojo clan in Kanto came to an end. His adopted son, Hojo Ujimori, inherited 4,000 koku of land in Shimotsuke Province (present-day Tochigi Prefecture), which had been Ujinao's territory. Furthermore, in 1600, when his father Ujinori also died, he also inherited 7,000 koku of land in Sayama, Kawachi Province (present-day eastern Osaka Prefecture), which had been his father's territory. Inheriting a total of 11,000 koku, Hojo Ujimori became a daimyo during the Edo period and the first lord of the Sayama Domain, which marked the continuation of the Later Hojo clan. The Sayama Domain was ruled by 12 generations of the Hojo clan until the Meiji period.

The Hojo clan of Kanto arose at the beginning of the Sengoku period, but was driven out of Kanto at the end of the period. However, they continued to rule the Sayama Domain in Kawachi Province until the end of the samurai era.

Grave of Hojo Ujinao

Kinyuzan Sounji Temple

Kinyuzan Sounji Temple in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture. One theory is that Kinyuzan Sounji Temple was founded in 1521 by the second Hojo Ujitsuna, who invited a monk from Kyoto, in accordance with the will of the first Hojo Soun.
During the Siege of Odawara, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's headquarters was temporarily located here, but when Ishigamiyama Castle was built, it was moved and the entire area, including the temple, was burned down.
In the Edo period, it was rebuilt by Kikuchi Soson in 1627. In 1672, Hojo Ujiharu, the fifth head of the Sayama Domain, built a memorial tower for the heads of the family, including Hojo Ujinao, inside the temple on August 15th, the anniversary of Hojo Soun's death, and it remains there to this day.

Mount Koya Hojo Family Graveyard

The Hojo family graveyard is also located at Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture. Many warring states feudal lords are located at Mount Koya, but the Hojo family graveyard is located halfway between Ichinohashi and Nakanohashi at Okunoin, a little off the approach to the temple and into the mountains. Just beyond the sign that reads "Odawara Hojo Family Graveyard" stands a pagoda. Hojo Ujinao's grave was built in 1590 or 1591, so it seems likely that he built it while he was still alive.

The grave of Ujinao at Kaizoji Temple in Hiroshima Prefecture

So far we have looked at Hojo Ujinao. There is one mysterious story about Ujinao.

The graves of Ujinao are in Mount Koya and in the Kanto region. However, there is also a grave (hokyoin pagoda) of Ujinao in Kaizo-ji Temple in Hiroshima Prefecture. Why is there a grave of Ujinao in Hiroshima, where he has no connection or ties?

According to local legend (present-day Kusatsu Town, Nishi Ward, Hiroshima City), Ujinao, who was under house arrest at Mount Koya, fled the mountains and reached Aki Province (present-day Hiroshima Prefecture), where he was hidden by Kodama Narihide, a retainer of the Mori clan, and had a grave built there after his death.

However, there is another theory besides the legend. In fact, the Geibi no Kuni Gunshi, compiled in 1663, contains a description of Ujinao's grave, which shows that it already existed in the early Edo period. In other words, the grave believed to be Ujinao's was certainly built before 1663. Now, Ujinao was placed under house arrest at Mt. Koya along with his vassals. Among Ujinao and the vassals under house arrest was Hojo Ujitada. Hojo Ujitada was a vassal and the grandson of Hojo Ujitsuna, the second head of the later Hojo clan. When Hojo Ujitada was released from house arrest at Mt. Koya, he and his family were entrusted to Mori Terumoto in the Chugoku region.

Later, Ujitada died in Aki Province, but his daughter married a retainer of the Mori clan and took the name Ise (the surname of the predecessor of the Hojo clan) (the Ise clan would later take the surname Hojo after the Meiji Restoration). After the Mori clan was defeated in the Battle of Sekigahara, Aki Province and other territories were taken away from them, and their territory was reduced to Nagato Suo Province (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture). It is believed that the grave of Hojo Ujinao at Kaizoji Temple in Hiroshima City was built by Hojo Ujitada (or his family) in Aki Province in memory of their former lord.

In the "Hojoki," written about the Kanto region in the Muromachi period, it is written that "the fifth head of the family, Ujinao (Hojo Ujinao), was very capable of judgment, but unfortunately he was of a frail constitution, and made the mistake of not making decisions himself, but leaving it to others, which ultimately led to the loss of his family." Although he was a moderate head of the family, he had a hard time uniting people in times of war. However, the fact that his retainers built a grave for him and performed services for him after his death shows that he was a very beloved lord.