Ujiyasu Hojo (2/2)Sagami lion

From Tenbun 19 (1550), he began to conquer the Yamauchi Uesugi family of Kanto Kanrei.
In 1552, Norizane Uesugi could no longer support himself and retreated to the northern part of Musashi Province (present-day Saitama Prefecture) in order to obtain support from Kagetora Nagao. Furthermore, they expanded steadily eastward by entering Shimono Province (present-day Tochigi Prefecture) and the Boso Peninsula (present-day Chiba Prefecture).

Now, Odawara is where the Hojo family is based. What happened to the west side of Odawara? Just before the night battle of Kawagoe, they made peace with the Imagawa family located to the west. However, Ujiyasu Hojo and Yoshimoto Imagawa were suspicious of each other and could not settle down.
At that time, Ujiyasu wrote to Oda Nobuhide (Oda Nobunaga's father) in reply, ``Even though peace has been reached, the suspicions of the other country (Imagawa family) continue, which is causing trouble. ” he wrote and lamented.

However, a turning point came. Around 1551, the Hojo, Takeda, and Imagawa families began to negotiate marriages, and there were signs that they were forming an alliance as relatives by marriage.

• The marriage of Ujiyasu Hojo's daughter and Ujima Imagawa (Yoshimoto Imagawa's eldest son).
• The marriage of Yoshimoto Imagawa's daughter and Yoshinobu Takeda (Shingen Takeda's eldest son).
• The marriage of Takeda Shingen's daughter and Hojo Ujimasa (Hojo Ujiyasu's eldest son).

Hojo, Imagawa, and Takeda formed an alliance by marrying each other. In this way, the threat from the West was eliminated, and with the cooperation of the Takeda clan, which had become an ally, Ujiyasu Hojo was able to concentrate on conquering the Kanto region.

Uesugi Kenshin's invasion

To the west of the Hojo family, Hojo Ujiyasu solidified his power through the Triple Alliance with the Imagawa family in Suruga and the Takeda family in Kai.
However, once again, the situation develops in the western Kanto region. Norizane Uesugi, Kanto Kanrei, moved to Echigo Province (present-day Niigata Prefecture) to rely on Kagetora Nagao. He then adopted Kagetora Nagao into the Uesugi family, who later became Uesugi Kenshin.

In 1559, Ujiyasu Hojo handed over the headship of the family to his son Ujimasa Hojo and retired. This was because a great famine called ``Eiroku Famine'' was occurring, and the purpose was to implement the Tokuseirei by replacing it. The Kanto region was not a place for war due to famine.

Meanwhile, in 1560, Kagetora Uesugi expanded into the Kanto region with Norizane Uesugi. When they entered Ueno Province (present-day Gunma Prefecture) from Echigo Province, they captured castles in the Hojo area one after another. Under the Uesugi family, feudal lords and nationals from the Kanto region, as well as the Satake family from outside the Kanto region, gathered one after another to subjugate Hojo.

In March 1561, the allied forces led by Uesugi Kagetora, which had finally grown to over 100,000 troops, invaded Sagami, where Hojo Ujiyasu was located, and besieged Odawara Castle. However, the defense of Odawara Castle was strong, and due to famines that continued to occur even after the Eiroku famine, the allied forces were unable to maintain a long-term siege and disbanded.

Furthermore, Takeda Shingen, allied with Ujiyasu, completed Kaizu Castle on Kawanakajima, Shinano Province, and prepared to invade Echigo Province. Kagetora Nagao, sensing that his homeland was in danger, also withdrew from Odawara Castle, and at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura, Kagetora Uesugi (Kenshin Uesugi) took over the post of Kanto Kanrei from Norizane Uesugi. Immediately after this, Kagetora Uesugi fought against Takeda Shingen who had advanced to Shinano Province at Kawanakajima, the 4th Battle of Kawanakajima.

The collapse of the Triple Alliance, the battle with Takeda Shingen, and its final moments

Now, Ujiyasu Hojo has been invaded by Kagetora Nagao (Kenshin Uesugi). At the same time that Ujiyasu was fighting a deadly battle in the Kanto region, a battle was being fought in Owari Province (present-day Aichi Prefecture), the Battle of Okehazama.
This is a battle in which Yoshimoto Imagawa, who advanced through Owari Province, was defeated by Nobunaga Oda. As a result, the Triple Alliance between the Hojo, Imagawa, and Takeda families also changed.

In the 11th year of Eiroku (1568), Yoshimoto Imagawa passed away and the Imagawa family became unstable. Takeda Shingen then changed his traditional diplomatic policy and invaded the Imagawa clan, ending the Triple Alliance.
Hojo Ujiyasu is asked for support by his son-in-law, Imagawa Ujimasa, and Hojo Ujimasa confronts the Takeda family.

However, behind the scenes, Ujiyasu made a secret agreement with Tokugawa Ieyasu of Mikawa Province (present-day eastern Aichi Prefecture), who was invading the Imagawa clan, and also took measures after the Imagawa clan disappeared. After defeating the Takeda family, the Hojo family captured Higashisuruga.

The Hojo family changed to an aggressive policy, but at the same time they made enemies of the Takeda family, the Uesugi family, and anti-Hojo forces in the Kanto region. There, in 1569, Uesugi Kenshin and Hojo Ujiyasu formed an Etsuso alliance with the Uesugi family, who were old enemies. In this way, the Hojo family was able to concentrate on fighting the Takeda family, but the Hojo family did not perform well and was forced to fight in Suruga Province by the Takeda family.
Ujiyasu Hojo's life was a series of deadly battles with Takeda Shingen of Kai, Yoshimoto Imagawa of Suruga, and Kenshin Uesugi of Echigo.

While these battles continued, Hojo Ujiyasu is said to have developed symptoms of paralysis (cerebral hemorrhage) around the summer of 1570. On October 3, 2007, Ujiyasu passed away at Odawara Castle at the age of 57. It is said that his remains were buried at Mt. Kinyu Sounji Temple.

Ujiyasu Hojo as a domestic politician

When Ujiyasu Hojo took over as head of the family, natural disasters were occurring all over Japan. Heavy rains and floods in 1539, along with locusts, caused a famine. The following year, heavy rains and floods occurred, which led to an epidemic and a nationwide natural disaster, the astronomical famine.

Tenbun 18 (1549). A large-scale earthquake occurred in the Kanto region. At this time, the response to the people affected by the disaster was delayed, and a large-scale flight occurred throughout the territory, abandoning villages and fields.

In this way, Hojo Ujiyasu had to stabilize the management of his own territory before competing with surrounding daimyo and kokumin. Therefore, we will abolish the temporary levy that has been collected when necessary and implement tax reform. The monetary system was reformed because there were variations in the quality of coins.

Craftsmen from all over the country were invited to the central city of Odawara to carry out urban reforms, and as a result, a water supply system called the Odawara Hayakawa Josui was constructed. Furthermore, Ujiyasu thoroughly surveyed the land and made efforts to strengthen the country's external resistance by establishing the foundations of domestic administration, such as uniformly establishing military service.

Development of the Hojo family and Odawara Castle

As mentioned above, the (later) Hojo family was an emerging power that existed only during the Sengoku period.
The founder of the Hojo family, Shinkuro Ise (Soun Hojo), served as the chief of staff for the Muromachi shogunate, and resolved the problems of his sister's marriage to the Imagawa family. Through this connection, he acquired Kokokuji Castle (now Numazu City) near Izu Province from the Imagawa family. After that, they attacked Horikoshi Kubo located in the east (Soun's attack on Horikoshi Kubo is also thought to be an order from the Muromachi Shogunate) and expanded their influence into Izu Province. Shinkuro Ise moved his base from Kokokuji Castle to Nirayama Castle.

He then defeated the Omori clan and acquired Odawara Castle. The second generation, Ujitsuna Hojo, moved his base from Nirayama Castle to Odawara Castle.
The third generation, Ujiyasu Hojo, established Odawara Castle as his base. The result is the Odawara Hayakawa Waterworks mentioned above. The Hayakawa Josui Water Supply took water from the Hayakawa River and used it for drinking purposes. Hayakawa Josui seems to have already existed when Munemaki, a renga master in the late Muromachi period, stopped by Odawara in 1545, as he wrote about it in "Togoku Kiko." Hayakawa Josui was the oldest water facility in Japan.

In this way, Ujiyasu Hojo was not only a daimyo who fought with his surroundings, but also a great daimyo who also focused on the welfare of his people.