Chris Perry, Author

Tag: Edo Castle

  • The Odawara Campaign

    The Odawara Campaign

    Just a quick note from me: Due to real-life changes with workload, I’ve decided to reduce the number of blog posts to one per week. Going forward, the blog will be posted on Fridays.

    In 1589, the Hojo openly defied Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s peace orders, prompting the new regent to declare them in rebellion against the throne. (Side note, Hideyoshi, as the son of a peasant, couldn’t be declared Shogun, so he took the title of Kampaku, officially the chief advisor of the Emperor, but in reality, the political master of Japan.)

    Toyotomi Hideyoshi

    There were some final (and quite half-hearted) attempts at negotiation, but Hideyoshi’s position was clear: either the Hojo would submit, or they would be destroyed. The Hojo, an old, proud, and powerful clan, refused to bow, and by 1590, Hideyoshi had mustered an army of some 200,000 men to force the issue.

    Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose lands lay between the Hojo and Hideyoshi, initially sought to mediate, as his daughter was married to Hojo Ujinao, the nominal lord of the clan. These attempts failed, however, and Ieyasu threw in his lot with Hideyoshi, making preparations in his lands for the movement of thousands of troops advancing on the Kanto.

    The Kanto is surrounded by mountains and, at least in theory, very easy to defend, as there are only a limited number of passes through which a large body of troops can pass. The Hojo knew this and fortified as many of these passes as they could. Unfortunately, they were now being attacked on practically all sides. As well as the Tokugawa-Toyotomi force coming from the east, they also face an army sent along the Nakasendo road to attack Usui Pass in the north, and a force dispatched from the North-East would advance into Musashi Province and attack the castles there. Even the ocean to the south wasn’t open to the Hojo, as a naval force attacked Nagahama Castle in Izu.

    The site of Nagahama Castle today.

    The main blow would come from the west, however, as Hideyoshi led his army in an attack on the apparently formidable fortress of Yamanaka. Before the outbreak of hostilities, the Hojo had dispatched a garrison of 4000 men to the castle and set about improving its fortifications. Unfortunately, this work was not completed by the time Hideyoshi’s army arrived, and, despite its reputation as the “gateway” to the Kanto, Yamanaka fell in a single morning, despite brave resistance from the overmatched garrison.

    Other castles in the area were taken or besieged, bottling up their garrisons and preventing them from supporting the main attack on Odawara, which itself came under siege in early May. Odawara itself was an enormous castle, and despite the size of Hideyoshi’s army, there was no serious attempt to take it by storm. Instead, the siege camp became something of a small town, with everything from prostitutes to theatrical troupes plying their trade amongst the besiegers, whilst the Hojo defenders were often obliged to sleep on the battlements in their armour, for fear of a sudden attack.

    With Odawara now firmly under siege, Hideyoshi was confident enough to dispatch forces to support the campaigns in other parts of Hojo territory, with many of the castles falling with surprising speed. This was largely due to the fact that the Hojo had mobilised the vast majority of their forces for the defence of Odawara itself, leaving most of the outlying castles only lightly defended. When faced with the overwhelming strength of the forces arrayed against them, most of these castles surrendered immediately, or else were taken after only brief resistance.

    The layout of Odawara Castle.

    There is some evidence that the speed at which many of these castles fell led Hideyoshi to criticise his generals in the region, suggesting that taking so many castles so easily could not be considered a military achievement.

    The ease of the advance wasn’t true everywhere, however. At Iwatsuki (in modern Saitama), a force of 20,000 was held up by the defenders for several days despite a numerical advantage of 10-1. When the castle fell, Hideyoshi ordered that all the fighting men be killed, and the women and children taken prisoner. Instead, the commanding general, Asano Nagamasa, had already agreed to spare the surviving warriors, the women and the children as part of the surrender agreement.

    Meanwhile, the Siege at Hachigata Castle (also in Saitama) concerned Hideyoshi enough that he sent a sternly worded letter to Nagamasa, ordering him to focus his efforts there. Nagamasa did so, and a combined army of some 35,000 men attacked Hachigata, forcing the garrison to surrender. Once again, arrangements were made to spare the garrison and non-combatants, though this time it doesn’t seem to have been in defiance of Hideyoshi’s orders.

    The site of Hachigata Castle as they appear today.
    Taketarou – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1273726による

    While most castles were taken by force, negotiation, or a combination of the two, some held out, either through the skill of their defenders or, as was the case at Tatebayashi Castle, by apparently divine intervention. The castle was apparently founded with the help of a grateful fox, who rewarded the lord of the castle for rescuing its baby by marking out the foundations of the fortress in an area of swampy ground.

    This soggy position made the castle very difficult to approach, and when it came under siege, the attackers laid down logs across the swamp to create a roadway to the castle walls. With their pathway secure, the besiegers got a good night’s rest and prepared for a dawn attack. When the sun rose, they found that the roadway had disappeared completely, something put down to the fox spirit protecting the castle rather than the possibility that the logs had just sunk.

    Another famous, watery siege was that of Oshi Castle. Surrounded on two sides by rivers, Oshi was besieged by forces led by Ishida Mitsunari (who will become very important). Much ike Tatebayashi, Oshi’s watery position made it difficult to overcome. Mitsunari (apparently on written instructions from Hideyoshi) set about building an enormous levee surrounding the fort, forcing the water from the two rivers to inundate the castle and flood out its defenders.

    The levee (Ishida Tsutsumi) as it appears today in modern Konosu, Saitama.
    京浜にけ – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=100409931による

    To the besiegers’ surprise, the waters didn’t actually flood the castle; instead, they gave it the appearance of floating on the water, leading it to be referred to as the “Floating Castle” (this is the title of a manga and its later 2012 adaptation, both about the siege). Following several days of heavy rain, the levee broke (or was sabotaged in some sources), flooding the siege camp and killing up to 200 warriors.

    The failure of this approach would seriously damage Mitsunari’s military reputation (some sources point out that he was just following Hideyoshi’s instructions, but the damage was done), and the siege was eventually taken over by Asano Nagamasa. An all-out assault on the castle was impossible due to the effects of the flooding, which had turned the ground into an impassable quagmire, and Oshi has the distinction of being one of the few fortresses that held out until the end of the Odawara Campaign, before eventually surrendering nearly 2 weeks after the fall of Odawara.

    Odawara, as one of the most formidable castles in the realm, hadn’t come under direct attack, but the siege had been dragging on for weeks, and news from other parts of the Kanto was almost universally bad, sapping the already fragile morale of the defenders. Shortly after the siege began, the loyalty of the Date Clan was still in doubt, and the Hojo held out hope that they might receive aid from outside the Kanto. Date forces indeed entered the Kanto, but in support of Hideyoshi, ending any hope of relief.

    Date Masamune. His decision to support Hideyoshi ended any hope the Hojo had of outside support.

    Though no general assault was launched, there were a few small-scale skirmishes and sporadic gunfire, and by early summer, signs of a breakdown in morale were appearing on both sides, with an increase of desertion amongst the besiegers, and the ever-present possibility of defection from the Hojo, especially as news of the rapid fall of other castles arrived.

    Negotiations began early in the siege, largely facilitated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hojo Ujinao’s father-in-law. Rumours of a peace agreement spread almost immediately, and Ujinao’s grandmother and step-mother (Ujimasa’s second wife) both died mysteriously on the same day. Historians generally believe they committed suicide, either in protest of a peace deal or in prospect of one.

    News of the fall of other fortresses was followed by the public display of the heads of those killed, and then the wives and children of the survivors outside the castle walls, further depleting the defenders’ morale. Towards the end of the siege, the appearance of Ishigakiyama Castle, built in just a few months, on a mountain not far from Odawara, effectively ended what remained of the Hojo’s will to resist.

    Odawara Castle as seen from Ishigakiyama.

    A side note here, there is a popular legend that Ishigakiyama Castle was ‘built in one night’, which was clearly impossible, with later sources suggesting that rather than literally being built overnight, the castle was instead constructed behind a forest, which was itself cut down overnight, giving the impression that the castle had appeared from nowhere. Modern scholars doubt that either version is true, as Ishigakiyama is easily visible from Odawara, and though the castle was certainly built unusually quickly, it is now thought to have been constructed in full view of the Hojo, to highlight the impossibility of their situation.

    After this, the besiegers made a point of keeping up a light but continuous rain of gunfire on the castle, intending to grind down their morale, and when a final, furious night attack from the castle was repelled in August, the writing was on the wall, and a delegation from the Hojo was sent out to offer the seppuku of Hojo Ujinao and the surrender of the castle, in exchange for the lives of the remaining garrison.

    Hideyoshi accepted the surrender of the castle on the condition that all the remaining senior Hojo, Ujinao, his father Ujimasa, and uncle Ujiteru, commit seppuku, and that the provinces of Musashi, Sagami, and Izu (the Hojo heartlands) be given up. Further resistance was now impossible, and the Hojo agreed. Tokugawa Ieyasu successfully intervened for the life of his son-in-law, Ujinao, but he would fall sick (possibly with smallpox) and die by the end of the year.

    Hojo Ujinao.

    In the aftermath of the fall of Odawara, the Kanto would come under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had previously agreed to trade his three home provinces for the five of the Kanto, making his new base at Edo Castle, the site of the modern Imperial Palace in Tokyo. In the long-term, this would prove to be a genius move on Ieyasu’s part, but for now, the man who came out on top was Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

    With the Hojo defeated, there were no longer any serious rivals to his rule. For the first time in more than a century, the realm was united under a single, undisputed leader, who set about ensuring it would never again fall into chaos.

    The situation after the fall of Odawara. No more division, no more chaos, at least on paper.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39214210

    Hideyoshi’s conquest of Odawara marked the end of the second phase of Japan’s reunification. Next week, we’ll take a step back to look at another name we’ve mentioned a lot, Oda Nobunaga, the first of the great unifiers.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%83%A3%E7%84%A1%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%A4
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%AD%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E7%94%B0%E5%8E%9F%E5%BE%81%E4%BC%90
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9F%B3%E5%9E%A3%E5%B1%B1%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%8D%E5%9F%8E%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%8D%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9F%B3%E7%94%B0%E5%A0%A4
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A4%A8%E6%9E%97%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B2%A9%E6%A7%BB%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%85%E9%87%8E%E9%95%B7%E6%94%BF
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%89%A2%E5%BD%A2%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9F%AE%E5%B1%B1%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%95%B7%E6%B5%9C%E5%9F%8E_(%E4%BC%8A%E8%B1%86%E5%9B%BD)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE%E4%BA%95%E7%94%B0%E5%9F%8E
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Odawara_(1590)


  • Lords of the East, Part 2

    Lords of the East, Part 2

    In 1537, Hojo Ujitsuna launched a successful invasion of Suruga Province, establishing the frontier at the Fuji River and ending the threat from the Imagawa-Takeda alliance, at least for now. Shortly after this news broke that (Ogigayatsu) Uesugi Tomoaki had died. Tomoaki had been an implacable foe of the Hojo, and his death severely weakened his clan, which was now led by the 12-year-old Tomosada.

    The Fuji River as it appears today, in modern Shizuoka Prefecture.

    It wasn’t all good news, however. With the bulk of the Hojo forces focused in Suruga against the Imagawa, forces of the Satomi Clan moved to expel the Hojo from the Boso Peninsula (modern Chiba), quickly establishing control and forcing the remaining Hojo loyalists to flee. There was little Ujitsuna could do about that in the short term, but in the summer of 1537, he gathered 15,000 men at Edo Castle before dispatching his son, Ujiyasu, to take the Uesugi stronghold at Kawagoe.

    The castle was taken undamaged after a surprise attack, and when the Uesugi tried to recapture it on New Year’s Day 1538, they were defeated. With his northern flank secure, Ujitsuna launched a campaign to reestablish control over the Boso Peninsula. Though they were initially successful, the attack clashed with the plans of the Koga Kubo, Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

    You may remember from earlier posts that the position of Kubo was the Shogun’s deputy in a given area. In decades past, the centre of the Kubo‘s power had been Kamakura, but the catastrophic decline of Shogunate power meant that the Kubo was eventually obliged to leave Kamakura (which was now under Hojo control) and take up residence at Koga, in Shimosa Province (modern Ibaraki).

    Shimosa Province
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image: Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1691764

    Yoshiaki had the long-term objective of reestablishing the Kubos’ preeminent position over the whole Kanto, and the Hojo stood in direct opposition to this. Both sides were about equal in strength, but while the Hojo were united behind Ujitsuna, Yoshiaki’s forces were united in opposition to the Hojo, but not necessarily in support of the Kubo.

    Though Yoshiaki’s forces agreed to challenge the Hojo at the Edogawa River, they couldn’t decide on a strategy. Yoshiaki’s allies suggested attacking the Hojo as they crossed the river, but sources say that Yoshiaki, proud of his illustrious Ashikaga name, refused such a strategy, deciding that he would march out in person and face the Hojo in the field, once the bulk of their forces were already across the river.

    Satomi Yoshitaka, once a supporter of the Hojo but now serving under Yoshiaki, recognised that the strategy robbed them of the advantage of the river and was reluctant to commit his forces to open battle with the Hojo, where victory was far from certain. Yoshitaka also recognised that if Yoshiaki were defeated, a large expanse of territory would become available; thus, he positioned his forces away from what he assumed would be the main battlefield, ready to retreat quickly if things looked to be going badly.

    Though heavily built up today, this hill was the site of some of the fiercest fighting at the Battle of Konodai.

    What became known as the Battle of Konodai began on the morning of November 8th, when the Hojo forces crossed the river. Initially, Yoshiaki’s forces had the advantage, but throughout the day, more Hojo forces arrived, and the tide of battle turned. When news came that Yoshiaki’s brother and son had been killed, he flew into a rage and charged the Hojo himself, only to be struck down by an arrow and killed. Seeing this, Satomi Yoshitaka withdrew his unengaged army, and shortly afterwards, the remaining forces began a retreat that swiftly turned into a rout.

    The Hojo used the momentum of victory to advance into Kazusa and Shimosa Provinces, whilst Yoshitaka, with his army still intact, would be able to take control of almost the entire Boso Peninsula, where he would continue to resist the Hojo, beginning a feud that would last decades.

    Although the exact date is unclear, after the victory at Konodai, Ujitsuna wouldn’t lead another campaign, and scholars agree that he retired as head of the clan sometime in 1539, when his son, Ujiyasu, completed the conquest of Shimosa and Kazusa Provinces. In late 1540, the reconstruction of Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine was completed, and Ujitsuna held a celebration there in which he was recognised as Kanto Kanrei, the Shogun’s official deputy in the Kanto, a title that reflected his preeminent position in the region.

    Hojo Ujiyasu.

    Ujitsuna would eventually pass away in August 1541, and his son, Ujiyasu, lord now in fact as well as name, inherited a strong but dangerous position. Successful campaigns in the east had extended Hojo control to Shimosa province. To the north, the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi plotted revenge and the return of Kawagoe Castle, whilst to the east, the conflict with the Imagawa dragged on, despite a strong frontier on the Fuji River.

    A famine in 1540-41 precluded an immediate campaign, and in 1542 Ujiyasu ordered a land survey, which enabled him to adjust and reform taxation in his territory (which was largely based on rice production) and to ensure a strong economic base for what was to come next. In 1545, the Imagawa sent out peace feelers, but no agreement could be reached, and the Imagawa joined forces with the Uesugi, with both agreeing to attack the Hojo from east and west.

    Ujiyasu rushed forces to the east, but a combined Imagawa-Takeda army proved too strong, and Ujiyasu was eventually obliged to conclude a disadvantageous peace, which saw him cede all the territory the Hojo had controlled in Suruga back to the Imagawa. Though the new border would remain tense, the peace held, and all three sides would eventually conclude an alliance in 1554, though we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

    A later image of Kawagoe Castle.

    Meanwhile, the Uesugi and their allies had massed a force of some 80,000 men around Kawagoe Castle, and with Ujiyasu busy in Surugu, the castle would endure a 6-month siege. Even after the Hojo had secured peace with the Imagawa, Ujiyasu could only muster 10,000 men, and what happened next is a matter of some debate.

    The most common telling is that Ujiyasu, in concert with the garrison inside the castle, organised a night attack on the Uesugi that caught them completely by surprise and routed them in a victory so complete that the Uesugi were destroyed as a serious force in the Kanto. The problem with this version of events is that the only sources describing the battle in that way come from the Edo Period, nearly 100 years after the events.

    Scholars debate the accuracy of those reports, and some suggest that the Battle of Kawagoe Castle happened in a very different way, or may never have happened at all, but what is certain is that the siege was lifted and either during the lifting, or shortly afterwards, the lord of the Uesugi, Tomosada, was killed, and the rest of the clan was forced north, leaving Musashi Province in Hojo hands.

    The remains of Hirai Castle.

    The war against the Uesugi would continue, however. In 1550, an attack on Hirai Castle was repulsed, only for a second attempt the next year to succeed, driving Uesugi Norimasa further north, where he sought refuge with Nagao Kagetora (better known to history as Uesugi Kenshin). In the east, too, the Hojo would advance, marching into Hitachi and Shimotsuke Province, and continuing the war against the Satomi of Kazusa Province to their southeast, conquering Kanaya Castle in 1555 and establishing Hojo control over almost the whole of the western Boso Peninsula.

    These conquests in the east were possible because of the peace established on the Hojo’s western borders. Though there was no actual fighting, the border remained very tense until the establishment of a triple alliance between the Imagawa, Takeda, and Hojo. This alliance was established over the period 1551-1554, as a series of marriages was arranged among all three parties, culminating in 1554, when Ujiyasu’s eldest daughter married Imagawa Yoshimoto’s eldest son, whilst Ujiyasu’s heir, Ujimasa, married the daughter of Takeda Shingen.

    This alliance secured the Hojo’s western border, and in 1559, Ujiyasu retired as head of the clan, handing formal power to his son Ujimasa while retaining actual control himself. That same year, he focused his full attention on pushing the last of the Uesugi clan out of Kozuke Province and established a strong presence at Numata to check any further Uesugi attempts to invade the Kanto.

    The situation in 1560. The Hojo are in Green.
    By Alvin Lee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39200926

    In 1560, the Imagawa suffered a serious and surprising defeat at the hands of Oda Nobunaga at the Battle of Okehazama, leaving the clan weak and the Hojo’s western flank reliant on the goodwill of the Takeda. During the same year, another outbreak of famine ravaged Hojo territory, severely weakening their economic power and food supply.

    The timing couldn’t have been much worse, because soon, the Uesugi, now led by Kenshin, would return to the Kanto, and the Hojo would face another serious crisis.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%B0%8F%E5%BA%B7
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagawa_Yoshimoto
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%BD%E5%BA%9C%E5%8F%B0%E5%90%88%E6%88%A6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%9D%E8%B6%8A%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%B3%E8%B6%8A%E5%9F%8E%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E6%9C%9D%E5%AE%9A_(%E6%89%87%E8%B0%B7%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E5%AE%B6)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%8C%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%8C%E5%A3%AB%E5%B7%9D
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%A4%E6%B2%B3%E5%B8%82
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%B3%E4%BA%95%E5%9F%8E

  • Lords of the East, Part 1

    Lords of the East, Part 1

    This post is coming out on Christmas Day, so Merry Christmas (if that’s your thing).

    We’ve taken a look at the Hojo before, their origins, and their founder, Hojo Soun, featured in a post I wrote a while back, which can be found here:

    The mon of the Hojo Clan.
    Mukai – コンピュータが読み取れる情報は提供されていませんが、自分の作品だと推定されます（著作権の主張に基づく）, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9416708による
    Soun – Rise of the Hojo

    In brief, the Hojo, as they became known, were originally called the Ise, and their founder, Soun, invaded Izu Province in 1493 before conquering Odawara in neighbouring Sagami Province in 1495. It was Soun’s son, Ujitsuna, who adopted the name and mon of the Hojo Clan, who had been the de facto rulers of Japan during the late Kamakura Shogunate.

    Exactly why he chose to change the clan’s identity is a matter of some debate, with the most obvious reason being the prestige the name brought, which would help to convince the clans that were ‘native’ to the area that the Ise (now the Hojo), who had originated elsewhere, belonged.

    The Hojo based themselves permanently at Odawara from around 1516, and it is from there that Ujitsuna, the second lord (or first, if you’re feeling pedantic about names), would rule. After Soun passed the rule to him in 1518, Ujitsuna set about quite literally making his mark on Sagami Province. He was something of a prolific builder and established or rebuilt several famous shrines that still stand today.

    Sagami Province
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image: Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1691750

    After 1521, Ujitsuna also began to call himself the shugo (governor) of Sagami Province. Officially, he was never bestowed with this title by the Shogun, but by this point, it hardly mattered; no one in Kyoto was in a position to stop him, and Ujitsuna ruled as governor, in fact if not technically by law.

    It’s also around this time that the Ise Clan became the Hojo Clan. Traditionally, this was seen as just an arbitrary name change, seeking to attach the somewhat lowborn Ise to an illustrious name. More recent evidence suggests that it might not have been so cynical a move, with some sources suggesting that Ujitsuna’s wife, Yojuin, was a descendant of the Yokoi Clan, who were in turn descendants of the original Hojo.

    This would still be a pretty tenuous link on its own. Still, shortly after the name change, the Imperial Court rewarded the Hojo with the title of “Saikyo no Daibu“, the same title the original Hojo were bestowed with. We’ve discussed previously how, by this point, Imperial titles were worthless on their own but still carried considerable prestige. This title put the Hojo on the same rank (in the eyes of the court, anyway) as the nearby Imagawa, Takeda, and Uesugi Clans, families with undisputed lineage.

    Hojo Ujitsuna. It was his decision to rename his clan that led to the adoption of their famous name.

    All this suggests that the claim to the Hojo name might not have been all that spurious, but acceptance by the Imperial Court did not translate to being a member of the ‘club’, and certainly, in the case of the Uesugi (the Ogigayatsu Branch, at least), the Hojo were little more than upstarts.

    The Sengoku Period was a time when lineage no longer held the same meaning it once did. A clan with an impressive family tree could (and often did) find itself crushed by clans that, by comparison, had no real ancestry and might have once been subordinates. This phenomenon, called Gekokujo in Japanese (which means low overthrows high), was common across the realm in this period, and a clan like the newly dubbed Hojo would set about establishing its rule at the point of a sword.

    Ujitsuna was very much a man of his time, and by the mid 1520s, he had subdued all of Sagami Province (modern Kanagawa) and advanced into southern Musashi, the neighbouring province, close to the area of modern Tokyo. Faced with further advances by the Hojo and defection of lords in Western Musashi, the Ogigayatsu were forced to respond.

    Musashi Province.
    By Ash_Crow – Own work, based on Image: Provinces of Japan.svg, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1690716

    In February 1524, a Hojo force of some 10,000 clashed with the Ogigayatsu at the Battle of Takanawahara. The battle was a decisive victory for the Hojo, with the Ogigayatsu forces retreating to Edo Castle (on the site of the modern Imperial Palace), only for it to fall shortly afterwards, forcing the Ogigayatsu to withdraw further north to another stronghold at Kawagoe.

    Ujitsuna, flush with victory, ordered a rapid advance and made rapid progress before a counterattack led by Ogigayatsu ally, Takeda Shingen (remember him?), defeated the Hojo at Iwatsuki in mid 1524, obliging Ujitsuna to seek peace. He would break the peace in early 1525, and despite some early success, the Ogigayatsu, allied with the Takeda, and united with their cousins on the Yamauchi Uesugi, proved to be too much for the Hojo. In September 1525, the Hojo were defeated at the Battle of Shirakobara. Although Edo Castle would hold out, by mid-1526 the Hojo had been driven out of Musashi Province altogether, with Tamanawa Castle on the border of Sagami Province coming under attack in November that year.

    The Hojo had their back to the wall, but the forces arrayed against them were a mishmash of different clans, with different goals. A lack of coordination meant that when the time came to attack Sagami in force, the attack was beaten back, with troops of the Satomi (allies of the Ogigayatsu) making it as far as Kamakura before being defeated. During their retreat, they burned the famous Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. This carried significant political consequences, and Ujitsuna was able to convince the Imperial Court and the Shogunate to censure his enemies.

    Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine as it appears today.
    ulysses_powers から Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa – Flickr, CC 表示-継承 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3123909による

    This official reprimand created enormous political pressure, and by the end of 1527, Ujitsuna had been able to make peace. Though it is difficult to predict what the outcome might have been otherwise, it is important to remember that Hojo territory faced enemies in three directions, and it is not improbable that, had peace not been agreed, then they may have been overwhelmed.

    This reprieve was not wasted by Ujitsuna, either. In 1530, when Takeda forces once again marched against Sagami, the Hojo dispatched a force to meet them. Though the Hojo would prove victorious in this campaign, the Ogigayatsu sought to take advantage of Ujitsuna’s distraction and sent an army of their own, hoping to trap the Hojo army between them and the Takeda.

    Standing in their way was Ozawa Castle, controlled by Ujitsuna’s son and heir, Ujiyasu. Sources say that the Hojo were outnumbered as much as 5 to 1, but on the night of July 6th, 1530, Ujiyasu launched a surprise attack on their camp, winning a decisive victory and returning momentum in the war to the Hojo.

    The site of Ozawa Castle, in modern Kawasaki.
    多摩に暇人 – 投稿者が撮影, CC 表示 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93672574による

    With this momentum, the Hojo were able to take advantage of the same division that had plagued their enemies a few years earlier. Ujitsuna identified the Satomi Clan (from modern Chiba) as a weak link and focused his attention on them, bribing several family members who were unhappy with the current leadership and seeking to incite a rebellion that the Hojo could exploit.

    The plot was discovered, however, and so the Hojo instead relied on good, old-fashioned, brute force, dispatching an army across what is now Tokyo Bay to Awa Province on the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula. Despite the plot’s failure and the execution of several conspirators, some members of the Satomi still rose up in support of the Hojo invasion. What followed was a series of victories as the Hojo-Satomi alliance took castle after castle, culminating in the Battle of Inukake in 1534, which saw the Hojo-Satomi defeat their rivals and replace the head of the Satomi Clan with a Hojo ally.

    Whilst the Hojo were victorious on their eastern flank, the western flank was secured by a long-term alliance with the Imagawa. You may remember that Hojo Soun had actually started out as a vassal of the Imagawa, and though the Hojo had since risen to a position of equality with their former masters, the relationship remained close.

    With the bulk of his forces busy against the Satomi, Ujitsuna requested his Imagawa ally, Ujiteru, invade Takeda territory to ensure they wouldn’t intervene. The Imagawa obliged and invaded Kai Province in July 1534; they were initially successful but soon became overextended and had to retreat to their home in Suruga. A Takeda counterattack was considered so dangerous that Ujitsuna withdrew forces from the West to face it. The Takeda, remembering their defeat at the hands of the Hojo a few years earlier, tried to lure Ujitsuna into an ambush in the narrow mountain passes of Kai, seeking revenge.

    Lake Yamanaka, site of the eponymous battle.
    Alpsdake – 投稿者自身による著作物, CC 表示-継承 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45336367による

    Ujitsuna was apparently aware of the strategy, however, and dispatched a force to outflank the Takeda, turning the ambushers into the ambushed at the Battle of Yamanaka on September 19th, 1535. The defeat was so severe for the Takeda that the road into Kai province now lay open, and Ujitsuna apparently intended to crush the Takeda once and for all and take the whole of Kai Province for himself.

    This invasion was eventually called off as the Ogigayatsu proved to be a more pressing concern, and over the next few years, the geopolitical situation would shift considerably. In 1536, Imagawa Ujiteru died suddenly, aged just 21 or 22. He left no heirs, and so the clan quickly descended into civil war. At about the same time, famine and an epidemic broke out in Kai Province, severely weakening the Takeda.

    The Imagawa civil war was won by Yoshitomo, Ujiteru’s younger brother, but the devastation in Suruga left the clan severely weakened, and they sought peace with the Takeda, who, suffering their own calamities, quickly agreed, with Yoshitomo marrying Takeda Shingen’s daughter to establish a new alliance. Ujitsuna recognised that his alliance presented an intolerable risk to his western frontier and resolved to do something about it.

    A later depiction of Imagawa Yoshitomo.

    In early 1537, Ujitsuna led 10,000 men into Suruga Province, winning a series of crushing victories over the Imagawa and decisively bringing an end to decades of close relations. Fearing overextension, however, Ujitsuna limited his conquests to the territory east of the Fuji River, and a truce was declared shortly afterwards, which was convenient, as the death of the Ogigayatsu lord left the clan in disarray and presented a golden opportunity for further Hojo expansion, but we’ll talk about that next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%B0%8F%E7%B6%B1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%8C%E5%A3%AB%E5%B7%9D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagawa_Yoshimoto
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8A%AC%E6%8E%9B%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E6%B2%A2%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E6%B2%A2%E5%8E%9F%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B6%B4%E5%B2%A1%E5%85%AB%E5%B9%A1%E5%AE%AE
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E5%AD%90%E5%8E%9F%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84

  • The Power in the Provinces Part One

    The Power in the Provinces Part One

    We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the breakdown of Shogunate power during the 15th Century. We’ve also discussed the three most powerful clans that were located closest to Kyoto during the Onin War. The Hosokawa, Yamana, and Hatakeyama Clans all played leading roles in the fighting, and in the aftermath, all three were seriously weakened.

    But what about the provinces? We’ve only spoken in very broad terms about what was going on out there, mostly because, to focus on it would require posts that resemble small novels, and keeping track of all those names and places is a task that is beyond most of us.

    In the interests of keeping things moving, then, I have generally neglected to go into much detail; however, since we’re now at the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai, a period of civil war lasting 120 years, we need to take a moment to look at who the main players are now that the Onin War is over.

    Central Japan

    Central Japan, corresponding mostly to the modern Kansai region, was the political and cultural heart of the nation.

    We’ve spent a lot of time looking at this region recently, so this is just a quick overview of who is still on the field in this part of Japan.

    The Hatakeyama Clan had been one of the main players, but a serious succession dispute fractured the clan and eventually led to the Onin War, as the Hosokawa and Yamana Clans supported rival claimants in a feud that would spiral out of control.

    By the end of the 15th Century, the Hosokawa remained largely in control of Kyoto, but they were already in decline. They would remain powerful, but a succession dispute (yes, another one) would divide the clan in the early 16th Century, and they’d never recover.

    The Yamana Clan had been badly mauled by the Onin War, and from a position as one of Japan’s mightiest clans, they’d eventually lose everything but a single province, which they’d manage to hold until the end of the 16th century, when some poor political decisions would see them forfeit even that.

    The Hatakeyama, for their part, were fragmented repeatedly throughout the late 15th Century, and they’d never recover their former power. However, some descendants would hold positions of power in Kyoto until the 1580s, when they’d run afoul of Oda Nobunaga, a name you should remember.

    Eastern Japan

    Eastern Japan, centred on the Kanto. Although home to Tokyo today, in the 15th Century it was Kamakura that was the centre of power in the region.

    The power in Eastern Japan was centred mostly around the Kanto Plain, with the political capital at Kamakura. In the period preceding the Ashikaga Shogunate, Kamakura had been the de facto capital of Japan, and even after the new Shogunate relocated to Kyoto, Kamakura remained the regional capital, and holding it was a prize in itself.

    The Kanto region was the source of a lot of trouble for the Ashikaga Shoguns, as there was the legacy of the previous Shogunate to contend with, and the strong, often semi-independent Kamakura Kubo to contend with. The kubo was the head of the local government, and they often openly defied the Shogun, who had to rely on the fickle loyalty of other powerful clans in the region to enforce his will.

    The Uesugi

    The Mon (crest) of the Uesugi Clan
    By Mukai – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8629467

    The dominant power in the Kanto in the 15th Century was arguably the Uesugi Clan. Like many others, the clan claimed descent from the illustrious Fujiwara Clan, and various members of the family would become shugo in and around the Kanto. Their most important role, however, was that of Kanto Kanrei, the Shogun’s deputy in the Kanto, a position that was supposed to complement that of the kubo, but in reality, often served as a check on Kamakura’s power, and frequently, a direct rival.

    Like most clans at this time, the Uesugi were divided into branches, three in this case, that were just as likely to fight as support each other. This infighting predated the Onin War, but the outbreak of general civil war saw the destruction of one branch, and the serious weakening of the other two, so much so that, in the early 16th Century, the Uesugi would lose their position in the Kanto to another rising power, the Hojo.

    The Uesugi would survive, however, and continue to play a major role in the Sengoku Jidai. The clan’s most famous son is arguably Uesugi Kenshin, who would engage in a rivalry with fellow warlord Takeda Shingen that became the stuff of legend. Mythology aside, Kenshin would die without heirs, and a succession crisis would severely weaken the clan.

    Uesugi Kenshin became a Samurai legend, but his death would leave the Uesugi in a weak position.

    Although they would survive, they chose the losing side in the final battles of the Sengoku Jidai and would end up in Yonezawa Domain, in modern Yamagata Prefecture, where they would actually prosper until the abolition of the Domains in the 19th Century.

    The clan endured into the modern day. The current head is Uesugi Kuninori, who was a professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science until he retired in 2006.

    The Hojo

    The Mon of the Hojo Clan, and the later Hojo clan, who took the name and emblem for their own.
    By Mukai – No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9416600

    The Hojo Clan, or more accurately the Go-Hojo, or Later Hojo, were relative latecomers to the scene. Although they would lay claim to illustrious ancestry (which was the style at the time), their progenitor was Ise Sozui (better known as Hojo Soun), who, despite being revered as the ancestor of the clan, never used the name Hojo himself. Traditionally, Soun was believed to have been a Ronin (masterless samurai) who rose to power seemingly out of nowhere in the aftermath of the Onin War.

    More recent scholarship, however, seems to indicate that Soun’s family, the Ise Clan, had a much longer history and would serve in the Shogun’s government in Kyoto before relocating to the Kanto later.

    Soun arguably deserves a post of his own, but the short version is that, he was originally in the service of the Imagawa Clan, another power in the region, before raising an army of his own and taking Izu Province for himself, establishing his base at Odawara Castle, which he took in 1494, some say, after tricking the previous owners, convincing them to leave on a hunting trip, and arranging their murders.

    It was his son, Ujitsuna, who renamed the clan to Hojo. You may remember that it was the Hojo Clan who acted as regents for the Kamakura Shoguns, rising to such power that they were effectively masters of Japan, before being overthrown by the Ashikaga.

    This new Hojo Clan was no relation to these regents, hence why they are referred to as the “Later” Hojo. Ujitsuna, apparently attempting to add some prestige to his family, adopted the name and mon (family crest) of the former Hojo, and everyone just went with it.

    Hojo Ujitsuna, who understood that there was power in a recognisable name.

    Ujitsuna wasn’t just savvy with brand recognition, however. Throughout the first half of the 16th century, he would guide the Hojo to become the predominant power in the Kanto. He would challenge and eventually drive out the Uesugi, taking control of their castle at Edo, which would eventually become the Imperial Palace in modern Tokyo.

    Throughout the Sengoku Period, the Hojo would continue to be masters of the Kanto, eventually becoming one of the greatest powers in the late 16th century, before they were eventually defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590. A branch of the family would survive as the lord of Sayama Domain (near modern Osaka) until the 19th century, and members of this family would continue playing a role in Japanese politics into the 20th century.

    The Takeda

    The Mon of the Takeda

    The Takeda also claimed descent from the Minamoto Clan, and from the earliest days of the Kamakura Shogunate in the 12th Century, they had established their power base in Kai Province (modern day Yamanashi Prefecture). Though they were a relatively minor player (one amongst many, you might say), the Takeda would develop a difficult relationship with the Uesugi Clan.

    When the Uesugi rose up against the Kamakura Kubo in 1416 (the Zenshu Rebellion), some members of the Takeda sided with the Uesugi, whilst others remained loyal to the government. The Uesugi were eventually defeated, but there was now bad blood between the Takeda and Uesugi that would last for another 120 years.

    The best known Takeda was certainly Takeda Harunobu, better known to history as Takeda Shingen. He is widely regarded as one of the best leaders of the Sengoku Period; indeed, some scholars have speculated that, had it not been for his sudden death in 1573, we might now be talking about Shingen as one of the great unifiers of Japan.

    Takeda Harunobu, better known as Shingen. Arguably one of the Sengoku Period’s best leaders, his sudden death brought an end to his ambition and seriously weakened the Takeda Clan.

    Alas, it wasn’t to be. Shingen was succeeded by his far less capable son, Katsuyori, who would lead the Takeda to disaster at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, and the clan would cease to have any meaningful power after a final campaign led by Oda Nobunaga in 1582.

    Much like other major clans of the era, the Takeda Clan would live on in much reduced straits, eventually becoming direct vassals of the Tokugawa Shoguns, receiving a stipend of just 500 Koku a year. For reference, a Daimyo (great lord) could only claim that rank if he controlled lands worth 10,000 Koku a year or more. The Takeda had once controlled lands that were estimated to produce 1.2 million Koku, which gives you some idea of how far they had fallen.

    The Rest

    There are still several other regions to cover, and many more clans, but we’ll cover them next time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E9%82%A6%E6%86%B2
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%97%A9%E9%9B%B2
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dj%C5%8D_S%C5%8Dun
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%8C%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%B0%8F
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E7%94%B0%E6%B0%8F