Chris Perry, Author

Tag: Hojo Ujiyasu

  • Lords of the East, Part 3

    Lords of the East, Part 3

    First post of 2026, so Happy New Year and thanks for sticking with me!

    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

    By 1560, the Hojo were masters of much of the Kanto. A series of successful military campaigns over the previous decades had given them control over much of the area that now comprises modern-day Tokyo, Yokohama, and Chiba. Unlike today, when these areas are among the world’s most densely populated megacities, in the 16th century they were largely agricultural, with a few castle towns surrounded by vast expanses of farmland.

    It is also true that economic productivity, such as it was, was measured in rice production, with land being valued according to predicted rice output, though not necessarily actual output. In short, despite being a period of incredible violence, Japanese society relied almost entirely on rice production to function. Famine was a constant problem, and in 1560, the Hojo, despite controlling vast tracts of land, were experiencing just how bad a failed harvest could be.

    The so-called Eiroku Famine (named after the era) left the Hojo with no food or money, and military operations largely ground to a halt. It was a real blow then, when Uesugi Kenshin, at the head of an army of 8000 men, crossed the mountains in the North of the Kanto and invaded Hojo territory. Though the Uesugi army was relatively small, the Kanto region had been ruled by them for decades prior to the Hojo conquests, and when Kenshin appeared, dozens of local clans switched sides and flocked to the Uesugi banner.

    Uesugi Kenshin.

    Kenshin swept all before him; the Hojo lost castles in Kozuke, Shimosa, and Musashi, and by early 1561, the Uesugi had taken Kamakura. Then, at the head of an army that was reported to be 100,000 strong, Kenshin laid siege to Odawara, the Hojo capital. At this point, the Hojo were in real trouble, but fate was on their side. Ironically, the same famine that had left them seriously weakened now proved to be their saviour. An army of that size needs supplies, and there were few enough to be had in the Kanto, so it wasn’t long before the Uesugi began to melt away.

    The fortress of Odawara was one of the strongest in the realm, and with his army already shrinking, Kenshin faced a difficult choice. A long siege might fatally weaken his army, and even a successful assault could prove hugely costly. Then news arrived that his old enemy, Takeda Shingen, had invaded his home province, at the same time as stirring up a rebellion amongst the Ikko-Ikki, forcing Kenshin to return home post-haste.

    The Hojo had been saved by a combination of good luck and excellent timing on the part of Takeda Shingen, and despite their weakened state, Ujiyasu wasted no time in taking advantage of the reprieve. No sooner had Kenshin returned north than Hojo forces began the process of reconquering their lost territory. Most of the smaller clans that had joined the Uesugi now switched their loyalties back to the Hojo. This was a fairly common practice at the time; there were dozens, if not hundreds, of minor clans all over Japan who could never muster the strength to assert themselves against the power of a Daimyo, so their loyalty often proved to be a fickle thing, prioritising flexibility and survival rather than unquestioned loyalty.

    Takeda Shingen

    Not all the clans welcome the return of the Hojo, however, and Ujiyasu was obliged to dispatch armies to retake several castles in northern Musashi, and he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Mt Ikuno in November 1561, reestablishing the line of control along the mountains in the northern Kanto. Over the next two years, two sides form: a Hojo-Takeda Alliance on one side and a Uesugi-Satomi alliance on the other.

    The Hojo would generally have the better of the fighting in the Kanto, but would prove to be unable to advance further north, whilst the Uesugi would be a constant problem, but would struggle to make advances into the Kanto proper. By 1564, the conflict had largely become a stalemate, so Ujiyasu turned his attention to the East and the Satomi, whom he believed to be a weak link in the alliance.

    Though it might have been true that the Satomi were weaker than the Uesugi, they were no soft touch. When the Hojo crossed the Edogawa River on the way to invading Satomi territory, they were ambushed at the second Battle of Konodai and driven back with heavy losses. You may remember in the last post that the lord of the Satomi, Yoshiaki, had avoided the first Battle of Konodai by correctly identifying the weak position of his allies, retreating with his army intact.

    A later depiction of the area around Konodai.

    At the second battle, however, the command fell to Yoshiaki’s son, Yoshihiro, and he decided to celebrate his victory by distributing wine to his men. A party is a common way to celebrate any success, and the Satomi had successfully driven the Hojo back. The problem was that ‘driven back’ does not mean ‘defeated’; the Hojo regrouped and advanced again in the early hours of the following day.

    The Satomi army, now thoroughly inebriated, was no match for them, and Hojo forces forced the Satomi into a chaotic retreat that didn’t end until the Hojo banner was once again flying over most of Kasuza Province. Shortly after this campaign, Ujiyasu, who had already technically retired as lord of the Hojo in 1559, announced that he had fought his last campaign.

    After this, Ujiyasu seems to have largely limited himself to administration, leaving the business of war to his sons, though he would continue to play an important role in his clan’s future. In 1560, the Imagawa, one part of the triple Takeda-Hojo-Imagawa alliance, had been seriously weakened by the defeat at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560. By 1568, they were on their last legs, and Takeda Shingen, despite being a nominal ally, invaded the Imagawa’s home province of Suruga, aiming to take it for himself.

    Suruga 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=1691794

    The Hojo, seeking to support the Imagawa and prevent encirclement by a now hostile Takeda, dispatched an army under Hojo Ujimasa to relieve Suruga. At the same time, Ujiyasu engaged in diplomacy with the Tokugawa Clan, who had lands on the other side of Imagawa territory, and had poor relations with the Takeda. A joint attack by the Hojo and Tokugawa convinced Shingen that holding Suruga was impossible in the short term, and he retreated, with the Hojo moving in and taking large parts of eastern Suruga for themselves.

    Despite this success, the Hojo once again found themselves surrounded on three sides by hostile powers: the Takeda to the West, the Uesugi to the North, and the Satomi to the East. Ujiyasu correctly recognised that if he moved to deal with one threat, the other two would take advantage, and the Hojo did not have the strength for a three-front war. Therefore, he decided to make a formal peace with the Uesugi.

    This was unpopular on both sides because the Uesugi had been enemies of the Hojo more or less from the start, and that kind of bad blood isn’t easily forgotten. However, both sides had bigger problems, namely, Takeda Shingen. Though a ceasefire was agreed upon and the border between the two sides set, the consequences for the Uesugi were that many former allies in the Kanto, like the Satomi, felt betrayed and switched to supporting Takeda Shingen.

    This might not have been such a serious problem for the Hojo, because they were going to have fight the Satomi anyway, but in early 1569, the strategic situation shifted again, when the Takeda and Uesugi made a peace between themselves, meaning that Shingen could now focus his entire strength on the Hojo, whilst also relying on support from the Satomi, and other Kanto clans.

    An image depicting the legendary rivalry between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. Despite this, a peace between the two allowed Shingen to focus on the Hojo.

    Later that year, Shingen invaded Musashi Province and advanced south towards Odawara, the capital of the Hojo. Though they were able to lay siege to the mighty fortress, the chances of taking it were slim. The castle was one of the strongest in the realm, and Ujiyasu had made sure it was as well-defended as possible. Shingen likely understood that taking the castle would have been enormously costly, and he had better uses for his army, so he contented himself with burning the town around Odawara and retreating.

    Ujiyasu ordered his son, Ujimasa, to pursue the retreating Takeda, hoping to trap them before they could return to Kai Province. The plan failed, however, as the Takeda moved faster than expected and the ambush was discovered. At the ensuing Battle of Mimasu Pass, the Takeda successfully fended off the Hojo and returned to Kai.

    Some scholars believe that the whole attempt at Odawara had been an elaborate show of force, meant to impress Shingen’s new allies in the Kanto, or that it was a strategic move to keep the Hojo off balance whilst Takeda forces reinvaded Suruga. Either way, there doesn’t seem to have been much enthusiasm amongst either the Hojo or Takeda to continue the war, and some sources suggest that, shortly before his death, Ujiyasu told his son, Ujimasa, that he should return to a state of peace with the Takeda and make war on their traditional enemy, the Uesugi.

    Hojo Ujimasa

    Ujiyasu himself is supposed to have suffered a stroke in the summer of 1570. Sources from the time speak of him slurring his words or being unable to speak at all, and although he rallied briefly around the New Year in 1571, he would begin to decline again shortly afterwards. There are no official documents bearing his seal after May, and he would eventually pass away in October that year.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%B0%8F%E6%94%BF
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E6%9D%A1%E6%B0%8F%E5%BA%B7
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%BD%E5%BA%9C%E5%8F%B0%E5%90%88%E6%88%A6#%E7%AC%AC%E4%BA%8C%E6%AC%A1%E5%9B%BD%E5%BA%9C%E5%8F%B0%E5%90%88%E6%88%A6%EF%BC%88%E6%B0%B8%E7%A6%846%E5%B9%B4%E3%83%BB%E6%B0%B8%E7%A6%847%E5%B9%B4/1563%E5%B9%B4%E3%83%BB1564%E5%B9%B4%EF%BC%89
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E7%94%B0%E4%BF%A1%E7%8E%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BB%8A%E5%B7%9D%E7%BE%A9%E5%85%83
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E5%A2%97%E5%B3%A0%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E5%AE%AE%E5%9F%8E_(%E9%A7%BF%E6%B2%B3%E5%9B%BD)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E7%94%B0%E5%8E%9F%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E8%AC%99%E4%BF%A1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8C%E8%A6%8B%E7%BE%A9%E5%A0%AF
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B1%9F%E6%88%B8%E5%B7%9D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suruga_Province

  • 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

  • The Dragon of Echigo

    The Dragon of Echigo

    Much like Takeda Shingen, Kenshin’s real name wasn’t Kenshin, but Kagetora, with Kenshin being a religious name given in later life. However, as this is the name he is best known by, we will be referring to him as it throughout.

    Uesugi Kenshin, the Dragon of Echigo and the topic of this post.

    If you live your life in such a way that you earn the nickname ‘Dragon of something’ and have followers who think of you as an avatar of the God of War, then I’d say you’ve done pretty well for yourself. By this standard, our subject for today, Uesugi Kenshin, is a historical figure worthy of a closer look.

    Confusingly enough, Uesugi Kenshin wasn’t actually a member of the Uesugi family to begin with. He was a scion of the Nagao family, a strong clan who were vassals of the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi Clan, based in Echigo Province, in what is now Niigata Prefecture.

    Echigo 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=1655309

    Born in 1530, it is quite likely that Kenshin’s mother was a concubine, and what’s more, the boy himself was the second son. He was never intended to inherit control of the Nagao Clan, and he entered the temple at Risenji at age 11, apparently set on a life as a monk.

    He doesn’t seem to have stayed at Risenji for long, however, as when his father died in 1542, just a year later, he was at the funeral with armour and sword at his side, and shortly after that, he was at Tochio Castle when a rebellion against Kenshin’s brother (the new Lord Nagao) broke out. Despite being just 14, Kenshin is supposed to have led the defence of the castle and won his first victory.

    At the time, though the Uesugi were nominally the lords of the region, the Nagao served as deputy (and de facto) governors in their place. After the death of Kenshin’s father, it was his elder brother, Harukage, who inherited this position. The brothers don’t seem to have gotten along very well, however, and in the late 1540s, a movement emerged within the Nagao clan that sought to replace Harukage with Kenshin as head of the clan.

    The remains of Tochio Castle, site of Kenshin’s first victory.
    nubobo – 栃尾城本丸跡, CC 表示 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59682349による

    Exactly why the clan was so against Harukage isn’t clear, but their efforts were ultimately successful. In 1548, under mediation from Uesugi Sadazane (their nominal overlord), Harukage agreed to adopt Kenshin, then retire as head of the clan, clearing the way for Kenshin to become head of the Nagao Clan aged just 18 or 19 (depending on the source).

    In 1550, Sadazane died without an heir, leaving Echigo Province without a lord. At this point, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru instructed Kenshin to take the position of shugo of the province, effectively making him the new lord. Shogunate recognition was not quite the prestigious thing it had once been, however, and not long after this, supporters of Kenshin’s brother rose up in rebellion against him.

    Kenshin quickly bottled up the rebels at Sakado Castle, when the castle fell, the leader of the rebels was spared because he was Kenshin’s brother-in-law, and following this, Kenshin, still aged just 22 had established effectively control over the whole of Echigo Province.

    Looking back for a moment, five years earlier, the Uesugi Clan (or more accurately, the Ogigayatsu branch of the clan) had been defeated at the Battle of Kawagoe by the new rising star of the Kanto, the Hojo Clan. The Ogigayatsu-Uesugi were wiped out after this battle, leaving only the Yamanouchi Branch of the clan. In 1552, Uesugi Norimasa, who was, on paper, the Kanto Kanrei (Shogun’s deputy) was finally driven out of the Kanto entirely and sought refuge with Kenshin.

    A later depiction of Kawagoe Castle.

    Unsurprisingly, harbouring their enemies didn’t do much for the relationship between Kenshin and the Hojo, and Kenshin would send an army to oppose the Hojo’s invasion of Kozuke Province (modern Gunma Prefecture), capturing Numata Castle, and forcing the Hojo to retreat.

    A year later, Kenshin would face a new enemy, as Takeda Shingen’s long-running invasion of Shinano eventually obliged some of the clans there to flee and seek refuge with Kenshin in Echigo. Much like the Hojo, the Takeda didn’t take kindly to someone giving refuge to their enemies, and one of Japanese history’s most famous rivalries was born.

    In August 1553, an army led by Kenshin himself advanced against the Takeda in Shinan, defeating Shingen himself at the Battle of Fuse on August 30th, then again at Yuwata on September 1st. After this, Shingen adopted a strategy of avoiding direct battle with Kenshin, and the conflict settled into a stalemate that was later called the First Battle of Kawanakajima.

    A modern view of Kawanakajima.
    日本語版ウィキペディアのBlogliderさん – 原版の投稿者自身による著作物 (Original text: Photo by Bloglider.), CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12400636による

    In 1554-55, Kenshin was obliged to face a rebellion launched by treacherous vassals in league with Shingen. Putting down the rebellion quickly, Kenshin again marched into Shinano in April 1555 to face the advancing Takeda forces, again led by Shingen.

    At the Second Battle of Kawanakajima, the two sides faced each other in another stalemate, which dragged on for five months, before mediation from the Imagawa Clan led to both sides withdrawing after little actual fighting.

    In the following year, Kenshin apparently announced he would retire and become a monk, however, another outbreak of Takeda-backed rebellion forced him to change his plans, and after a period of peace, in 1557, Shingen again advanced against Kenshin’s allies in Shinano, forcing him to intervene and leading to the Third Battle of Kawanakajima, which, much like the previous two, swiftly settled into stalemate.

    A year later, Kenshin dispatched an army in an ultimately unsuccessful invasion of Kozuke Province and then in 1559 he was ‘invited’ for a meeting with the Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru. Some sources say that Kenshin was granted the title of Kanto Kanrei at this time, the position traditionally held by the Uesugi Clan. He also apparently donated funds towards the maintenance and repair of the Imperial Palace.

    Swords supposedly gifted to Kenshin by the Emperor, photographed in 1928.

    It seems that Kenshin enjoyed good relations with the Shogunate, but the already well-established decline of the Shogun’s power is highlighted again when he asked Kenshin, Shingen, and the Hojo to make peace in order to combine their forces against the Shogun’s enemies. All three parties refused.

    In March 1560, the Imagawa Clan’s devastating defeat at Okehazama opened the way for Kenshin to intervene directly in the Kanto again, as the Imagawa had been allied to his enemies, the Hojo, and their defeat left the Hojo vulnerable. Later that year, Kenshin launched another large-scale invasion of Kozuke Province, driving the Hojo back and capturing several important castles before celebrating New Year at Maebashi Castle, the gateway to the Kanto Plain.

    In March 1561, Kenshin was formally adopted by the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Clan (the only remaining branch) and changed his surname to match. Though he would be known as Uesugi Kagetora from this point, we will continue to call him Kenshin to keep things simple.

    In August of that year, Kenshin led another large army into Shinano, and engaged the Takeda at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima. Unlike the previous three, this battle was not an extended stalemate, but a bloody one. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, with sources ranging from around 20% losses, to as high as 60 or 70%, and when the battle was over, the Takeda held the field, but made no attempt to intervene as the Uesugi withdrew, leading some to suggest the battle was a bloody draw.

    A legendary depiction of the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, depicting the (possibly apocryphal) moment that Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen met on the field.

    The Takeda and Hojo clans, recognising the Uesugi as their common enemy, renewed their combined efforts and launched a joint counter-attack in Musashi Province in late 1561. At first, Uesugi forces were successful against the alliance, even getting as far as besieging Odawara Castle, the Hojo’s main stronghold, before being forced to withdraw after allied counter-attacks in other parts of the Kanto.

    The strategic situation in the Kanto would ebb and flow over the following years, as Uesugi, Takeda, and Hojo armies advanced and retreated, and the local lords would switch sides depending on whoever appeared to be in the ascendancy.

    All three factions would be occupied with fighting each other, but also engaged in other battles and proxy wars with allies and supporters of each other’s enemies. For Kenshin, this meant being obliged to dispatch forces into neighbouring Etchu Province in 1568, to deal with Ikko Ikki forces nominally allied with Shingen.

    Etchu Province.

    Seeking to take advantage of this distraction, Takeda forces attacked in Shinano and were ultimately defeated, but a rebellion in Echigo (Kenshin’s home province) meant he was unable to take advantage of this victory in the short term.

    Later that year, the strategic situation would shift in Kenshin’s favour, however, as the long-term decline in Takeda-Imagawa relations finally led to open conflict between two of his main rivals. The Imagawa would request aid from both the Uesugi and the Hojo, and while Kenshin would refuse, the Hojo dispatched forces to oppose the Takeda, bringing an end to the alliance that had done so much to oppose Kenshin.

    However, years of expensive (and bloody) campaigns in the Kanto had left the Uesugi exhausted, and in 1569, Kenshin reluctantly agreed to a peace deal with the Hojo, which saw the Uesugi withdraw from Musashi Province (modern day Tokyo and Saitama) and the Hojo withdrew from Kozuke.

    With his borders with the Hojo (relatively) secure, Kenshin was able to focus on campaigning against the Takeda again. In 1570 and 1571, he would engage the Takeda and their allies in Etchu and Shinano Provinces, generally having the better of the fighting, but the situation would shift again in 1572 when the lord of the Hojo, Ujiyasu, passed away, and was replaced by Ujimasa, who made peace with the Takeda, turning on the Uesugi. At the same time, the Etchu Ikko Ikki launched a fresh attack, instigated by Takeda Shingen.

    Hojo Ujimasa, who reversed his father’s diplomatic policy.

    The Ikko Ikki would initially be successful against Kenshin, but by mid-1573, the momentum had shifted back in his favour, and several key fortresses within Etchu were taken. Also in that year, Kenshin’s long-time rival, Takeda Shingen, passed away, an event that apparently caused Kenshin to weep openly, but also significantly weakened the Takeda.

    Over the following two years, Kenshin was forced to split his focus between his ongoing campaign in Etchu and the situation in the Kanto. By the end of 1574, the Hojo had effectively ended any Uesugi presence in the region, and although Kenshin would launch counterattacks, the writing was on the wall for Uesugi power in the Kanto.

    In 1576, Kenshin would receive a request for aid from the Shogun, seeking support against Oda Nobunaga, who now dominated central Japan and had forced the Shogun into exile. In order to get to Kyoto, Kenshin was obliged to focus all his resources on securing Etchu and Noto Provinces. This campaign would drag on throughout 1576 and 1577, delayed by intervention from the Hojo and internal rebellion, but by November 1577, Kenshin had secured control of the provinces and was poised to strike at Kyoto itself.

    Noto 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=1690738

    Mustering a large army, Kenshin would march out to meet a force led by Nobunaga’s generals, Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi (better remembered to history as Toyotomi Hideyoshi), who were not fond of each other. A dispute led to Hideyoshi withdrawing his forces early, and when the two sides clashed at the Battle of the Tedori River on November 3rd, Kenshin would emerge victorious.

    The exact course of the battle, and even the size of the forces involved, is not clear from contemporary sources, but Kenshin would withdraw temporarily, issuing instructions for a renewed campaign to begin in the spring. The battle at the Tedori River had opened a strategic opportunity for Kenshin, and it has been speculated that he might have been able to complete his march on Kyoto.

    Much like his rival, Shingen, however, Kenshin would never make the march. In early March, Kenshin would collapse (allegedly whilst in the toilet) and fall into a coma from which he would never wake up; he died on March 13th, aged 49.

    The site of Kenshin’s grave at Risenji, where he studied as a boy.
    By shikabane taro, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54071606

    Much like the Takeda after the death of Shingen, the Uesugi would be seriously weakened by Kenshin’s death. Though they had been a threat to Nobunaga, Kenshin’s death, and the ongoing effects of years of more or less constant conflict, rendered them powerless to stop the rise of Nobunaga, and after his death in 1582, the Uesugi would make their peace with his successors.

    Decisions made at the end of the Sengoku Jidai would see the clan’s star fall even further, though that is a story for another time.

    Sources
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%9D%89%E8%AC%99%E4%BF%A1
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%8B%E5%8F%96%E5%B7%9D%E3%81%AE%E6%88%A6%E3%81%84
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tedorigawa
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%9D%E4%B8%AD%E5%B3%B6
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%89%8D%E6%A9%8B%E5%9F%8E
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%BC%E7%94%B0%E5%9F%8E
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Kawanakajima