Hojo Ujimasa

Japanese: 北条氏政 - ほうじょう・うじまさ

Year of death: July 11, 1590 (August 10, 1590)
Year of birth: Tenbun 7 (1538)
A military commander during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. Lord of Odawara Castle in Sagami. Son of Ujiyasu and Imagawa Ujichika's daughter (Zuikei-in). Commonly known as Shinkuro. Sakyo-no-tayu. After retirement, he became Sagami no Kami and also called himself Jirisusai. In December 1554 (Tenbun 23), after the formation of the Triple Alliance of Sagami, Kai, and Suruga, he married Takeda Harunobu's (Shingen) daughter (Obai-in), and is thought to have succeeded to the family headship in December 1559 (Eiroku 2). From February to March of the following year, he implemented a policy of benevolence to deal with the famine and epidemic. In June of the same year, he also revised the Substitute Law, which could be called the Currency Law, and established a legal mixing ratio of refined coins and inferior coins at 7:3. In March of the same year, he repelled Nagao Kagetora (Uesugi Terutora, Kenshin)'s siege of Odawara Castle, and this marked his turning point in his acceptance of the Ikko sect. In the second Battle of Kounodai in the seventh year, he defeated Satomi Yoshihiro, and in July, with the cooperation of Ota Ujisuke, he took control of Iwatsuki Castle, and thus almost conquered Musashi. In December of the eleventh year of the Eiroku era, when Harunobu invaded Suruga, which was Imagawa's territory, he marched out to support Imagawa Ujizane, and also sent reinforcements to Kakegawa in Totomi. This incident promoted peace negotiations with the Uesugi clan, and in May of the following year (intercalary year), the Aizu-Echigo Alliance was formed. In October of the same year, Harunobu attacked Odawara, and on his way back, a battle took place at Misasagi Pass. In October 1571, after his father Ujiyasu died and he became head of the family in both name and reality, he immediately began peace negotiations with Harunobu. In December of the same year, the Sagami-Kai Alliance was formed, and the Sagami-Echigo Alliance was broken. However, in 1578, after Terutora's death, a dispute over the succession arose within the Uesugi clan, and discord arose between him and the Takeda clan over support for Uesugi Kagetora (Ujimasa's younger brother and Terutora's adopted son), and the Sagami-Kai Alliance collapsed. In September of the following year, he allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu and promised to attack Takeda Katsuyori from both sides, setting out for the Kisegawa River in Suruga. In August of the following year, he confronted Katsuyori again at the Kisegawa River, but in the middle of the battle, he handed over the family headship to his son Ujinao and retired. This is thought to have been a sign of his abandoning his previous ties with the Takeda clan and once again showing his pro-Oda stance and his desire to destroy the Takeda. After his retirement, he was given the honorific title of "Lord Retiree" and helped Ujinao with his government affairs. Afterwards, he refused to comply with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's request to come to Kyoto as he was trying to unify the country, and in the 18th year of Tensho era, when Hideyoshi attacked Odawara, he is said to have finally decided to lay low. After surrendering, he was ordered to commit seppuku and committed suicide. It can be said that he was the one who brought about his downfall by making the mistake of being afraid of Nobunaga and underestimating Hideyoshi.

(Sawaki Eiichi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天正18.7.11(1590.8.10)
生年：天文7(1538)
戦国・安土桃山時代の武将。相模小田原城主。氏康と今川氏親の娘(瑞渓院)の子。通称新九郎。左京大夫。隠居後は相模守,また截流斎と号した。相甲駿(相模,甲斐,駿河)三国同盟成立後の天文23(1554)年12月,武田晴信(信玄)の娘(黄梅院)を妻とし,永禄2(1559)年12月に家督を継いだとみられる。翌3年の2月から3月にかけて,飢饉と疫病の流行に対処するため徳政を実施。また同年6月,貨幣法ともいうべき代物法度を改定して精銭と地悪銭の法定混合比率を7対3に確立した。同4年3月には長尾景虎(上杉輝虎,謙信)の小田原攻城を退け,これを契機に一向宗容認に転じた。同7年,第2次国府台合戦で里見義弘を破り,7月には太田氏資の内応を得て岩槻城を手中に収めたことで,武蔵をほぼ征服した。永禄11年12月,晴信が今川領国の駿河へ侵攻すると今川氏真支援のため出陣し,遠江懸川にも援軍を派遣した。この事件により上杉氏との講和交渉が促進され,翌12年閏5月には相越(相模,越後)同盟が成立。同年10月,晴信が小田原に来襲し,その帰途,三増峠で合戦を行う。元亀2(1571)年10月,父氏康が死に名実ともに当主の座に着くと,まもなく晴信との講和交渉を開始。同年12月に相甲(相模,甲斐)同盟が成立し,相越同盟は破れた。ところが天正6(1578)年,輝虎没後の上杉家に継嗣紛争が起きると,上杉景虎(氏政の弟で輝虎の養子)支持を巡って武田氏との間に不和が生じ,相甲同盟は破綻した。翌7年9月,徳川家康と結んで武田勝頼挟撃を約し,駿河黄瀬川に出陣。同8年8月再び勝頼と黄瀬川に対峙するが,その陣中で家督を子氏直に譲り引退した。これは従来の武田氏とのかかわりを捨て,改めて親織田,武田撃滅の姿勢を示したものとみられる。引退後は「御隠居様」などと敬称され,氏直の政務を助けた。その後,天下統一を進める豊臣秀吉の上洛要求にはついに応じず,天正18年の秀吉による小田原攻めに際し,最終的に籠城を決断したといわれる。降伏後,切腹を命じられ自刃。信長には恐怖し,秀吉は侮るという錯誤を犯したことにより滅亡を招いた人物といえよう。

(佐脇栄智)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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