Hojo Ujiyasu

Japanese: 北条氏康 - ほうじょう・うじやす

Year of death: 10/3/1571 (10/21/1571)
Year of birth: Eisho 12 (1515)
A military commander in the Sengoku period. Lord of Odawara Castle in Sagami. His father was Ujitsuna. His mother was Yojuin Soei. He was commonly known as Shinkuro. He was a Sakyo no Daifu. After he retired, he was given the respectful titles of Sagami no Kami and Gohonjo-sama, and took the name Taiseiken. He was involved in government affairs as the successor to the family from the time of the capture of Musashi Kawagoe Castle in July 1537 (Tenbun 6), and succeeded to the family headship around the time of Ujitsuna's death in July of the same year. From the following year 1538 to 1539, he carried out succession surveys in Sagami, southern Musashi, Izu, and other areas. In the following year 1601, conflict with Imagawa Yoshimoto flared up again over control of the area east of the Fuji River in Suruga, and he lost it due to a peace treaty made under unfavorable circumstances. However, he won a great victory in the battle of Kawagoe Castle in April of the following year 1602, destroying the Ogigayatsu Uesugi clan and forcing Kanto Kanrei Uesugi Norimasa to flee to Hirai Castle in Kozuke. After that, the Oishi, Fujita and other warlords in northern Musashi became subordinate to Ujiyasu. From 1556 to 1555, he implemented tax reforms such as the creation of the kakesen and masaki (possibly meaning "wheat") munebetsusen, and revision of the tax rate on dansen, solidifying the foundations of his domain management. In 1557, he drove Kensei from Hirai Castle to Shirai Castle, and in January of the following year, he finally forced him to flee to Echigo. In December of the same year, he also forced Ashikaga Haruuji, the Koga kubō, to hand over the family headship to his son Yoshiuji (whose mother was Ujitsuna's daughter). After that, he invaded Suruga to recapture the lands east of the Fuji River, while at the same time forming a triple alliance with the Takeda and Imagawa clans over the three provinces of Sagami, Kai and Suruga. In November 1550, he captured Haruuji and Fujiuji, father and son, and imprisoned them in Hatano, Sagami (Hadano City), reassuring Yoshiuji as head of the family. In February 1559, he had an investigation carried out into the state of construction tax levies, mainly on his retainers, and compiled a basic ledger, the Odawara Shushoyakucho (Record of Odawara Domain Taxes). It is believed that in December of the same year, he handed over the family headship to his son Ujiyasu and retired. Around the time of this succession, the Hojo clan's subsidiary castle system was pretty much solidified. After retiring, he retired from the front line to serve as Ujiyasu's guardian, but the Aizu-Echigo Alliance, which was formed in leap May 1560, was initiated by Ujiyasu. He died just over a year after suffering a paralysis. He can be said to have been a military commander who achieved tax reform and the establishment of various systems, and established a system of control over his domain.

(Sawaki Eiichi)

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

Japanese:

没年：元亀2.10.3(1571.10.21)
生年：永正12(1515)
戦国時代の武将。相模小田原城主。父は氏綱。母は養珠院宗栄か。通称新九郎。左京大夫。隠居後は相模守,また御本城様などと敬称され,太清軒と号した。天文6(1537)年7月の武蔵河越城攻略のころから家督継承者として政務に関与し,同10年7月の氏綱死没前後に家督を継ぐ。翌11年から12年にかけて,相模,南武蔵,伊豆などで代替わり検地を実施。同14年には駿河の富士川以東の支配を巡って今川義元との紛争が再燃し,不利な形勢下での講和によりこれを失う。しかし翌15年4月の河越城の戦では大勝,扇谷上杉氏を滅ぼし,関東管領上杉憲政を上野平井城に敗走させた。以後,大石氏,藤田氏など北武蔵の武将らは氏康に服属するようになる。内政面では同19年から弘治1(1555)年にかけて,懸銭や正木(「麦」の意か)棟別銭の創設,段銭の税率改正など税制改革を行い,領国経営の基礎を固めた。天文20年,憲政を平井城から白井城へと追い詰め,翌21年1月にはついに越後に走らせた。また同年12月,古河公方足利晴氏に対し,家督をその子義氏(母は氏綱の娘)に譲らせている。その後,富士川以東の地を奪回するため駿河に侵攻する一方で,武田・今川両氏と相甲駿(相模,甲斐,駿河)三国同盟を結んだ。23年11月,晴氏・藤氏父子を捕らえて相模波多野(秦野市)に幽閉し,義氏の家督を安堵させる。永禄2(1559)年2月には,主として家臣らへの普請役賦課の状況を調査させ,基本台帳『小田原衆所領役帳』を作成。同年12月に家督を子氏政に譲り隠居したとみられる。この代替わりと前後して北条氏の支城制はほぼ固まった。隠居後は氏政の後見として第一線を退いたが,12年閏5月に成立した相越(相模,越後)同盟は氏康の主導によるものであった。中風発病後1年余りで死去。税制改革をはじめ諸制度の整備を成し遂げ,領国の支配体制を確立した武将といえよう。

(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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