* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Hōjō Sōun
北条早雲
The First Sengoku Daimyō
Description
The Dawn of the Sengoku Era
Around Eikō 4 (1432), Ise Shinkurō (later known as Hōjō Sōun), born in Bitchu Province, stands as a remarkable figure regarded as Japan's "first true Sengoku daimyō." After serving as a retainer of the Ashikaga Shogunate in Kyoto, he rose to prominence by exploiting internal strife within the Imagawa clan, and in Meio 2 (1493), succeeded in seizing Izu Province. Historians of later generations have evaluated this event as the "beginning of the Sengoku period," marking the inauguration of an age of gekokujō—the rise of military might over bloodline and social standing in the struggle for supremacy.
The Conquest of Izu and Sagami
Having secured Izu, Sōun then advanced into Sagami Province. In Meio 4 (1495), he seized Odawara Castle and successfully subdued most of Sagami. Sōun's strategic acumen extended far beyond mere military conquest; he excelled in the art of governance that won the hearts and minds of the common people through benevolent policies such as tax remissions in the territories he occupied. This represented the origin of the governing philosophy that would guide the benevolent rule of the five subsequent generations of the Later Hōjō clan, embodying Sōun's conviction that "a samurai should be as father and mother to the people."
Swords and the Spirit of Bushidō
Throughout his life, Sōun never lost his pride as a samurai and possessed a deep understanding of the value of excellent swords. For a warlord living in the age of gekokujō, the sword was not merely a weapon—it was the very soul of the warrior and a symbol of authority. The sword that Sōun is said to have possessed was a masterwork combining practical durability with refined beauty. In the Kantō region, a lineage of excellent swordsmiths of the Sōshū-den tradition had flourished since the Kamakura period. Sōun patronized these swordsmiths to equip the Later Hōjō clan with superior arms. Blades of the Sōshū-den tradition are renowned for their broad and deep nie and vigorous hamon, achieving a high level of balance between battlefield utility and artistic perfection.
The Twenty-One Article House Precepts
The "Twenty-One Article House Precepts" left by Sōun is a celebrated text widely read by later generations as a code of conduct for Sengoku warlords. Its contents range widely across samurai etiquette, encouragement of learning, and the practice of frugality and economy, but what is particularly noteworthy are the articles concerning swords. The teachings—"A samurai must never neglect the maintenance of his sword" and "The sword is the soul of the samurai; one who treats it carelessly is unfit to be a samurai"—reveal that Sōun regarded the Japanese sword not merely as a tool, but as a symbol of samurai spirituality. This house code was passed down through five generations of the Later Hōjō clan and became the spiritual pillar of Sagami samurai.
The Foundation of the Later Hōjō Clan
The foundation of the Later Hōjō clan that Sōun built continued to develop through five generations: his son Ujitsuna, grandson Ujiyasu, great-grandson Ujimasa, and great-great-grandson Ujinao. The Later Hōjō clan reigned as the overlord of the Kantō region for over a century, realizing stable rule through benevolent governance and powerful military might—an era also called "the Hōjō century of peace." Odawara Castle developed into the strongest fortress in the Kantō region and served as the base of the Later Hōjō clan. Even at the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's siege in Tenshō 18 (1590), it remained an impregnable stronghold, pinning down Hideyoshi's great army for six months.
Final Years and Legacy
In Eishō 16 (1519), Sōun passed away at the advanced age of eighty-eight (or eighty-seven). Starting as a mere rōnin, he established himself as the overlord of the Kantō region in a single generation—a life that was truly the very embodiment of the Sengoku era. Sōun's legacy lies not only in the prosperity of five generations of the Later Hōjō clan but in establishing a governing model for Sengoku daimyō that combined military might with benevolent rule. Many of the governing policies later adopted by Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu were developments of the methods that Sōun pioneered and practiced.
Notable Swords
- Sōshū-den tachi (blades of the Kamakura-Kantō swordsmiths; characterized by deep nie and dramatic hamon; the military backbone of the Hōjō clan)
- Sōun's personal sword (the blade carried through the campaigns that transformed a rōnin into a daimyō)
- The sword of the house precepts (embodiment of Sōun's teaching that the sword is the warrior's soul, upheld across five generations of Hōjō)