Hōjō Ujimasa

Hōjō Ujimasa (1538–1590) was a Sengoku period warrior and the fourth head of the Later Hōjō clan, who established a major power base in the Kantō region. Using Odawara Castle in Sagami Province as his headquarters, at his peak he established control over a vast domain extending across the eight Kantō provinces.

Born as the eldest son of Hōjō Ujiyasu, Ujimasa grew into a warrior of excellence in both civil and martial arts under his father's guidance. He inherited the clan leadership in 1559 and continued to expand the Hōjō domain while facing powerful neighbors including the Takeda, Uesugi, Satake, and Satomi. He conducted strategic diplomatic and military actions including the Battle of Mimase Pass (1569, against Takeda Shingen) and intervention in the Otate Conflict (1578) following Uesugi Kenshin's death. At its height, the Hōjō domain under Ujimasa extended across the provinces of Musashi, Sagami, Izu, Kazusa, Shimōsa, Kōzuke, Shimotsuke, and Hitachi, commanding a vast territory of control.

The castle complex and castle town of Odawara Castle, completed during Ujimasa's era, functioned as the largest fortified city in Kantō, with sufficient strength to confront the invasion of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the paramount power. However, in 1590, during Hideyoshi's Siege of Odawara, as daimyo defected one after another, Ujimasa chose to hold Odawara Castle, and after a three-month siege was forced to surrender. This decision gave rise to the phrase "Odawara Consultation" (小田原評定), which came to be passed down to posterity as a metaphor for indecision.

Regarding Japanese swords, the Later Hōjō clan was an important bearer of sword culture in Kantō. During Ujimasa's era, swordsmiths continuing the Sagami tradition (Sōshū-den) were active in Sagami Province, and Hōjō samurai favored the practical blades of this school. Ujimasa himself placed great emphasis on collecting famous swords, and it is said that outstanding blades by renowned smiths from throughout Japan were gathered at Odawara Castle. The domain laws established by the Hōjō clan, such as the Odawara Code (Odawara Hatto), also contained provisions regarding the handling of samurai swords, making them valuable historical sources for understanding the sword culture of the era.

After the surrender, Ujimasa was ordered to commit ritual suicide together with his younger brother Ujiteru, and on August 10, 1590, he died by seppuku at Odawara. He was 53 years old at the time of his death. The end of Ujimasa—who brought the history of a family spanning more than a century to a close in a single generation—is remembered as an inevitable consequence of the era when the paramount powers of the Sengoku period were overwhelmed by the tide of national unification.