Ujiie Bokuzen

Ujiie Bokuzen was a Sengoku-period warrior of Mino Province whose real name was Ujiie Naomoto. He was also known as Kuwabara Naomoto and by the Buddhist name Kanshinsai Bokuzen, and held the court titles Mikawa no Kami and Hitachi no Suke. Together with Inaba Yoshimichi (Ittetsu) and Ando Morinari he is counted among the "Three Western Mino Elders." His birth year is given as 1513 or 1534; he died on the 12th day of the 5th month of Genki 2 (4 June 1571). His age at death is given as 38, though the Mino-no-kuni Shokyuki says 59, so the point is unsettled.

Life

His father is said to have been Ujiie Yukitaka and his mother a daughter of Nagai Toshitaka; his sons were Naomasa, Yukihiro and Yukitsugu. In Mino he served Toki Yorinari and then Saito Dosan, acting as the point of contact in dealings with the Fukushima family, ritual priests (oshi) of the Ise Shrines. In the Battle of Nagaragawa he is thought to have sided with Dosan's son Yoshitatsu rather than with Dosan. Under Yoshitatsu he co-signed documents with other senior retainers such as Hineno Hironari, supporting his rule. When Yoshitatsu took the Isshiki name in Eiroku 2 (1559), Bokuzen changed his surname from Kuwabara to Ujiie. After Yoshitatsu's death he served Tatsuoki, but relations are said to have been poor.

Defection to the Oda

In Eiroku 10 (1567), together with Inaba Yoshimichi and others, he secretly went over to Oda Nobunaga during the attack on Inabayama Castle and served the Oda thereafter. He is said to have taken the name Bokuzen around this time.

Service under the Oda

He followed Nobunaga's advance to Kyoto and took part in the siege of Okawachi Castle (where Kitabatake Tomonori was holed up) in Eiroku 12 (1569) and the Battle of Anegawa in Genki 1 (1570).

The Nagashima campaign and his death

During the Nagashima campaign of Genki 2 (1571) he was ordered to burn Tado Taisha in Kuwana District, Ise, and the Houn-ji temple attached to it, and is said to have destroyed many halls and pagodas. He then served under Shibata Katsuie and commanded the rear guard when the Oda army withdrew. On the 12th day of the 5th month of that year, at Ishizu in Mino, he was killed by Sasaki Sukenari, a member of the Rokkaku clan who was resisting the Oda alongside the Hongan-ji forces.

Anecdotes and burial

The "Bokuzen-zawa" in Nanno, Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, is said to be where his severed head was washed. A memorial pagoda, the "Bokuzen-zuka," stands in Yasue in the same town.

Later reputation

He appears in films, television dramas, manga, anime and games, including the Nobunaga's Ambition series.