Hôjô Soun

A native of Kyoto, Ise Shinkuro was taught by monks from the Daitoku-ji and fled the capital during the Onin War (1467-1477). He traveled to Suruga with six followers and became a retainer of his brother in law, Imagawa Yoshitada. Yoshitada was killed in battle in 1476, and Ise, considered an objective outsider, was instrumental in solving a resulting succession dispute. The new lord, Ise's nephew Ujichika, expressed his gratitude by giving his uncle Kokokuji Castle and allowing him to expand his retainer band and use the character for 'Uji' in his name. Ise thus turned in Shinkuro for Nagauji.

In 1490 Ashikaga Masatomo, the lord of neighboring Izu, decided to disinherit his eldest son Chachamaru, a decision that prompted Chachamaru to rebel. Evidently a bloodthirsty young man, Chachamaru killed his father, mother, and younger brother, an act that was considered unspeakable even to hardened samurai. Ise took this opportunity to act independently of the Imagawa and promptly invaded Izu, trapping Chachamaru in Horigoe Castle and forcing him to commit suicide. The former Ashikaga retainers joined Nagauji and strengthened his ranks considerably.

Having gone form being a castellan to lord of a province, Ise had no intention of going back to Suruga. Perhaps hoping to cash in on the prestige associated with a great name or just for the sound of it, Ise renamed his family Hôjô. Of course, Shinkuro could claim only the most tenuous of links (if any) to the long defunct Hôjô regents but that hardly mattered in the climate of the times.

Hôjô next turned to Sagami and set his gaze on Odawara Castle. Befriending the young lord of that castle, Omori Fujiyori, Hôjô invited him to a hunt in 1495. During the course of the day, the story goes, Omori ended up dead and Soun would have a much easier time taking Odawara. This castle would be continually upgraded over the following decades until it stood as one of the most formidable strongholds in all of Japan.

In 1512 Hôjô attacked the neighboring Miura clan and in July 1516 brought down Arai Castle, forcing Miura Yoshimoto to commit suicide. Already, Nagauji had officially retired in favor of his son Ujitsuna and in 1519 passed away. In his memory, Ujitsuna built the Sounji in Sagami, an act that impressed the Hôjô retainers.

In addition to his political and military skill, Hôjô Soun (as he is remembered) was a gifted administrator, and earned the good will of the peasants in his land by lowering taxes to forty percent (down from as much as seventy percent). He is perhaps best known for composing the Soun-ji Dono Nijuichi Kajo, or 'Lord Soun's Twenty-one Articles', a collection of do's and don'ts intended for future retainers of the Hôjô house. Some scholars mark the year Soun conquered Izu-1491-as the opening of the Sengoku period, for Soun, a relative unknown, was able to take a province for his own without an Imperial decree or permission from the Shôgun.