(1540? – August 10, 1590) was a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

, who was the son of

Hōjō Ujiyasu was a ''daimyō'' (warlord) and third head of the Odawara Hōjō clan. Known as the "Lion of Sagami", he was revered as a fearsome samurai and a cunning man. He is famous for his strategies of breaking the siege from Takeda Shingen and Uesugi ...

and lord of

Hachiōji Castle was a Sengoku period Japanese castle, located in what is now the city of Hachiōji, Tokyo, in the Kantō region of Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1951, with the area under protection extended in 2005 ...

in what is now

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He fought in the

Siege of Odawara (1561) In the 1561 siege of Odawara, a battle of Japan's Sengoku period, Uesugi Kenshin attacked Odawara castle. This was the first of several sieges which would befall Odawara castle, the home castle of the Hōjō clan. Background In 1559, Kenshin ...

and

Battle of Konodai (1564) A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

. In 1568, Ujiteru defended Takiyama Castle from

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

. Later in 1569, Ujiteru and his brother Hojo Ujikuni commanded a major force at the

Battle of Mimasetoge The was the Hōjō's attack on the Takeda army, which took place at Mimase Pass in 1569, as the forces of Takeda Shingen withdrew after repeated failed sieges of the Hōjō clan's Odawara Castle in Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan Japan is ...

, where they unsuccessfully attempted to prevent Takeda Shingen from withdrawing to his home province of Kai after besieging the Hōjō's core castle at

Odawara is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in ...

. Later in the 1590 siege of Odawara against Hideyoshi, Ujiteru left only 1,300 men behind at

when he went to the aid of the defenders of

Odawara Castle is a reconstructed Japanese castle in the city of Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The current donjon (keep) was constructed out of reinforced concrete in 1960 on a stone foundation of the former donjon, torn down from 1870–1872 ...

, who had been surrounded by

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

. Shortly thereafter, on June 23, 1590, more of Hideyoshi's forces, numbering 30,000 and led by

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又左 ...

and

Uesugi Kagekatsu was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' during the Sengoku and Edo periods. He was the adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin and Uesugi Kagetora’s brother in law. Early life and rise Kagekatsu was the son of Nagao Masakage, the head of the Ueda Naga ...

, arrived to take the castle, which fell in just one day.Ruins of Hachioji Castle｜八王子市
After the Hōjō were defeated, Ujiteru was forced to commit

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

along with his brother Ujimasa. The grave of Hojo Ujiteru exists in two places: one in Odawara City and the other at the site of Hachioji Castle.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). ''The Samurai Sourcebook''. London: Cassell & Co. 1590 deaths Go-Hōjō clan Suicides by seppuku Forced suicides Year of birth uncertain {{japan-noble-stub