(1545–1589) also known as Satokane 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 ...

of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, who served the

Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contr ...

. Uwai Kakuken was a Shimazu clan chief retainer and one of Shimazu Yoshihisa's top councilors. Parts of his diary survives as a glimpse into the court of a 16th Century daimyō. In 1561, Kakuken had his first military engagement in the Battle of Meguri Castle. He was named Chief retainer in 1576, and following the 1579 conquest of

Hyūga Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to modern Miyazaki Prefecture Hyūga bordered on Ōsumi to the south, Higo to the west, and Bungo to the north. Its abbreviated form name was , although it was als ...

by the Shimazu, was given Miyazaki castle. Kakuken was active in campaigns in

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

and against the Ōtomo clan. He was also active in appreciation of waka poetry and tea ceremony, and is known to have been a highly educated and cultured individual. Kakuken suffered a serious injury in the 1586 Siege of Iwatsurugi castle. The following year, he was attacked and defeated at Miyazaki,

Kagoshima prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

by the forces of

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: ...

. He submitted to Hideyoshi's authority, turned over the castle to him, and took up retirement at Ijūin in

Satsuma province was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation was . History Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. Dur ...

. Kakuken died several years later, in 1589.

References

Samurai 1545 births 1589 deaths Shimazu retainers Shimazu clan {{samurai-stub