Imagawa Ujizane

Imagawa Ujizane (今川 氏真, 1538 – January 27, 1615) was a Japanese daimyō who lived in the Sengoku through early Edo periods. He was the tenth head of the Imagawa clan, and was a son of Imagawa Yoshimoto and the father of Imagawa Norimochi and Shinagawa Takahisa.

Anonymous portrait of Imagawa Ujizane
In this Japanese name, the surname is Imagawa.

Early life

Ujizane was born in Sunpu Domain; he was the eldest son of Imagawa Yoshimoto. In 1554, he married the daughter of Hōjō Ujiyasu (Lady Hayakawa) as part of the Kai-Sagami-Suruga Alliance. Ujizane inherited family headship in 1558, when his father retired in order to focus his attention on the Imagawa advance into Tōtōmi and Mikawa Provinces.[1] His childhood name was Tetsuomaru (龍王丸).

Fall of the Imagawa clan

In 1560, Yoshimoto was killed in the Battle of Okehazama, the province of Totomi and Mikawa went into chaos. Ujizane succeeded his father, but due to the chaotic state of the Imagawa clan, many vassals betray Ujizane. His grandmother, Jukei-ni, who exercised great political power, died in 1568. Motivated by this, Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked the lands of Imagawa.

After his defeat in the 1569 Siege of Kakegawa, Imagawa Ujizane allied himself with Ieyasu in return for help in recovering his territory in Suruga Province.[2][3]

Ujizane later retaliated against the landlocked Takeda clan with a salt embargo. This had little effect because Uesugi Kenshin took the opportunity to sell salt to the Takeda, and only resulted in the downfall of the Imagawa clan. He enjoyed playing Kemari and poetry.

Later years and death

The Imagawa family was summoned by Tokugawa Ieyasu and made Tokugawa retainers, with the rank of kōke. Ujizane died at the family estate in Shinagawa in 1615.

Family

References
  1. Stephen Turnbull, Samurai: The World of the Warrior (London: Osprey Publishing, 2003), p. 224.
  2. Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. Cassell & Co. p. 218. ISBN 1854095234.
  3. Turnbull, Stephen (1987). Battle of the Samurai. London: Arms and Armour Press. p. 68. ISBN 0853688265.
Preceded by
Imagawa Yoshimoto		 10th Suruga-Imagawa family head
1560–1569		 Succeeded by
Imagawa Naofusa
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