Ujinori Hōjō

Ujinori Hōjō is Ujiyasu's fifth son. Ujinori served as a hostage to the Imagawa at the same time that Ieyasu was a hostage of the Imagawa. The two formed a friendship and when the Hōjō lost the Odawara Campaign, Ieyasu intervened on his behalf due to this friendship, sparing him and ensuring his clan still had a sizable domain under his rule.

Role in Games
Ujinori first appears in Samurai Warriors at Odawara Castle, where he defends the second floor of the castle with Ujikuni. In Samurai Warriors 4, Ujinori joins Ujifusa, Ujimitsu, and Ujitada Hōjō in the attempt to retake the second ward, after it falls to Hideyoshi Toyotomi's force. During Defence of Numata in Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada, Ujinori is attacked by Nobuyuki Sanada to draw the Hōjō forces away from Numata and allow Yukimura to reach the besieged castle.

In the Nobunaga's Ambition series, Ujiinori typically begins scenarios in the service of his clan. Possessing weaker stats than his brothers, Ujinori is still better than the average officer. Only his intelligence stat remains competitive with his siblings, reflecting his decent skill at negotiations.

Historical Information
Hōjō Ujinori was born the fifth son of Hōjō Ujiyasu. Not many years after he was born, an alliance was arranged between the Hōjō, the Takeda, and the Imagawa, called the Kōsōsun Triple Alliance. This alliance was sealed by marriages between the respective Daimyos' sons and daughters. As the daughter Ujiyasu was providing, Lady Hayakawa, was still too young to marry, Hōjō Ujinori accompanied her to the Imagawa headquarters. While at the Imagawa, Ujinori met another hostage of the Imagawa, Matsudaira Takechiyo (the future Tokugawa Ieyasu). The two became friends due to similar ages and situations.

When Lady Hayakawa was old enough to marry Imagawa Ujizane, Hōjō Ujinori remained with the Imagawa. It is hypothesized he remained because he was one of the few companions of Ujizane within his generation, Ujinori served as a companion retainer for the young future lord. Whilst remaining longer at the Imagawa, Asahina Yasunori, the son of Asahina Yasutomo, and Asahina Yasuhide became Hōjō Ujinori's retainers, who served him even after Ujinori returned to his home clan.

Ujinori returned to his clan sometime between 1562-1564, where he was soon entrusted with the military command of Miura Castle from his elder cousin and uncle, Hōjō Tsunashige in Izu province. Hōjō Ujinori took over naval command for the western front of the Hōjō around the time of Takeda Shingen's Odawara Campaign. He mostly focused on the Tokugawa during this campaign, ensuring they did not try to take advantage of the chaos the Takeda were stirring up.

In 1577, Hōjō Ujimasa launched a campaign against the Satomi clan. While Ujimasa led the ground assault from the northeast, Ujinori crossed the bay and attacked from the west, directly laying siege to the Satomi headquarters, Sanuki Castle. The strategy worked and the Satomi were forced into the Boso Ichiwa alliance with the Hōjō.

With the death of Oda Nobunaga in 1582, the Hōjō went on the offensive to claim the Oda territory that had only recently belonged to the Takeda. Ujinori was assigned the task to attack Suruga's Sanmaibashi Castle, which was contested by the Tokugawa. Neither side managed to gain the upper hand on the other and a few months later, peace negotiations began. Ujinori took the lead in these talks, as he could use his old friendship to directly meet with Ieyasu. The two clans did ally with one another and Ujinori rekindled his friendship with Ieyasu, even receiving gifts from the Tokugawa Daimyo.

Despite this peace and gains of the Hōjō, a far greater power than the Tokugawa was rising in the west. Toyotomi Hideyoshi had nearly unified all of Japan by 1586, and the Hōjō sought to negotiate terms with the rising Kampaku. Ujinori was sent to conduct these negotiations, but they failed, as Hideyoshi wanted Ujimasa himself to make the trip and submit.

When the peace talks failed, Hideyoshi launched his own Odawara campaign. Hōjō Ujinori took up the defense of Nirayama Castle, in Izu. He held out for four months against Oda Nobukatsu, fighting valiantly with his 3,640 men against Nobukatsu's 40,000. Eventually, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Kuroda Kanbei convinced Ujinori to surrender. With the fall of Odawara, Ujinori was forced into exile at Mt. Koya for a time with Hōjō Ujinao, but was eventually forgiven and allowed to serve under Ieyasu. The Tokugawa lord settled Ujinori in Sayama Castle, eventually increasing his koku to 11,000 and properly reinstating the Hōjō as a Daimyo clan.

Gallery
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