Imagawa Ujizane (1538 – January 27, 1615) was a Japanese daimyō who lived through the Sengoku and early Edo periods. He became the tenth head of the Imagawa clan, following in the footsteps of his father, Imagawa Yoshimoto. Ujizane was the father of Imagawa Norimochi and Shinagawa Takahisa.
Born in Sunpu Domain as the eldest son of Imagawa Yoshimoto, Ujizane’s childhood name was Tatsuomaru. In 1554, he strengthened political ties through his marriage to Lady Hayakawa, daughter of Hojo Ujiyasu, as part of the strategic Kai-Sagami-Suruga Alliance. He officially inherited leadership of the clan in 1558 when his father retired to focus on military campaigns in Tōtōmi and Mikawa Provinces.
However, in 1560, following his father’s death at the Battle of Okehazama, chaos erupted in Tōtōmi and Mikawa. Ujizane struggled to maintain control as many vassals defected. The situation worsened in 1568 when his grandmother, Jukei-ni, a key political figure in the clan, passed away. This loss opened the door for attacks from Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In response, Ujizane attempted to retaliate against the Takeda clan by imposing a salt embargo, but this backfired when Uesugi Kenshin supplied salt to the Takeda, accelerating the Imagawa clan’s decline. That same year, Shingen invaded Suruga, swiftly capturing Sunpu Castle. Ujizane was forced to flee to Kakegawa Castle in Tōtōmi Province, but after his defeat at the 1569 Siege of Kakegawa, he allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu, hoping to regain control of Suruga.
Ujizane later met with Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu at Sokoku-ji Temple in 1575, as recorded in the "Shincho Koki" (Account of Nobunaga). He also participated in the Battle of Nagashino against the Takeda clan. Eventually, the Imagawa family became retainers under the Tokugawa, with Ujizane holding the rank of kōke (master of ceremonies).
Despite the political turbulence, Ujizane was known for his refined interests in kemari (a traditional Japanese ball game) and poetry. He passed away peacefully at the family estate in Shinagawa in 1615.
See also
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Okubo Tadanori
Okubo Tadanori (January 13, 1842 – August 10, 1897) was the 9th daimyo of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture) during the late Edo period. Before the Meiji Restoration, he held the courtesy title of Kaga no Kami.
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Okubo Tadayo
Okubo Tadayo (1532 – October 28, 1594) was a samurai general who served Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and later became the daimyo of Odawara Domain in the early Edo period.
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Araki Murashige
Araki Murashige (1535 – June 20, 1586) was a samurai and retainer of Ikeda Katsumasa, the head of the powerful Settsu-Ikeda clan in Settsu Province. Initially serving under Katsumasa, he aligned himself with Oda Nobunaga after Nobunaga’s successful campaign to establish control over Kyoto.
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Yuki Hideyasu
Yuki Hideyasu (March 1, 1574 – June 2, 1607) was a Japanese samurai who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods, serving as the daimyō of Fukui Domain in Echizen Province. Born Tokugawa Ogimaru, he was the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Lady Oman (also known as Lady Kogō), a handmaiden to Ieyasu’s wife, Lady Tsukiyama. Due to Ieyasu’s fears of his wife’s reaction to Oman’s pregnancy, Ogimaru and his twin brother were born in secrecy at the home of Honda Shigetsugu, one of Ieyasu’s retainers. Oman’s other son eventually became a priest, while Ogimaru was raised apart from Ieyasu, whom he only met at the age of three, in a meeting arranged by his older half-brother, Matsudaira Nobuyasu.
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Tsutsui Sadatsugu
Tsutsui Sadatsugu (June 6, 1562 – April 2, 1615) was a prominent figure in the Sengoku and early Edo periods, known as the cousin and adopted heir of Tsutsui Junkei, the feudal lord of Yamato Province. Following Junkei's death in 1584, Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated Sadatsugu to Iga Province, where he oversaw the construction of Iga Ueno Castle, marking the height of his prominence.
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Matsudaira Kiyoyasu
Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (September 28, 1511 – November 29, 1535) served as the 7th lord of the Matsudaira clan during Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period. Renowned as the paternal grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Japan's "great unifiers," Kiyoyasu expanded his clan’s influence, bringing all of northern Mikawa Province under his control after subduing the Saigo clan. His power was further symbolized by the construction of Okazaki Castle, a testament to the Matsudaira’s growing dominance.
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Matsudaira Hirotada
Matsudaira Hirotada (June 9, 1526 – April 3, 1549) was a daimyo and lord of Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Province during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku Period. He is best known as the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.
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Ikeda Tsuneoki
Ikeda Tsuneoki (1536 – May 18, 1584), also known as Ikeda Nobuteru, was a prominent daimyo of the Ikeda clan and a distinguished military commander during Japan's Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He served under the influential warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tsuneoki’s connection to Nobunaga began early, as his mother, Yotokuin, was Nobunaga’s wet nurse and later became a concubine to Oda Nobuhide, Nobunaga's father.