“Hōjō Sōun (Ise Shinkurō) laying seige to Odawara Castle”, published c. 1930.

“Hōjō Sōun (Ise Shinkurō) laying seige to Odawara Castle” within view of sacred Mt. Fuji, published c. 1930 in a series depicting legends of Japanese history, especially during the warring periods prior to the establishment of the Tokugawa bakufu. Caption: “Ise Shinkurō, a lowly samurai, left Bichu and went to Kyoto to serve under Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimasa, and later joined forces with Imagawa Yoshitada under the command of Kakari Azuma, wielding wits and ingenuity and devising deceptive strategies. He finally succeeded in overtaking Odawara Castle and settled there, where he changed his family name to Hojo, and gave the name Soun to his grandson Ujiyasu. In the 16th month of Eisei (1615), Soun died at Nirayama and was buried at Sounji Temple.”

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“Born Ise Moritoki, he was originally known as Ise Shinkurō and, later, also known as Hōjō Sōun. Traditionally, Soun held a reputation of a rōnin who rose to power almost overnight in Kantō; however, he was a samurai of Taira lineage from a reputable family of shogunate officials.

“About 1475, under the cognomen of Ise Shinkurō, he worked for Imagawa, the constable of Suruga Province, and eventually became an ‘independent leader’ with a number of warriors joining him.

“Ise became a retainer in the Imagawa clan, and when Yoshitada died in battle in 1476, Shinkurō mediated the succession dispute between supporters of Yoshitada’s son Imagawa Ujichika and Yoshitada’s cousin, Oshika Norimitsu. This proved to be only a temporary peace. When Norimitsu again attempted to gain control of the Imagawa clan, Sōun came to Ujichika’s defense, killing Norimitsu. Sōun was rewarded by Ujichika with Kōkokuji Castle.

“In 1491, he was able to take Horigoye after the death of Kantō kubō Ashikaga Masatomo, gaining control of Izu Province. With Ise’s successful invasion of Izu province, he is credited by most historians as being the first ‘Sengoku daimyō‘.

“After building a stronghold at Nirayama, Hōjō Sōun secured Odawara Castle in 1494, the castle which would become the center of the Hōjō family’s domains for nearly a century. In an act of treachery, he seized the castle after arranging for its lord to be murdered while out hunting.

“In 1516, he laid siege to the castle of Arai, and ‘was virtual master of all Sagami.’

“In 1519, Sōun died in Nirayama Castle and passed on the newly built Hōjō domains to his son Ujitsuna, who subsequently changed the clan name from the original Ise to Hōjō and posthumously renamed his father to Hōjō Sōun.”

– Wikipedia