Why Japan's "Weakest Samurai Warlord" Is Still Admired to This Day

Summary

During Japan’s Sengoku (Warring States) period, there was one name that instantly struck fear into the hearts of even the most powerful feudal lords: “Oda,” as in the merciless master maneuverer Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582). Interestingly, around the same time, there was a name that elicited the exact opposite reaction, and it was also “Oda” — as in Oda Ujiharu, master of Oda Castle in modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture, whose constant losing streak made him known as the weakest Sengoku samurai warlord. Why, then, do so many people admire him today? Let’s find out. Taken from “The Siege of Shimoasakusa Castle” | Wikimedia The Loser Phoenix of Hitachi Born sometime in the 1530s (perhaps even in 1534, though that may have been an invention to draw parallels between Ujiharu and Nobunaga), the weakest samurai warlord in history has no connection to the Demon King. Their names are written with different characters and point to two vastly different lineages. Nobunaga hailed from a relatively minor family in Owari (modern-day Aichi), while Ujiharu was connected to the Hatta clan that once was a major player in the Kamakura shogunate. He was also a close relative of many important figures in the Ashikaga shogunate. Ujiharu ruled the strategically important Hitachi Province from the massive Oda Castle, whose entire complex was 4.6 times larger than Tokyo Dome. That wasn’t the main reason why, like, four different warlords kept stealing it from him, but it probably was a factor. During the Sengoku period, both the shogunate and the emperor effectively lost power, so Ujiharu’s ancestry meant nothing to the Hojo, Yuki, Satake or Uesugi clans, who conquered Oda Castle a total of nine times. Losing one’s home once was often enough to drive a Sengoku samurai to commit seppuku out of shame, but if Ujiharu dismembered himself every time he lost Oda Castle, he’d have been just a head floating in a jar by the end. However, a wise man once said: “[It] ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about ho...