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Hōjō Ujimasa Last
Mogami Yoshiaki
Fox of Ushū

Mogami Yoshiaki

Ōshū and Kantō
Mogami Yoshiaki
Life 1546–1614 (aged 69)
Title Fox of Ushū
Faction Ōshū and Kantō
Places associated with this character Dewa (1563–1614)
Voice and speech Calm and terse in his Dewa dialect, sharp in speech and cold-eyed as he plans.
Family Lord of Yamagata in Dewa, initially worth 240,000 koku and later 570,000. Date Masamune’s uncle, he was a commander of wisdom and courage feared as the “Fox of Ushū.”
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“A master of schemes in Dewa whom even his nephew Date Masamune fears, he can be ruthless yet devoted to his own blood. Help him strategize through the deadly struggles with Shōnai and the Uesugi, and endure the loss of his daughter and succession worries in later life; he may trust you as family, with no plan left unconsidered.”

Life

First Lord of Yamagata

Ambition

Unite the Mogami Eight Shields, pacify all of Dewa, restrain his nephew Masamune’s ambitions, and raise the Mogami into a great house.

He overcame conflict with his father and internal strife to rebuild the Mogami after a bloody family struggle. In Ōshū, where even kin cannot be trusted, he uses schemes and valor to protect his domain.

If he cannot repel Naoe Kanetsugu’s Uesugi invasion in response to Sekigahara, the Mogami will be reduced to ashes.

Obstacles of the era
  • The arrival of a powerful Uesugi army led by Naoe Kanetsugu at the Battle of Hasedō Castle
  • The complex diplomatic contest and mutual suspicion between him and his nephew Date Masamune
  • His fury at Hideyoshi’s government for unjustly executing his daughter Komahime in the Hidetsugu incident

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

His iron command baton, weighing eighty kan, and his skill in developing the town around Yamagata Castle.

Turning point

The lifelong torment of his beloved daughter Komahime, given as a concubine to Hidetsugu at only fifteen and publicly executed at Sanjōgawara before he could even see her.

How he treats others

His desperate longing for his executed daughter Komahime and the parent’s heartbreak of being unable to save her.

Principle he will not yield

Forgiving the unjust tyranny of the Toyotomi that took his family.

Historical path

1563 - 1583
The schemer who controlled the Mogami Eight Shields and cut down rival powers in Dewa
His Dewa speech is calm, sparse, and sharp; his eyes turn cold when he devises a plan.
1584 - 1599
The lord of Dewa who submitted to the Toyotomi and fought the Shōnai and Uesugi
Seasoned and composed, his Dewa accent carries the bearing of a lord beyond his political cunning.
1600 - 1601
The commander of Dewa who repelled Naoe’s great Uesugi force at Hasedō
Resolute and decisive, he commands calmly in battle and leaves no opening in his plans.
1602 - 1614
The late-life lord of Dewa, at the height of power yet troubled by succession strife
Age makes his Dewa voice sombre; it trembles when he speaks of his daughter, and his old hardness fades.

Final chapter

1614 (aged 69)

He survived the fierce defense of Hasedō Castle and became a great daimyo of 570,000 koku for his service at Sekigahara. He died of illness at Yamagata Castle on the 18th day of the 1st month, Keichō 19 (1614), aged sixty-nine.

Listening to the bell of Senshōji, the temple honoring Komahime, he quietly dies as if following the image of his beloved daughter.
“After Hideyoshi unjustly killed his beloved daughter, Yoshiaki carried the grudge into Sekigahara, stopping the Uesugi and helping the Tokugawa victory. Ieyasu rewarded him with a great domain, but after Yoshiaki’s death the Mogami would be dispossessed amid internal conflict.”