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Ukita Hideie: 50 Years on Hachijojima After Sekigahara
Ukita Hideie (1572-1655), Toyotomi-era Council of Five Elders member and lord of 570,000-koku Okayama, fought as a key Western Army commander at Sekigahara (1600). Spared death thanks to his wife Gohime's family (the Maeda), he was exiled to Hachijojima at 35 in 1606, where he lived for 50 years until age 84.
Ukita Hideie (1572-1655), Toyotomi-era Council of Five Elders member and lord of 570,000-koku Okayama, was the favorite adopted son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His wife was Gohime, daughter of Maeda Toshiie and adopted daughter of Hideyoshi. At the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, Hideie commanded 17,000 troops as a key Western Army leader and was defeated. He hid with Shimazu Yoshihiro for three years before being handed over to Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603. Spared death thanks to pleas from Shimazu and the Maeda family, he was exiled to Hachijojima in 1606 at age 35, becoming effectively the first political prisoner sent there — establishing the precedent for Tokugawa exile policy. He lived 50 years on the island, supported secretly by Maeda family aid, and died at age 84 in 1655. His descendants remained on Hachijojima for twelve generations until the Meiji-era pardon.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Portrait of Ukita Hideie — from Okayama lord to Hachijojima exile
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Hachijojima — Hideie's 50-year exile, origin of Edo-era political exile
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Okayama Castle — Hideie's former domain seat
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Battle of Sekigahara — Hideie led key Western Army forces
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Gohime — Hideie's wife who supported him from Kaga for 50 years
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
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