[a] However, when feudal lords took the sons of defeated warlords hostage, it meant that they made them candidates for future executives in their own clans at the time.

[1][8] He and Fuyuhime seemed to have been a good marriage, but they had only three children, a small number for a Sengoku daimyo at the time, partly because Ujisato later became a Christian and had no concubines.

[e][1] He took part with his father in the Oda army's attack on the Battle of Anegawa, leading 1,000 of the 5,000 troops under Shibata Katsuie's command as vanguard.

[1][10] As a result of his exploits in the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583 and Komaki Nagakute in 1584, he was transferred to Matsugashima Castle in Ise Province in 1584 with 120,000 koku.

[3][6] Ujisato had previously been noted for his bravery on the battlefield, but from then on he also demonstrated his talent for managing his domain as a feudal lord.

[6] In 1590, Hideyoshi united the country after the destruction of the Hōjō clan in the Siege of Odawara and the new territorial distribution by Ōshū Shioki.

Although the Tōhoku feudal lords showed some submission to the Toyotomi regime, Hideyoshi gave Aizu to Ujisato as a restraint on them in order to consolidate control over Ōshū, which was still unstable.

[10][11] Aizu was surrounded by major forces such as Date Masamune and Mogami Yoshiaki, who were not to be underestimated, and Ōshū was also an important place to monitor Uesugi Kagekatsu in Echigo and to check Tokugawa Ieyasu in Kanto.

[6][12] Ujisato fell ill at Nagoya in Hizen Province, where he was stationed for the Korean campaign, and returned to Aizu in November 1593.

At that time, he was the third-ranked kokudaka after Tokugawa Ieyasu and Mōri Terumoto, and it is expected that he would have become one of the Council of Five Elders if he had not died prematurely.

However, it is also said that Hideyoshi treated him well in kokudaka but, like Kuroda Kanbei whom he sent to Kyushu, transferred him to Aizu, far from the Kinai, fearing his talent as a military commander and his position as Oda Nobunaga's son-in-law.

[5][7][8][13] He had a diverse ability, well known not only as a military commander of great leadership and valour, but also as a man of culture with a deep knowledge of the tea ceremony and Noh.

[f] Later, through the intercession of Ujisato and Ieyasu, Shōan was pardoned and returned to the forefront of the tea ceremony in Kyoto, where his grandson founded the Sansenke (the three Sen families).

In Matsusaka and Aizu-Wakamatsu, he also similarly developed the castle towns, stimulating them by promoting commerce and fostering local industry.

It is said that at a time when he was still too low in kokudaka value to offer sufficient bounties, he invited his war-winning vassals to his home and treated them like guests of honour, with dinners he had cooked himself and sake.

When Ujisato hired retainers, he always told them, "Our hatamoto always have a warrior wearing a silver catfish-taled helmet at the front, so do your best not to lose to him".

When Ujisato transferred to Aizu, he made Hideyoshi approve of his decision to take in problematic but skilled ronin, such as those who had been issued circulars to avoid being taken in by other daimyo because of their lord's anger.

These misfits recognised Ujisato as their lord and played an active role, but after his death, they left the Gamō clan one after another.