Oda Josho (織田常松)

Josho ODA (year of birth and death unknown) was a busho (Japanese military commander) who lived during the Muromachi period. He served as Owari no kuni Shugodai (deputy military governor of Owari Province). His father was reportedly Masahiro FUJIWARA. His official rank was Ise no kuni no kami (director of Ise Province). His imina (real name) may be Nobuhiro. Josho was his kaimyo (posthumous Buddhist name) and his official name was Ise no kami Nyudo Josho. He was referred to as Shuho. According to 'Bukoyawa', the main family record of "Maeno Family's notes," he and Satohiro ODA were the same person.

Serving Yoshimasa SHIBA, Owari no kuni Shugo (provincial military governor of Owari Province), Josho was appointed as Owari no kuni Shugodai by Yoshimasa to take the place of Masanori KAI in 1400. Josho was Shugodai when the Shiba clan stayed in Kyoto and Jochiku ODA, possibly Josho's brother, ruled Owari Province as an acting deputy military governor.

When the Oei War broke out in 1399, Josho reportedly sided with his lord Yoshimasa SHIBA, Owari no kuni Shugo (the phrase '昔爾祖合戦泉堺、蓋代之功、殆百年耳' was added to Josho's portrait).

There is a phrase '織田伊勢入道所労以外聞' (=It is rumored that Oda Ise Nyudo is sick) in one document, which phrase indicates that he was taken with illness around 1428. When Mansai, chief priest of Daigo-ji Temple, dispatched his envoy to the sick Josho, a person called Danjo-no-jo ODA reportedly received him. The record of 1431 in "Kenna ki" (a diary describing about social conditions in the middle of the Muromachi period) includes the phrase '織田故伊勢入道尾張国守護代' (the late Ise nyudo, Owari no kuni Shugodai). The late Ise Nyudo can be identified as Josho, who is believed to have died between the Shocho era (1428) and the Eikyo era (1429-1440).

Later, Toshisada ODA, of the Kyosu Oda family (the Oda Yamato no Kami family) asked Genchu Osho priest to paint Josho's portrait called 織田勢州太守常松居士号秀峯肖像, but it is not extant.

[Original Japanese]