was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)
"Nagao," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 39
retrieved 2013-5-5.

History

The Nagao clan descend from Taira no Yoshifumi, of the Kammu Heishi (

Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divi ...

), and from the

Emperor Kammu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the scop ...

(735–806), the 50th Emperor of Japan. They are one of the 'Bando Hachi Heishi', the 'eight Taira clans of Kanto region' (the Chiba, Miura, Nagao, Kazusa, Doi, Chichibu, Oba, and Kajiwara clans). The family name of Nagao began when Kagehiro, settled at Nagao no sho estate, in Sagami Province, and took the name of the place. The Nagao were the Kasai (Head retainers) of the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

, and were the

Shugodai were officials during feudal Japan. Shugodai were representatives of provincial shugo when the shugo could not exercise his power, being often away from his province. Unlike shugo, who were appointed from the central power, shugodai were locally ...

(vice-Governors) of Echigo, Kozuke, and Musashi provinces. The Kamakura Ashikaga Nagao branch, was called the Kamakura Nagao because they lived in Kamakura. They were also given the

Ashikaga Ashikaga (足利) may refer to: * Ashikaga clan (足利氏 ''Ashikaga-shi''), a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Minamoto clan; and that formed the basis of the eponymous shogunate ** Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府 ''Ashikaga bakufu''), a ...

Shoguns family 'Historic estate', the Ashikaga estate in Shimotsuke Province, and were lords of Kanno castle. Nagao Masanaga settled in the Koshigeyama area, and was lord of Tatebayashi castle. The Shirai Nagao branch were

(vice-Governors) of Kozuke and Musashi provinces and lords of Aomi, Hachigata and Shirai castles. The Echigo Nagao branch were

of Echigo province. The clan built and controlled

Kasugayama Castle is a Sengoku period ''yamashiro''-style Japanese castle located in the Nakayashiki neighborhood of the city of Jōetsu, Niigata prefecture. It was the primary fortress of the warlord Uesugi Kenshin, and was originally built and ruled by the Nag ...

and the surrounding fief, in what is now

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

. Nagao Kagetora, adopted by

Uesugi Norimasa was a ''daimyō'' of feudal Japan from Yamanouchi branch Uesugi clan and held the post of Kantō Kanrei, the ''shōgun''s deputy in the Kantō region. He was the adoptive father of Uesugi Kenshin, one of the most famous warlords in Japanese his ...

, became lord of Kasugayama castle in 1548, taking the name

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Known a ...

and effectively becoming the head of the Uesugi clan.

Nagao family members of note

Nagao Tamekage was a retainer of Japanese feudal lord Uesugi Fusayoshi, and a ''daimyō'' in his own right, during Japan's Sengoku period. He is perhaps best known as the biological father of Nagao Kagetora, who would be adopted into the Uesugi clan as Ue ...

(d. 1536), was the father of Nagao Kagetora (Uesugi Kenshin) and Aya-Gozen. *

Nagao Harukage was Uesugi Kenshin's older brother, and successor to his father Nagao Tamekage was a retainer of Japanese feudal lord Uesugi Fusayoshi, and a ''daimyō'' in his own right, during Japan's Sengoku period. He is perhaps best known as the ...

(1509-1553),

's older brother, and successor to his father

in 1536. *

(1530-1578), originally Nagao Kagetora, is one of the most famous warlords in Japanese history. * Aya-Gozen (1524–1609), half-sister of Uesugi Kenshin and mother of

Uesugi Kagekatsu was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' during the Sengoku and Edo periods. He was the adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin and Uesugi Kagetora’s brother in law. Early life and rise Kagekatsu was the son of Nagao Masakage, the head of the Ueda Nagao ...

. *

Nagao Fujikage Nagao Fujikage (長尾藤景) (d. 1568) was a samurai of the Nagao clan who served under Uesugi Kenshin during Japan's Sengoku period. He was counted among Kenshin's Twenty-Eight Generals. He fought on the left flank at the fourth Battle of Kawan ...

(dates unknown) fought under Kenshin at the fourth

battle of Kawanakajima The were a series of battles fought in the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province from 1553 to 1564. Shingen and Kenshin contested each other for control of the plain of Kawanaka ...

in 1561. *

Lady Shirai Lady Shirai (白井局 ''Shirai no Tsubone'', d. 1565) was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the Sengoku period. She was born to the Nagao clan in Shirai, who were head retainers to the Uesugi clan in Kantō. She was the wife of Narita Na ...

(d. 1565) was a retainer of

Ashikaga Yoshiteru , also known as Yoshifushi or Yoshifuji, was the 13th '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1546 to 1565 during the late Muromachi period of Japan. He was the eldest son of the 12th ''shōgun'', Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and his mot ...

History

Nagao family members of note

References

Further reading