was a Japanese noblewoman from the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. She was the half-sister of Japanese warlord

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (magnate). 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 ...

. She was also the 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 Naga ...

and the first wife of

Nagao Masakage was the head of the Ueda Nagao clan following the Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku i ...

. Aya is best known for her role in events before and after the

siege of Otate The 1578 took place following the sudden death of Uesugi Kenshin. Kenshin had requested that the inheritance be split between his nephew, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and his adopted son Uesugi Kagetora. This conflict happened because of neither heirs bein ...

; she lamented the Uesugi civil war for succession after Kenshin's death and refused to support either heir.

Life

Aya was the second daughter of

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 ...

. Her mother is believed to have later born

. The term ''-gozen'' is an honorific suffix; her given name was . She had two sons and two daughters by

: their oldest son in childhood, so their second son, Kagekatsu, was adopted into the

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

, as reportedly were their daughters. Aya-Gozen moved to

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 ...

in 1564. According to legend, she was a highly intelligent woman and skilled in recognizing talent, being responsible for employing various samurai to work for Kenshin. She recommended

Naoe Kanetsugu was a Japanese samurai of the 16th–17th centuries. The eldest son of Higuchi Kanetoyo, Kanetsugu was famed for his service to two generations of the Uesugi ''daimyōs''. He was also known by his court title, Yamashiro no Kami (山城守) or ...

to serve her son, Kagekatsu. It was rumored that Kanetsugu tried his best to care for her in gratitude. After Kenshin's death, a dispute arose between Kagekatsu and Kagetora; Aya-Gozen tried to protect Kagetora's heir after the death of her eldest daughter Seienin (Kagetora's wife). Although she was with Kagetora, she returned to Kikuhime (Takeda Shigen's daughter and Uesugi Kagekatsu's wife) and Osen no Kata's (Naoe Kanetsugu's wife) care. After the conflict, she returned to Kasugayama Castle. Later, Sentōin received protection from Kagekatsu and accompanied him during transfers to Aizu in 1598 and to Yonezawa in 1601. In 1609, she died at Yonezawa Castle, and was enshrined at Risen-ji. Owing to her efforts toward its construction, she is called a founder of the temple. The actual characters to write her name are confirmed from the death register kept at the temple. Her Buddhist name was . As for why she was named as such, the reasons are still debated even to this day.

References

{{Authority control 1524 births 1609 deaths 16th-century Japanese women 17th-century Japanese women Women of the Sengoku period Uesugi clan Japanese Buddhist clergy 16th-century Japanese nobility 17th-century Japanese people