was a ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of feudal

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

from Yamanouchi branch

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 ...

and held the post of Kantō

Kanrei or, more rarely, ''kanryō'', was a high political post in feudal Japan; it is usually translated as ''shōguns deputy''. After 1349, there were actually two ''Kanrei'', the ''Kyoto Kanrei'' and the ''Kantō Kanrei''. But originally from 1219 unt ...

, the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

''s deputy in the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

. He was the adoptive father of

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 ...

, one of the most famous warlords in Japanese history.

Biography

Norimasa is son of Uesugi Norifusa, he was only three when his father died. His adopted brother, Uesugi Norihiro, succeeded his father as head of the clan. When his brother was banished in 1531, Norimasa inherited the title of Kantō

. In 1545, at the

battle of Kawagoe The 1545–1546 was part of a failed attempt by the Uesugi clan to regain Kawagoe Castle from the Later Hōjō clan in the Sengoku period of Japan. Uesugi Tomosada of the Ogigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan attacking Kawagoe castle, he wa ...

, Ōgigayatsu and Yamanouchi major branches of the Uesugi family were defeated by

Hōjō Ujiyasu was a ''daimyō'' (warlord) and third head of the Odawara Hōjō clan. Known as the "Lion of Sagami", he was revered as a fearsome samurai and a cunning man. He is famous for his strategies of breaking the siege from Takeda Shingen and Uesugi ...

of the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

. In 1547, he was defeated again in the

Battle of Odaihara The 1547 Battle of Odaihara was one of a series of battles waged by Takeda Shingen in his long campaign to conquer Shinano province. In this particular encounter he was fighting the forces of Uesugi Norimasa, who was based in Echigo province but ...

, this time by

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

. Norimasa's campaigns only continued to be less and less successful. In 1551, he was defeated once again at Siege of Hirai castle by

, and fled to

Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

, where he sought asylum with his vassal Nagao Kagetora. In 1552, Kagetora agreed to grant his lord shelter and protection, but only under certain conditions. Norimasa was forced to name Kagetora his heir, and to grant him the titles of Lord of Echigo and Kantō Kanrei. In 1559, Norimasa was pushed

to take control of the Kantō back from the Hōjō, and in 1560 Kenshin was able to comply. Heading a campaign against

from fall 1560 to the summer of 1561, Kenshin was successful in taking a number of castles from the Hojo clan, like Numata Castle and Umayabashi Castle, which ended with the first siege of

Odawara Castle is a reconstructed Japanese castle in the city of Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The current donjon (keep) was constructed out of reinforced concrete in 1960 on a stone foundation of the former donjon, torn down from 1870–1872 ...

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

. In 1561, Uesugi Norimasa, passed on the Uesugi clan to Nagao Kagetora, who was gaining power as the Governor of Echigo and succeeding as head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family and assuming the position of Kanto Kanrei. Kagetora then changed his name to ''Uesugi Terutora'', to reflect his inheritance of Norimasa's lineage; he took the given name Terutora for a short time before choosing to be called

.Stephen Turnbull and Wayne Reynolds, ''Kawanakajima 1553–64: Samurai Power Struggle'', (Osprey, 2003), 17. In 1579, Norimasa died at the hands 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 ...

's troops along with Uesugi Kagetora's oldest son, ''Doumanmaru'', during the Otate power struggle.

References

Biography

References

Further reading