Uesugi Clan (上杉氏)
The Uesugi clan (pronounced either Uesugi-shi or Uesugi-uji in Japanese) was a Japanese clan. Originally aristocrats, they became warriors after moving to Kanto as vassals of Imperial Prince Munetaka when he was chosen to be Shogun. They took their name from Uesugi in Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture. They are well-known for being a warrior family that prospered from the Kamakura and Muromachi Periods to the Edo Period.
Origin and Overview
Belonging to the Kajuji line of the Northern (Hokke) Fujiwara, they were a middle rank aristocratic family until the mid-Kamakura Period, when Shigefusa Kajuji was put in charge of Uesugi no Sho in Ikaruga District of Tanba Province (present-day vicinity of Uesugicho, Ayabe City, Kyoto Prefecture), thereby acquiring the surname of Uesugi. There is a tradition that Takauji ASHIKAGA was born in this region. Originally, they were court nobles who served the Imperial Family, but they moved to Kamakura upon Imperial Prince Munetaka's installation as Shogun during the late Kamakura Period, after which they became warriors. They later expanded their power as relatives of Ashikaga clan.
During the Muromachi Period they passed on the stewardship of the Kamakura Kubo and subsequently the Kanto Kanrei position (a shogunal deputy for the Kanto region) through hereditary succession, and they also prospered as a powerful shugo daimyo family that held the governorship of Sagami, Musashi, Kozuke and Echigo Provinces. However, their power gradually declined due to internal strife over hegemony in Kanto between the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family that was already based in Kanto and had been serving Kamakura-fu, and the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi family that originally lived in Kyoto and served Muromachi-fu.
During the Warring States Period, control of Kanto was gradually taken over by the newly arising force of the Gohojo clan, and the head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family, Norimasa UESUGI, passed on the Uesugi name to Kagetora NAGAO (later Kenshin UESUGI) of the Nagao clan, who was gaining power as the Governor of Echigo. Kagetora took the name of Masatora (Terutora) UESUGI upon succeeding as head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family and assuming the position of Kanto Kanrei. Through this, the Uesugi clan gradually regained power and his adopted son, Kagekatsu UESUGI (of the Nagao clan), served n th Council of Five Elders (Go-Tairo) in the Toyotomi government and received Aizu domain, worth 1.2 million koku. During the Edo Period he ruled Yonezawa domain, worth 300,000 koku (in reality 510,000 koku). Later, they faced a crisis of having no heir, and they were demoted to 150,000 koku (in reality 330,000), but they maintained their position as daimyo until the end of Edo Shogunate.
During the Meiji Period they were included in the new nobility and given the title of earl.
Kamakura Period and Period of the Southern and Northern Courts.
During the time of the first Uesugi, Shigefusa, they moved to Kamakura with Imperial Prince Munetaka, who was installed as Seii Taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") of the Kamakura Shogunate, and they became relatives of the powerful vassal family, the Ashikaga clan, through arranged marriages. During the Period of the Southern and Northern Courts, Shigefusa's grandson, Norifusa UESUGI, whose younger sister, Kiyoko UESUGI, was Takauji and Tadayoshi ASHIKAGA's mother, was assigned as Shugo (governor) of Kozuke Province as a reward for helping Takauji, and he fought against the Southern Court supporters, the Nitta clan, in the Kanto Area.
Furthermore, another grandson of Shigefusa became a monk named Nichijo, who followed the Daimoku doctrine and owned Hongoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, as well as Honjo-ji Temple in Sanjo, Echigo Province (Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture). He edited 'Kamakura Denchu Mondo,' a collection of his accomplished master, Nichiin's debates and was implemental in the prospering of this school.
Later, during the Kanno Disturbance, there were troubles such as confrontations with the Ko clan, but during Norifusa's son, Noriaki UESUGI's time, the family became Shugo of Kozuke, Echigo and Izu Provinces. In 1363, Noriaki UESUGI was assigned as a steward (Kanrei) of Kamakura Kubo Motouji ASHIKAGA, and after he became the first Kanto Kanrei, the family split into four branches: the Inukake, the Yamanouchi, the Takuma and the Ogigayatsu (the name of their place of residence is used at the beginning of the surname). The Takum-Uesugi family declined early, and the Inukake-Uesugi family dropped out from the main lineage after the Uprising of Zenshu UESUGI, therefore, from the mid-15th century the 2 families of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi, descendants of Noriaki, and the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi, descendants of Noriaki's cousin, became dominant, with the Kanto Kanrei position being dominated by the head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family. Kanto Kanrei Norizane UESUGI, who was the head of Yamanouchi-Uesugi family at this time, made his mark on history as the one who restored the Ashikaga School. On the other hand, antagonism between the Uesugi clan and the Ashikaga Kubo family broke into the open and, in 1454, civil war (the Kyotoku Incident) began when Kamakura Kubo Shigeuji ASHIKAGA killed Kanto Kanrei Noritada UESUGI, and Kanto effectively entered the Warring States Period over 10 years prior to the Onin War.
Warring States Period
During the Kyotoku Incident, the Ogigayatsu- and Yamanouchi-Uesugi families formed an alliance and fought against the Koga Kubo (the later form of the Kamakura Kubo) but after making peace, they began to fight among themselves, leading to a decline in their power, and they came under pressure from the emerging Gohojo clan. The Ogigayatsu-Uesugi family, which held power in Musashi Province, was defeated and destroyed by the Gohojo clan at the Kawagoe Night Battle in 1545, and Norimasa UESUGI of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family, who was based in Kozuke Province, began to receive direct attacks from the Gohojo Clan, causing their power to also deteriorate. Norimasa finally gave up Kanto, and he came to rely on the Echigo Nagao clan, which originally was of vassal lineage and also related through marriage. In 1561, Norimasa passed on the name of Yamanouchi-Uesugi and the position of Kanto Kanrei to Kagetora NAGAO (later Kenshin UESUGI) of the Echigo Nagai clan, and Norimasa moved to Kasuga-yama Mountain. Norimori UESUGI of the Fukaya-Uesugi family remained in Musashi Province and continued to fight against the Hojo clan.
From then on, the Nagao clan proclaimed themselves heirs to the Uesugi clan. Kenshin UESUGI based himself in Echigo and expanded his territory into Kanto and the Hokuriku Region, but after his death, a fight to become the head of the family (Otate War) developed between his two adopted sons, Kagekatsu UESUGI and Kagetora UESUGI, and because of this turmoil they lost their territories in the Kanto Region.
Kagekatsu, the son of Kenshin's older sister, who was from the Nagao family (the Echigo Nagao clan), won this war and inherited the name of the Uesugi clan, but later members of the clan (the Nagao Uesugi clan) call Kenshin the first generation and Kagekatsu the second generation.
Azuchi-Momoyama, Edo and Meiji Periods.
Kagekatsu UESUGI served Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI after the death of Nobunaga ODA, becoming one of the Go-tairo. During this time, in 1587 he captured the rebel Shigeie SHIBATA and reunified Echigo and in 1589, restored order in Sado Province on Hideyoshi's orders. He possessed Echigo and Sado Provinces as well as Shonai region in Dewa Province, totaling 910,000 koku, and with many gold mines within their territory, his actual income was said to have been 1.2 million koku.
In 1598, Kagekatsu was transferred to the neighboring Aizu domain, and his territories of Mutsu Province's Aizu, Shirakawa Domain, Tamura District, Adachi District, Fukushima Domain, Date District, Shonai (Tagawa District and Akumi District), Okitama District, Higashikanbara District and Sado, totaled 1.2 million koku but in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he fought against Ieyasu TOKUGAWA and was demoted to 300,000 koku (in reality 510,000 koku) in Yonezawa domain.
In 1664, Kagekatsu's grandson, Tsunakatsu UESUGI, died suddenly and there was a danger of the family dying out, but due to efforts by Tsunakatsu's father-in-law, Masayuki HOSOKAWA, who was a younger brother of Iemitsu TOKUGAWA, Tsunanori UESUGI, the son of his daughter's husband, Yoshihira KIRA (Kozu no suke, descendant of the female side of Ogigayatsu Uesugi family) became an adopted son of Tsunakatsu, and as a result the family was permitted to continue its family name with a half stipend of 150,000 koku (30,000 koku in actuality). In Narinori UESUGI's time they were promoted to 180,000 koku.
The continuous demotions reduced the size of the Uesugi, but they enshrined Kenshin UESUGI's remains, brought in from Mt. Kasugayama Castle in Echigo, within the keep of Yonezawa Castle the remains of Kenshin UESUGI, and they maintained a proud samurai tradition based on Kenshin Worship. Furthermore, financial troubles caused by the demotions troubled them, but during the latter Edo Period, Yozan (Harunori) UESUGI rebuilt their economy through encouraging new industries in the domain.
After the Meiji Restoration, the Yonezawa Domain Uesugi Family was included in the new nobility and given the rank of earl. Furthermore, the branch family of the Yonezawa Domain Uesugi received the title of viscount.
Kuninori UESUGI, who is a professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is the sixteenth head of the Uesugi family of Yonezawa Domain (seventeenth, counting from Kenshin).
Lineages other than the Nagao-Uesugi clan also continued into the Edo Period. Noritoshi UESUGI of the Fukaya family became a hanshi (samurai) of Hirafuku Domain, and it is said that the descendants of the Takuma-Uesugi family and Norikatsu UESUGI of the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi family became hatamoto, vassals to the shogun. Descendants of the male side of Mitsusada UESUGI became fudai daimyo during the Edo Shogunate. Descendants of Nagakazu UESUGI, the second son of Masashige JOJO (Nyuan UESUGI), survived as the hatamoto (koke) Uesugi clan, and their territory included Inba District and Chiba District in Shimousa Province. Descendants of the eldest son, Kagehiro, served the Uesugi family as the Noto Hatakeyama family, and descendants of the third son, Yoshizane, also became the hatamoto (later koke) Hatakeyama clan, and the one who stopped Tsunanori UESUGI's dispatching of troops was Yoshizane's descendant, Yoshiyasu HATAKEYAMA (opinions that suggest the Chizaka and Irobe clans are myths), the descendant of Yoshizane. Furthermore, Norimasa UESUGI's descendants and the vassal families belonging to the Uesugi clan, such as the Chizaka clan and the Sanbonji clan, continued to exist as Yonezawa hanshi.
Major Families
There are many branch families of the Uesugi clan, and the following lineages that branched out during the generations of the sons of Yorishige UESUGI and Norifusa UESUGI are the most well-known. They prospered during the Muromachi Period, but they all declined in the turmoil after the Warring States Period and, as noted above, many of their descendants became hatamoto or hanshi of various domains, the only ones remaining as daimyo during the Edo Period being the Kagatsume clan and the main Yamanouchi-Uesugi clan, who adopted Kenshin UESUGI from the Nagao clan.
Takuma Uesugi Family
Also known as the Takuma-Uesugi Family. Descended from Shigeyoshi UESUGI, an adopted son of Norifusa. Shigeyoshi lost the political battle against KO no Moronao and died, and even though they continued to exist through adoption from the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family, the heir lineage eventually became absorbed by the Yamanouchi family. As for the illegitimate line, there is the family of a son of Norifusa, Shigekane UESUGI, which produced Norinao UESUGI, who served as a vassal of Mochiuji ASHIKAGA. During the Warring States Period, they served Ujitsuna HOJO and, after the decline of the Gohojo clan, they used the name Takuma-Uesugi family and became Ieyasu TOKUGAWA's hatamoto.
Inukake Uesugi Family
Descended from Norifusa's son, Norifuji UESUGI. Also known as the Shijo-Uesugi family. Norifuji became the steward of Yoshiakira ASHIKAGA, the son of Takauji ASHIKAGA, and lived in Inukake, becoming the patriarch of Inukake family. They declined due to the Uprising of Zenshu Uesugi during the generation of Norifuji's grandson, Zenshu UESUGI, and they were distanced from the main group in the government of Kanto, but many of Ujinori's children served the Shogunate and the bloodline continued to exist, and some of them even became Kanto shitsuji (stewards) to the Horigoe Kubo, and continuing to make their mark in the politics of Kanto even after Zenshu's time. However, after the Warring States Period, their status was unclear, and it is considered that they became ruined.
Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family
Descended from Norifusa's son, Noriaki UESUGI. They were also called the Sugitani-Uesugi family before they moved to Kamakura. Refer to Yamanouchi-Uesugi family. Descendants of Kenshin UESUGI (Kagetora NAGAO of the Sanjo Nagao family), who succeeded Norimasa, in particular, are also called the Nagao-Uesugi clan. The Kobanawa-Uesugi family (later the Fukaya-Uesugi family) is a branch family of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family. Furthermore, Yoshihito SATAKE, head of the main family of the Satake clan during the Muromachi Period, was from the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family.
Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family
It began when the descendants of Tomosada UESUGI, a son of Norifusa's older brother, Shigeaki UESUGI, lived in Ogigayatsu in Kamakura. Also known as the Futahashi-Uesugi family or the Hachijo-Uesugi family. Refer to Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family.
Echigo-shugo Uesugi Family
The Echigo-Uesugi family, who were hereditary Shugo of Echigo Province, split into the Inukake-Uesugi family (through adoption, it is the Yamanouchi Uesugi family by bloodline), and within Echigo Province, the Sanbonji-Uesugi family, the Yamaura-Uesugi family and the Jojo-Uesugi family. They became antagonistic to the Deputy Shugo Nagao clan and during Fusatada UESUGI's time, they defeated the Nagao clan, becoming the dominant power in what was their heyday. After Fusatada's death, there was a mutiny when Tamekage NAGAO, who supported Sadazane UESUGI, staged Fusayoshi UESUGI's suicide, then after Tamekage's death, Sadazane UESUGI attempted to regain power with the support of the Date clan, but he was defeated in the Tenbun War and died without an heir, thereby eliminating the family line in 1550.
Chiaki-Uesugi Family (Oyamada-Uesugi Family)
Descended from Norifusa's older brother, Yorinari UESUGI. Even though an illegitimate line within the Uesugi family, descendants included Sadayori UESUGI, who served as acting head of the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi family at one point and, because he was valued by Mochiuji ASHIKAGA, became Shugo of Awa Province. It is also the family of Fujikage UESUGI, who was adopted by the Nagao clan.
Nagao-Uesugi Family (Lords of Yonezawa)
Akikage (Kagekatsu) NAGAOKA from the Ueda Nagao family was adopted by Kenshin UESUGI and changed his name to Kagekatsu UESUGI. After Kenshin's death, was victorious in the Odate War, becoming the leader of the Uesugi clan, served Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI and gained territory worth 1.2 million koku in Aizu (Aizu domain, Mutsu Province). At the Battle of Sekigahara after Hideyoshi's death, they sided with Mitsunari Ishida's Western Army, but after the battle they were pardoned by Ieyasu and continued to exist in the 300,000 koku Yonezawa domain in Dewa Province until the end of the Shogunate.
Vassal Families
Chizaka Clan
Yamaura Clan
Fukaya Clan
Sanbonji Clan
Jojo Clan
Branch clan of Yonezawa domain
16 precepts of the Uesugi Family
Precepts said to have been left by Kenshin UESUGI.
When there are no materialistic things in your heart, your body will be at peace. When there is no selfishness in your heart, you won't forget winsomeness. When there is no greed in your heart, you will oblige. When there is no ego in your heart, you will not doubt. When there is no arrogance in your heart, you will save people. When there is no mistake in your heart, you will not fear people. When there is no evil thought in your heart, you will nurture people. When there is no endless greed in your heart, you will not grovel to people. When there is no anger in your heart, your words will be gentle. When there is endurance in your heart, you will be able to balance things. When there is no cloud in your heart, your heart will be calm. When there is courage in your heart, you will not regret. When there is no avarice in your heart you will not desire. When there is devotion in your heart, you will be very loyal. When there is no arrogance in your heart, you will know the goodness in people. When there is no confusion in your heart, you will not find fault with others.