Uesugi Kagetora (1552 – April 19, 1579) was the seventh son of Hojo Ujiyasu and was originally known as Hojo Saburo. He was adopted by Uesugi Kenshin and intended to be Kenshin's heir. However, in 1578, he was attacked in his Otate Castle by Uesugi Kagekatsu, his brother-in-law, and was ultimately defeated. Kagetora committed suicide the following year at Samegao Castle.
Born in either 1552 or 1554, Kagetora was also known as Hojo Ujihide, Hojo Saburo, and Saburo Kagetora during his lifetime. He was the seventh son (the sixth to survive to adulthood) of Hojo Ujiyasu, and the brother of Hojo Ujimasa, Hojo Ujiteru, Hojo Ujikuni, Hojo Ujinori, Hojo Ujitada, and Hojo Ujimitsu. His mother was either the sister-in-law of Toyama Yasumitsu, a vassal of the Hojo clan, or Suikeiin, Ujiyasu's principal wife. Historians generally agree that Hojo Saburo and Hojo Ujihide were two different individuals, with Ujihide being the son of Hojo Tsunashige and residing in Edo, while Saburo lived in Echigo.
As a child, Kagetora was sent to the priesthood at Soun-ji in Hakone and later held hostage by Takeda Shingen of the Takeda clan as part of a three-way alliance between the Hojo, Takeda, and Imagawa clans formed in 1554. In 1569, he was adopted by his uncle Hojo Genan and married Genan's daughter.
In 1569, as part of an alliance between the Hojo and Uesugi clans, Saburo was sent to Uesugi Kenshin as a hostage. Initially, Hojo Ujimasa's third son Kunimasumaru was to be the hostage, but Ujimasa, unable to part with his baby son, sent Saburo instead. Kenshin, who never married, took a liking to the handsome and intelligent Saburo. Kenshin married his niece Seienin to Saburo, gave him the name Kagetora, and adopted him into the Uesugi clan.
When Kenshin died suddenly in 1578 without naming an heir, Kagetora and Kagekatsu, who had also been adopted by Kenshin, fought for succession in what became known as the Otate no Ran. Initially, Kagetora had the upper hand with support from Uesugi vassals and the Hojo clan, but the tide turned when Takeda Katsuyori betrayed him and sided with Kagekatsu.
After Otate Castle fell in 1579, Kagetora attempted to flee to Odawara Castle, the Hojo stronghold, but was betrayed at Samegao Castle by Horie Munechika and committed suicide. Seienin, his wife, also committed suicide, although some accounts suggest she did so at Otate when her brother Kagekatsu refused Kagetora's surrender. Kagetora's eldest son, Doumanmaru, was killed by Kagekatsu's troops along with Uesugi Norimasa, and the rest of Kagetora's children are believed to have died during the power struggle.
Kagetora was considered by some to be a better heir for Kenshin due to his intelligence and assistance in battles, while Kagekatsu was known for gaining support within the Uesugi clan.
A modern-day reincarnation of Kagetora appears in the light novel and anime series "Mirage of Blaze." In this series, he is one of the two primary characters, members of the Uesugi Netherworld Force, responsible for exorcising undead soldiers from the Japanese Feudal Era who are participating in a modern-day war led by reincarnations of various feudal era warlords, including the spirit of Takeda Shingen.
See also
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Torii Mototada
Torii Mototada (1539 – September 8, 1600) was a Japanese samurai and daimyo who lived through the Sengoku and late Azuchi–Momoyama periods. A loyal retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu, he is best remembered for his heroic last stand at the Siege of Fushimi, an event that played a crucial role in shaping Japanese history.
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Toyotomi Hideyori
Toyotomi Hideyori (August 28, 1593 – June 4, 1615) was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first unified Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was Oda Nobunaga's niece.
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Okubo Tadanori
Okubo Tadanori (January 13, 1842 – August 10, 1897) was the 9th daimyo of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture) during the late Edo period. Before the Meiji Restoration, he held the courtesy title of Kaga no Kami.
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Okubo Tadayo
Okubo Tadayo (1532 – October 28, 1594) was a samurai general who served Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and later became the daimyo of Odawara Domain in the early Edo period.
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Araki Murashige
Araki Murashige (1535 – June 20, 1586) was a samurai and retainer of Ikeda Katsumasa, the head of the powerful Settsu-Ikeda clan in Settsu Province. Initially serving under Katsumasa, he aligned himself with Oda Nobunaga after Nobunaga’s successful campaign to establish control over Kyoto.
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Yuki Hideyasu
Yuki Hideyasu (March 1, 1574 – June 2, 1607) was a Japanese samurai who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods, serving as the daimyō of Fukui Domain in Echizen Province. Born Tokugawa Ogimaru, he was the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Lady Oman (also known as Lady Kogō), a handmaiden to Ieyasu’s wife, Lady Tsukiyama. Due to Ieyasu’s fears of his wife’s reaction to Oman’s pregnancy, Ogimaru and his twin brother were born in secrecy at the home of Honda Shigetsugu, one of Ieyasu’s retainers. Oman’s other son eventually became a priest, while Ogimaru was raised apart from Ieyasu, whom he only met at the age of three, in a meeting arranged by his older half-brother, Matsudaira Nobuyasu.
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Tsutsui Sadatsugu
Tsutsui Sadatsugu (June 6, 1562 – April 2, 1615) was a prominent figure in the Sengoku and early Edo periods, known as the cousin and adopted heir of Tsutsui Junkei, the feudal lord of Yamato Province. Following Junkei's death in 1584, Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated Sadatsugu to Iga Province, where he oversaw the construction of Iga Ueno Castle, marking the height of his prominence.
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Matsudaira Kiyoyasu
Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (September 28, 1511 – November 29, 1535) served as the 7th lord of the Matsudaira clan during Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period. Renowned as the paternal grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Japan's "great unifiers," Kiyoyasu expanded his clan’s influence, bringing all of northern Mikawa Province under his control after subduing the Saigo clan. His power was further symbolized by the construction of Okazaki Castle, a testament to the Matsudaira’s growing dominance.
