53 Facts About Uesugi Kenshin

Nagao Kagetora, later known as Uesugi Kenshin was a Japanese daimyo.

Uesugi Kenshin was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan.

Uesugi Kenshin was one of the most powerful daimyo of the Sengoku period.

Uesugi Kenshin is famed for his honourable conduct, his military expertise, a long-standing rivalry with Takeda Shingen, his numerous defensive campaigns to restore order in the Kanto region as the Kanto Kanrei, and his belief in the Buddhist god of war Bishamonten.

Uesugi Kenshin changed his name to Uesugi Masatora when he inherited the Uesugi clan name in order to accept the official title of Kanto Kanrei.

Uesugi Kenshin was born in the Tiger year and always kept the word "tora" in his names.

Uesugi Kenshin is respected as "The Tiger of Echigo" for his intelligent capabilities and excellent contributions.

Uesugi Kenshin is referred to as "The Dragon of Echigo" because of his Kakarimidareryuu ensign displayed on the battlefield.

Uesugi Kenshin was removed from the conflict and relocated to Rinsen-ji temple, where he spent his life from 7 to 14 dedicated to study, martial arts and Zen.

At the age of 14, Uesugi Kenshin was suddenly contacted by Usami Sadamitsu and a number of other acquaintances of his late father.

At the age of 15 he was placed in joint command of Tochio Castle, making a reputation for himself by successfully defending it against the rebels who were plotting against the Uesugi, and Kenshin succeeded in wresting control of the Nagao clan from Nagao Harukage in 1548.

Uesugi Kenshin agreed to give the warlord shelter, under specific terms, but was not in a position at the time to move against the Hojo.

In 1552, the Uesugi Kenshin started to wage war against the Hojo clan.

Uesugi Kenshin immediately set out to cement his power in the region, but these efforts were still in their infant stages when far more pressing concerns appeared.

Ogasawara Nagatoki and Murakami Yoshikiyo, two Shinano lords, both appeared before Uesugi Kenshin requesting his help in halting the advances of the powerful warlord Takeda Shingen.

Around the time Uesugi Kenshin became the new lord of Echigo, Shingen had won major victories in Shinano Province.

Uesugi Kenshin established feudal ties with the warrior population by land grants.

In 1561, Uesugi Kenshin and Shingen fought the biggest battle they would fight, the fourth battle of Kawanakajima.

Uesugi Kenshin used an ingenious tactic: a special formation where the soldiers in the front would switch with their comrades in the rear, as those in the frontline became tired or wounded.

In Koyo Gunkan there is one of the most famous instances of single combat in samurai history; during this battle, Uesugi Kenshin managed to ride up to Shingen and slashed at him with his sword.

Uesugi Kenshin failed to finish Shingen off before a Takeda retainer drove him away.

In 1571, Uesugi Kenshin attacked Shingen's satellite Ishikura Castle in Kozuke province, and they again faced each other at the Battle of Tonegawa, to disengage.

When Uesugi Kenshin heard of Shingen's problem, he sent salt to Shingen from his own province.

Uesugi Kenshin commented that the Hojo had "performed a very mean act".

Uesugi Kenshin added, "I do not fight with salt, but with the sword".

Uesugi Kenshin managed to break the defenses and burn the town, but the castle itself remained unconquered due to threats from Shingen, and thus seized Kamakura.

Later in 1574, Uesugi Kenshin ordered the Satake clan to attack Yura clan Kanayama Castle, and participated in the siege himself, but Kanayama castle withstood the attack.

The other main area which interested Uesugi Kenshin was Etchu Province in the west, and Kenshin would spend nearly half his life involved in the politics of that province.

Uesugi Kenshin first entered the dispute as a mediator in the early 1550s between rivals Shiina Yasutane and Jinbo Nagamoto, but he later sided with the Shiina and took over the Jinbo clan.

Decades later, Uesugi Kenshin turned against the Shiina clan, taking their main castle in 1575 and having Shiina Yasutane assassinated in 1576 by Kojima Motoshige.

Uesugi Kenshin besieged Karasawa Castle against Sano Masatsune and made strong inroads into the region, forcing many of the smaller warlords to submit to him.

At this point, by 1564 Uesugi Kenshin controlled both Etchu Province and Kozuke Province.

So, when the death of Hatakeyama Yoshitaka, a lord in Noto Province, sparked up confusion and conflict, Uesugi Kenshin was quick to use the opportunity, taking land from the weakened clan and successfully besieged Nanao Castle, which put him in a position to threaten Nobunaga and his allies.

Uesugi Kenshin based his 30,000 strong army at the castle of Matsuto, while Oda Nobunaga's forces arrived with 50,000 troops led by many famous generals.

At first, Uesugi Kenshin anticipated that Nobunaga would try to move by night over the river for dawn attack and thus refused to engage the Nobunaga army.

However, Uesugi Kenshin, who described the opponent's performance as "surprisingly weak", had a false impression to have defeated Nobunaga, as the Oda army was actually led by Shibata Katsuie.

The cause of Uesugi Kenshin's death has been questioned throughout the years.

Some suppose that Kagekatsu was intended to be gradually set up as his heir, while others that Uesugi Kenshin decided to divide the estates between the two.

However, in the aftermath of the costly internal struggle, the Oda clan exploited rebellions against Kagekatsu to advance right up to the border of Echigo, having captured Noto and Kaga while the Uesugi Kenshin brothers were busy with the infighting.

The discovery of this letter led the novelist to theorize that "in the West, Uesugi Kenshin is a woman".

The cause of Uesugi Kenshin's death is recorded in Matsudaira Tadaaki's history "Todaiki" as a form of uterine cancer.

Uesugi Kenshin's appearance was reportedly feminine; portraits of Uesugi Kenshin made in the Edo period tried to reinforce a masculine appearance, while those of the Sengoku period display a more female appearance, with fair skin and long hair.

Uesugi Kenshin was the only one allowed to freely enter the women's quarters in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, which was a rare occurrence.

In popular culture, the question regarding Uesugi Kenshin's gender has often been answered by portraying Uesugi Kenshin as female or as undefined gender.

Uesugi Kenshin is the main protagonist of Chogoro Kaionji's epic historical novel Ten to Chi to and NHK taiga drama adaptation Ten to Chi to where was played by Koji Ishizaka.

Kaionji's novel was adapted by TV Asahi for their 50th anniversary as 2008 TV drama special where Uesugi Kenshin was played by Masahiro Matsuoka.

Gackt recalls that Uesugi Kenshin was always portrayed as a very tough man, but wanted to play him with the female myth in the mind, which presented him clean-shaven and with long hair, although received some harsh criticism, co-actor Ken Ogata expressed his approval of Gackt's work and audience demanded the increase of his role in the series.

The 2009 NHK Taiga drama Tenchijin partly re-tells the story of Uesugi Kenshin, played by Hiroshi Abe, although its main focus is on Naoe Kanetsugu, the page and later advisor to Uesugi Kenshin's adopted son and heir Kagekatsu.

Uesugi Kenshin was again voiced by Gackt in the anime of the gag manga, Tono to Issho.

Uesugi Kenshin appears in a gender bender parallel universe anime series Battle Girls: Time Paradox.

Uesugi Kenshin has been featured in many video games, such as the Koei's Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi and Capcom's Sengoku Basara series.

Uesugi Kenshin is a playable character in Pokemon Conquest, where he is the warlord of Illusio with his partner Pokemon being Gallade and Mewtwo.

Similarly appearing as a female character, Uesugi Kenshin is found in the Rance series most notably in Sengoku Rance.