Uesugi Kagetora (上杉 景虎, 1552 – April 19, 1579) was the seventh son of Hōjō Ujiyasu; he was adopted by Uesugi Kenshin, and was meant to be Kenshin's heir. However, in 1578, he was attacked in his castle at Ōtate by Uesugi Kagekatsu--Kagetora's respective brother-in-law—and was subsequently defeated. Kagetora committed suicide the following year.
Contents |
(上杉景虎) 1552? 1554? - Apr. 19, 1579
Also known as: possibly Hōjō Ujihide (北条氏秀), Hōjō Saburō (北条三郎), Saburō Kagetora (三郎景虎)
Historically: Uesugi Kagetora was the seventh son (sixth to survive to adulthood) of Hōjō Ujiyasu, younger brother of Hōjō Ujimasa, Hōjō Ujiteru, Hōjō Ujikuni, Hōjō Ujinori, Hōjō Ujitada, and older brother of Hōjō Ujimitsu. His mother was the sister-in-law of Tooyama Yasumitsu, a vassal of the Hōjō clan (other sources say Zuikeiin, Ujiyasu's principle wife). It's likely that he and Hōjō Ujihide were two different people and that Ujihide was the son of Hōjō Tsunashige and living in Edo while Saburō was living in Echigo, so most historians refer to him as Hōjō Saburō when describing his early life.
As a child, he was sent into the priesthood at Sōun Temple in Hakone, then sent as hostage to Takeda Shingen of the Takeda clan in the three-way alliance between Hōjō, Takeda, and Imagawa formed in 1554 (though this last point is now in dispute, as it is told only in the Records of Ancient Battles of the Eight Kanto Provinces and recorded in none of the Takeda clan records.)
He was adopted by his uncle Hōjō Gen'an in 1569 and married his daughter.
When the Hōjō and Uesugi clans formed an alliance in 1569, Saburō was sent to Uesugi Kenshin in an exchange of hostages with Kakizaki Haruie. (At first, the hostage was set to be Hōjō Ujimasa's third son Kunimasumaru, but Ujimasa could not bring himself to send off his son, who was then still a baby.) Saburō was sent to the Uesugi clan in early 1570. Kenshin, who never married, developed a liking for the handsome and intelligent Saburō. He married his niece Seienin, the daughter of Nagao Masakage and older sister of Nagao Akikage (Uesugi Kagekatsu) to Saburō, gave him the name Kagetora (a name that had once belonged to Kenshin himself), and adopted him into the Uesugi clan.
When Kenshin died suddenly in 1578 without naming an heir, Kagetora and Kagekatsu, similarly adopted by Kenshin, fought for succession to the position of clan head (Ōtate no Ran). Though Kagetora held the early advantage with the backing of Uesugi vassals such as Uesugi Kagenobu, Hōjō Hidetsuna, Kitajō Takahiro, and the Hōjō clan, the tide of the battle turned with Takeda Katsuyori's betrayal to Kagekatsu's side.
When the Otate fell in 1579, Kagetora attempted to escape to Odawara Castle (Hōjō clan stronghold, Kagetora's birth land) but was betrayed at Samegao Castle by Horie Munechika and committed suicide. Kagetora's wife committed suicide along with him (though there are also accounts that she remained behind at the Otate and committed suicide there when her brother Kagekatsu refused Kagetora's surrender.) Kagetora's oldest son, Doumanmaru died at the hands of Kagekatsu's troops along with Uesugi Norimasa, and the rest of Kagetora's children were believed to have died along with their parents during Otate power struggle.
There are accounts said that Kagetora was better to replace Kenshin as heir as Kagetora once aided Kenshin in a battle using his intelligence and earned him named Kenshin's name which is Kagetora while Kagekatsu only popular at gaining support in Uesugi clan.
A modern-day reincarnation of Kagetora also appears in the light novel and anime series, Mirage of Blaze. He is one of the two primary characters—members of the Uesugi Netherworld Force—responsible for exorcising undead soldiers from the Japanese Feudal Era, which are taking part in a modern-day war, led by reincarnations of various feudal era warlords, including the recently-released spirit of Takeda Shingen.
He was born to Hōjō Ujiyasu and Zuikeiin as their eighth (seventh to survive to adulthood) and youngest son. In the novel, Saburō was described as greatly resembling Zuikeiin, playful and notably loving animals. As a child, Saburou was sent as a hostage to Takeda Shingen at the formation of the alliance between the three clans of Hōjō, Takeda, and Imagawa. Then, when that alliance was broken, he returned to become the adopted child of his great uncle, Hōjō Genan. According to the plot in the novel, most of his biological brothers—especially Hōjō Ujimasa as he mentioned—never felt Saburō like he was their kin, as Saburō had spent so much of his childhood with Takeda.
In the novel, Saburō Kagetora was said to have gone through many struggles during his former life; besides having to become a young hostage for the sake of an alliance, he was gang-raped by his retainers Matsuda Takahide and Matsuda Katsuhide before Saburou was sent to Kenshin in Echigo. This tragedy was not known to anyone besides the culprits and Kagetora painfully buried the fact, which resulted in inability to trust people, a short temper, and self seclusion. However, the possessed (kanshō) Matsuda Takahide retold his deed to Hōjō Ujimasa in pride, because Takahide wanted revenge, using Kagetora because he was still a virgin at 14 years old. (Timeframe: three years before Takaya Ougi met his brothers again.)
In the twelfth year of the Eiroku era (1569), an alliance was formed between the Hōjō and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo; in the following year he became a hostage again, this time to Kenshin. Hōjō Ujimasa, however, broke the alliance without informing Saburō personally, which resulted in Kenshin's wrath. After Kenshin's death, Uesugi Kagekatsu and Kagetora fought for power-succession (Battle of Otate) while Naoe Nobutsuna, according to Kousaka Danjou, was a leader to Kagekatsu's faction which resulted Kagetora's death.
After his death in the Otate no Ran, he was charged by Uesugi Kenshin to become kanshousha in order to ensure that the peace of Japan is not disrupted by the onshou, him being the leader of the Yasha-shuu and the commander of the Meikai Uesugi Army. Kagetora was forced to live for the war that lasted 400 years, with his comrades Naoe Nobutsuna, Yasuda Nagahide, Kakizaki Haruie, and Irobe Katsunaga beside him. Thirty years prior to the start of the story, in Kagetora's last body, he engaged an intense war with Oda Nobunaga, that might have resulted in Kagetora's soul being purified and unable to possess. During the time, Naoe raped Kagetora's beloved person Minako because Naoe was painfully unable to accept that Kagetora was 'stolen' from him, as he secretly harbored romantic feelings for Kagetora for the past 400 years. Kagetora learned of it after Haruie told him that Minako's was physically different than the last time he saw her.
Kagetora was unable to forgive Naoe, who forces Kagetora to possess Minako's body, which made Minako's soul disappear. To Naoe, he did not have any choice since Kagetora's soul was stripped of his body while Kagetora tried to save Naoe and Minako from Nobunaga, and Kagetora is the one person Naoe will not lose, if possible.
In that battle, all of the Yasha-shuu died except Irobe, who continue to search for all of their souls, but he was unable to trace Kagetora's and deducted that Kagetora's soul had been purified.
Naoe, now in the body of Tachibana Yoshiaki, was unable to accept this fact, resulting in numerous suicide attempts. Countless times, he been haunted by Kagetora's last words: "You alone I will never forgive for eternity." His suicide attempts were either stopped by Yoshiaki or his current body's father, who said repeatedly, "There must be meaning in your existence." Neither Naoe nor Yoshiaki believed in existence without Kagetora, but he stopped after his parents sent him to receive Buddhist teaching at a temple. He continuously believed that Kagetora still alive and waited for him.
However, Naoe met Kagetora again, possessing the body of Takaya Ougi, a high school student at Jōhōku High, during the time Naoe was trying to stop the resurrection of Takeda Shingen. However, Takaya Ougi does not remembered his previous incarnations, nor his true identity (as kanshousha retain their memories for each incarnation). Naoe is relieved by Takaya's amnesiac state, wishing to start a new relationship with his lord, but as time passes, Takaya begins to slowly regain his memories.