was a Japanese noble woman from the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. She was the half-sister of Japanese warlord

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. 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. Known as ...

. She was also the mother 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 Nagao c ...

and the first wife of

Nagao Masakage was the head of the Ueda Nagao clan following the Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War i ...

. Aya is best known for her role in events before and after the

siege of Otate The 1578 took place following the sudden death of Uesugi Kenshin. Kenshin had requested that the inheritance be split between his nephew, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and his adopted son Uesugi Kagetora. This conflict happened because of neither heirs bei ...

; she lamented the Uesugi civil war for succession after Kenshin's death and refused to support either heir.

Life

Aya was the second daughter of

Nagao Tamekage was a retainer of Japanese feudal lord Uesugi Fusayoshi, and a ''daimyō'' in his own right, during Japan's Sengoku period. He is perhaps best known as the biological father of Nagao Kagetora, who would be adopted into the Uesugi clan as Ue ...

. Her mother is believed to have later born

. The term ''-gozen'' is an

honorific suffix A name suffix, in the Western English-language naming tradition, follows a person's full name and provides additional information about the person. Post-nominal letters indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditat ...

; her given name was . She had two sons and two daughters by

: their oldest son in childhood, so their second son, Kagekatsu, was adopted into the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

, as reportedly were their daughters. Aya-Gozen moved to

Kasugayama Castle is a Sengoku period ''yamashiro''-style Japanese castle located in the Nakayashiki neighborhood of the city of Jōetsu, Niigata prefecture. It was the primary fortress of the warlord Uesugi Kenshin, and was originally built and ruled by the Nag ...

in 1564. According to legend, she was a highly intelligent woman and skilled in recognizing talent, being responsible for employing various samurai to work for Kenshin. She recommended

Naoe Kanetsugu was a Japanese samurai of the 16th–17th centuries. The eldest son of Higuchi Kanetoyo, Kanetsugu was famed for his service to two generations of the Uesugi ''daimyōs''. He was also known by his court title, Yamashiro no Kami (山城守) or ...

to serve her son, Kagekatsu. It was rumored that Kanetsugu tried his best to care for her in gratitude. After Kenshin's death, a dispute arose between Kagekatsu and Kagetora; Aya-Gozen tried to protect Kagetora's heir after the death of her eldest daughter (Kagetora's wife). Although she was with Kagetora, she returned to Kikuhime (Takeda Shigen's daughter and Uesugi Kagekatsu's wife) and Osen no Kata's (Naoe Kanetsugu's wife) care. She died at

Yonezawa Castle is a flatland-style Japanese castle located in the center of the city of Yonezawa, southern Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Throughout the Edo period, Yonezawa Castle was home to the Uesugi clan, ''daimyō'' of Yonezawa Domain. History The first ...

, and was enshrined at Risen-ji. Her Buddhist name was . As for why she was named as such, the reasons are still debated even to this day.

References

{{Authority control 1524 births 1609 deaths 16th-century Japanese women 17th-century Japanese women People of Sengoku-period Japan Uesugi clan Japanese Buddhist clergy 16th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese people