Ueda was born in Makubetsu, Hokkaido, and graduated from the law department of Chuo University in 1972.

At various times he served as vice-chairman of the Sapporo Bar Association, chaired its committees on children's rights, environmental protection and consumer protection, and served as vice-chairman of the human rights committee at the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.

His main policy goal was to reduce the city's municipal debt, and he managed to achieve a reduction in the debt from 2.2 trillion yen in 2003 to 1.7 trillion yen at the end of fiscal year 2014.

[3] He was succeeded in 2015 by his deputy Katsuhiro Akimoto, who was supported by most of Ueda's historical electoral base.

[4] He co-hosted a show on Hokkaido Television Broadcasting called Ueda Fumio no Namara Takakunai?