Nagao Kagetora (長尾 景虎, February 18, 1530 – April 19, 1578[1]), later known as Uesugi Kenshin (上杉 謙信), was a Japanese daimyō.

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 Kantō region as the Kanto Kanrei, and his belief in the Buddhist god of war Bishamonten.

However, upon arriving at Sendanno (December 1536) in Etchū, his forces were suddenly attacked by Enami Kazuyori, and in the resulting fracas Tamekage himself was slain, and his army put to flight.

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.

It would seem that Harukage hadn't proven the most effective or inspiring leader (probably due to ill health[14]), and his failure to exert control and gain support of the powerful kokujin families had resulted in a situation which was nearly to the point of tearing the province apart.

[3] The terms were Norimasa's adoption of Kenshin as his heir, the title Lord of Echigo, and the Kantō Kanrei post as shōgun's deputy.

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.

In 1553, Ogasawara Nagatoki and Murakami Yoshikiyo, two Shinano lords, both appeared before Kenshin requesting his help in halting the advances of the powerful warlord Takeda Shingen.

[17] In 1561, Masatora took the name of Uesugi Terutora, upon succeeding as head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi family and assuming the position of Kanto Kanrei.

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

"[12] Though his rivalry with Takeda Shingen was legendary, Uesugi Kenshin actually had a number of other ventures occurring around the times of these famous battles (1553–1564).

He managed to break the defenses and burn the town, but the castle itself remained unconquered due to threats from Shingen,[30] and thus seized Kamakura.

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

From this point, concrete alliance negotiations began, and on October 8, Ieyasu issued a pledge to Kenshin and also broke his relationship with the Takeda clan.

Under the protection of the Mōri clan, Yoshiaki, began frequently requesting Uesugi, Takeda, and Hōjō to join forces and overthrow Nobunaga.

When the death of Hatakeyama Yoshitaka, a lord in Noto Province, sparked up confusion and conflict, Kenshin was quick to use the opportunity, taking land from the weakened clan and successfully besieged Nanao Castle,[34] which put him in a position to threaten Nobunaga and his allies.

In response, Nobunaga pulled together his own forces and those of his two best generals, Shibata Katsuie and Maeda Toshiie, to meet Kenshin at the Battle of Tedorigawa (1577) in Kaga Province.

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.

Nobunaga's force attacked at night expecting a weakened opponent at the front; instead Kenshin's full military might was waiting.

[35][4] Having lost 1,000 men in combat and some more as the Oda troops attempted to escape across the Tedori River, Nobunaga ordered a retreat into Ōmi Province.

[36][37] However, 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.

In 1578, he entered alliance with Takeda Katsuyori against Nobunaga,[29] but held up by bad weather and died of an esophageal cancer in the spring of 1578.

[43][44] The death caused local power struggles, with the result of almost decade long infighting in Echigo between 1578 and 1587, usually divided into "Otate Disturbance" (1578–1582) and "Shibata rebellion" (1582–1587).

[46] 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 brothers were busy with the infighting.

[52][53] Japanese singer-songwriter Gackt portrayed Kenshin on several occasions since 2007, and thanks to his participation, the festival in 2015 reached record high attendance of 243,000 people.

[66] Kenshin also appears in a gender bender parallel universe anime series Battle Girls: Time Paradox.

[citation needed] A female Kenshin, as Nagao Kagetora, also appears in the mobile game Fate/Grand Order, voiced by actress and singer Nana Mizuki.

[68][69] The program was debuted in December 2020 at Big Hat arena in Nagano, near the historical location of the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima in 1961.

[70] Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet; always fight with your opponent in the palm of your hand, and you won't get wounded.