was the seventh son of Hà Âjà  Ujiyasu; known as Hà Âjà  Saburà Â, he was adopted by Uesugi Kenshin, and was meant to be Kenshin's heir. However, in 1578, he was attacked in his castle at Otate by Uesugi KagekatsuâÂÂKagetora's respective brother-in-lawâÂÂand was subsequently defeated. Kagetora committed suicide the following year in Samegao Castle.
Uesugi Kagetora was born in either 1552 or 1554, and during his lifetime was also known as Hà Âjà  Ujihide (Ã¥ÂÂæ¡æ°Âç§Â), Hà Âjà  Saburà  (Ã¥ÂÂæ¡ä¸ÂéÂÂ), Saburà  Kagetora (ä¸ÂéÂÂæ¯èÂÂ). He was the seventh son (sixth to survive to adulthood) of Hà Âjà  Ujiyasu, younger brother of Hà Âjà  Ujimasa, Hà Âjà  Ujiteru, Hà Âjà  Ujikuni, Hà Âjà  Ujinori, Hà Âjà  Ujitada, and older brother of Hà Âjà  Ujimitsu. His mother was the sister-in-law of Toyama Yasumitsu, a vassal of the Hà Âjà  clan (other sources say Suikeiin, Ujiyasu's principle wife). It's likely that he and Hà Âjà  Ujihide were two different people and that Ujihide was the son of Hà Âjà  Tsunashige and living in Edo while Saburà  was living in Echigo, so most historians refer to him as Hà Âjà  Saburà  when describing his early life.
As a child, he was sent into the priesthood at Sà Âun-ji in Hakone, then sent as hostage to Takeda Shingen of the Takeda clan in the three-way alliance between Hà Âjà Â, Takeda, and Imagawa formed in 1554. He was adopted by his uncle Hà Âjà  Genan in 1569 and married his daughter.
When the Hà Âjà  and Uesugi clans formed an alliance in 1569, Saburà  was sent to Uesugi Kenshin in an exchange of hostages with Kakizaki Haruie. At first, the hostage was set to be Hà Âjà  Ujimasa's third son Kunimasumaru, but Ujimasa could not bring himself to send off his son, who was then still a baby. Saburà  was sent to the Uesugi clan in early 1570. Kenshin, who never married, developed a liking for the handsome and intelligent Saburà Â. He married his niece Seienin, the daughter of Nagao Masakage and older sister of Nagao Akikage (Uesugi Kagekatsu) to Saburà Â, 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. This episode became known as the Otate no Ran. Though Kagetora held the early advantage with the backing of Uesugi vassals such as Uesugi Kagenobu, Hà Âjà  Hidetsuna, Kitajà  Takahiro, and the Hà Âjà  clan, the tide of the battle turned with Takeda Katsuyori's betrayal to Kagekatsu's side.
When Otate Castle fell in 1579, Kagetora attempted to escape to Odawara Castle (the Hà Âjà  clan stronghold, Kagetora's birth land) but was betrayed at Samegao Castle by Horie Munechika and committed suicide. Seien-in (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 the Otate power struggle.
There are accounts that Kagetora was better to replace Kenshin as heir, as Kagetora once aided Kenshin in a battle using his intelligence and earned him Kenshin's name, while Kagekatsu was only popular at gaining support in the Uesugi clan.
A modern-day reincarnation of Kagetora appears in the light novel and anime series, Mirage of Blaze. He is one of the two primary charactersâÂÂmembers of the Uesugi Netherworld ForceâÂÂresponsible 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 spirit of Takeda Shingen.