Aya-Gozen

Aya-Gozen (1524-March 10, 1609), also known as Sentō-in, was the mother of Uesugi Kagekatsu. Not much is known about her here in the West, only being able to find two articles that talk about her, and unfortunately, one is Wikipedia.

It is known that her father was Nagao Tamekage, and was his second eldest daughter, but it is not clear if she shared the same mother as Uesugi Kenshin, who is usually referred to as her half-brother.(1) Little is known about her childhood, only appearing in records again in 1537 when she became engaged to Nagao Masakage. With Masakage, she gave birth to two sons and two daughters, however, their eldest son died at ten years of age.(2) Her remaining son, Kagekatsu, and their daughters were adopted into the Uesugi. Her eldest daughter, Seienin, married Hōjō Saburō, who would later be adopted into the Uesugi family as Uesugi Kagetora.(3)

After the death of her husband in 1564, she moved into Kasugayama Castle with Kagekatsu.(4) While she was there, she used her high intellect and perceptiveness to recruit samurai to serve the Uesugi on Kenshin’s behalf. It was during this time that she recommended to Kenshin that Naoe Kanetsugu should serve Kagekatsu. Legend states that out of gratitude, Kanetsugu did his best to care for her for the remainder of her life.(5)

When Kenshin passed in 1578, a succession dispute broke out between Kagekatsu and Kagetora, however, Aya remained a neutral party in the matter. She did, however, try to protect Kagetora’s heir after the death of Seienin, however, he would eventually perish at the hands of Kagekatsu’s men.(6) While she was with Kagetora when the succession dispute broke out, after Kagetora’s death, she was placed in the care of Kagekatsu’s wife, Kikuhime, and Naoe Kanetsugu’s wife, Lady Osen. She would pass away in Yonezawa Castle in 1609 and was enshrined in Risen-ji. Aya’s Buddhist name was Sentō-in, however, historians debate the reasons for why she was named as such to this very day.(7)

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