Uesugi Kagetora

Uesugi Kagetora (1554-1579) was a Sengoku-period warlord and the seventh son of Hōjō Ujiyasu. Triggered by the Hōjō–Uesugi reconciliation of Eiroku 12 (1569), he became an adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin. Within the Hōjō family he is said to have gone by the name Saburō. Kenshin gave him the name "Kagetora," which had been Kenshin's own original name.

In the 3rd month of Tenshō 6 (1578), when Kenshin died suddenly, a succession dispute broke out between Kagetora and the other adopted son, Uesugi Kagekatsu. This became the Otate Disturbance (Otate no Ran). At first Kagetora had the advantage, but when Takeda Katsuyori chose to make peace with Kagekatsu, the balance reversed. Hōjō reinforcements arrived too late. In the following year, Tenshō 7 (1579), Kagetora, isolated at Samegao Castle (Myōkō City, Niigata Prefecture), took his own life at the age of 26.

Because of his status (his lineage as the legitimate line of the Hōjō clan) and his legitimacy as Kenshin's successor, Kagetora won the support of many Echigo local lords and Kantō warlords. Kagetora's defeat in the Otate Disturbance led to the breakdown of the Kōsō Alliance (Takeda–Hōjō) between the Takeda and Hōjō clans, and it also affected the subsequent situation in eastern Japan. No specific records concerning swords have been confirmed.