Muromachi Period
The mother of the Shōgun Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358) was a daughter of Uesugi Yorishige and a granddaughter of Shigefusa. The three Uesugi branch families are descendants of Uesugi Yorishige.
Throughout the Muromachi period, members of the clan were appointed shugo (provincial governors), and would also dominate the post of Kantō Kanrei (shogun's deputy in Kantō).
They gained such power in the Kantō region that, when in 1449 Kanrei Ashikaga Shigeuji killed his deputy Uesugi Noritada to significantly diminish if not eliminate the family's power, the Uesugi rose up and drove Shigeuji out of the area, asking the shogunate in Kyoto for another Kanrei. This development left the Uesugi extremely powerful within the Kantō region, more so than ever before, and the clan quickly expanded and grew, splitting into three branches, named after their home localities. The Ōgigayatsu became based at Kawagoe Castle, in Musashi province, while the Yamanouchi were in Hirai, in Kozuke province. The third branch, the Inukake, held a castle in the region as well.
The three would begin fighting for domination of the clan and the region almost as soon as the split occurred, and intense fighting continued for roughly twenty-five years, until the end of the Ōnin War came about in 1477, bringing with it the end of the shogunate. Though the Ōgigayatsu and Yamanouchi branches both survived this conflict, the Inukake did not.
Read more about this topic: Uesugi Clan
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