The Nagao clan descend from military lord
Taira no Yoshifumi, of the Kammu Heishi (
Taira clan), and from the
Emperor Kammu (735–806), the 50th Emperor of Japan. They are one of the 'Bando Hachi Heishi', the 'eight Taira clans of
Kanto region' (the Chiba, Miura, Nagao, Kazusa, Doi, Chichibu, Oba, and Kajiwara clans, respectively). The family name of Nagao began when Kagehiro, settled at Nagao no sho estate, in
Sagami Province, and took the name of the place. The Nagao were the Kasai (Head retainers) of the
Uesugi clan, and were the
Shugodai (vice-Governors) of Echigo,
Kozuke, and
Musashi provinces. The
Kamakura Nagao branch, was called the Kamakura Nagao because they lived in Kamakura. This branch of the clan were the lords of Kanno castle. A junior member of the Kamakura Nagao, Nagao Masanaga settled in the Koshigeyama area, and became lord of Tatebayashi castle. The Shirai Nagao branch were
Shugodai (vice-Governors) of Kozuke and Musashi provinces and lords of Aomi, Hachigata and Shirai castles. The Echigo Nagao branch were
Shugodai of
Echigo province. This branch of the clan built and controlled
Kasugayama Castle and the surrounding fief, in what is now
Niigata Prefecture. Nagao Kagetora, adopted by
Uesugi Norimasa, became lord of Kasugayama castle in 1548, taking the name
Uesugi Kenshin and effectively becoming the head of the Uesugi clan. ==Nagao family members of note==