When Ueda graduated from university, he joined now-defunct AUBEC to work in the animation industry. After working as a production manager and assistant director, he made his directorial debut with
Tsuruhime Ja! (before that, he had worked in anime and commercials as well). At that same time, he married a female animator. Later, after working as an episode director on
Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings, he left AUBEC and worked at various companies such as Anime Spot and
Madhouse and is currently working as a freelancer. He has been using the
hiragana spelling of his name since his days as an assistant director (the Kanji spelling of his name is
上田茂) and this was simply because he believed that the quickest way to become a director was to stand out. ==Relationships==