During the
Sengoku period, the area around Ueda was under the control of the Sanada clan, a minor local warlord in the service of the
Takeda clan. After the fall of the Takeda clan to the combined forces of
Oda Nobunaga and
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the Sanada switched side with bewildering rapidity between the
Uesugi clan, the
Hōjō clan,
Oda Nobunaga and
Toyotomi Hideyoshi in an effort to preserve their territory and independence. The construction of the castle began in 1583 by
Tokugawa Ieyasu's order. Two years later,
Sanada Masayuki moved their main bastion from
Sanada-shi Yakata to Ueda Castle. In the same year, the castle was attacked by Tokugawa Ieyasu but the greatly outnumbered Sanada defeated the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle at Kami River, which greatly enhanced Sanada Masayuki’s reputation. However, under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Sanada were forced to submit fealty to Tokugawa Ieyasu and Sanada Masayuki's first son,
Sanada Nobuyuki, was married to
Komatsuhime, an adopted daughter of Ieyasu; while his second son,
Sanada Yukimura (Nobushige), was married to
Chikurin-in, an adopted daughter of Hideyoshi. After the death of Hideyoshi, the Tokugawa ordered the Sanada to participate in their invasion of
Aizu against the Uesugi clan. Sanada Nobuyuki chose to remain on the Tokugawa side, while Sanada Masayuki and his younger son,
Sanada Yukimura chose to join the pro-Toyotomi armies under
Ishida Mitsunari against the Tokugawa. This led to the
Siege of Ueda in 1600, a side battle to the
Battle of Sekigahara. The army of
Tokugawa Hidetada, while on their way to Sekigahara was ordered to reduce Ueda Castle along the away. Again, the greatly outnumbered Sanada forces inflicted severe casualties on the Tokugawa and delayed Hidetada so long that he was forced to break off the siege and his forces thus arrived at Sekigahara too late to make a contribution to the battle. The castle is a ten-minute walk from
Ueda Station on the
Nagano Shinkansen. ==Gallery==