Aya-Gozen

Lady Aya (綾御前, 1524 – March 10, 1609) was the older half-sister of Uesugi Kenshin, the mother of Uesugi Kagekatsu and the first wife of Nagao Masakage.

Born Sentō (仙洞院(仙桃院)) as Nagao Tamekage's second eldest daughter. She was believed to be the elder half-sister of Uesugi Kenshin by the same mother. Though better known under her Buddhist name, her given name was Ayahime (綾姫). The term -gozen is an honorific suffix, akin to the title "Lady".

She was engaged to Nagao Masakage sometime during 1537, and they had two sons and two daughters together. Their eldest son died at the young age of 10, so their second eldest son, Kagekatsu, was adopted into the Uesugi under Kenshin. Their daughters are also said to have been adopted into the Uesugi and supposedly became the wives of their loyal vassals. Sento-In moved to Kasugayama Castle with her son in 1564. She was fabled to have recognized Naoe Kanetsugu's talents and recommended him to serve Kagekatsu. It was rumored that Kanetsugu tried his best to care for her in gratitude.

When the civil dispute between Kagekatsu and Kagetora took place after Kenshin's death, Sento-In tried to protect Kagetora's heir after the death of her older sister (Kagetora's wife). Although she was with Kagetora, she returned to Kikuhime and Osen no Kata's care. She died at Yonezawa Castle and was enshrined at Risen-ji. She was given the Buddhist name, Sento-In.

In popular culture

She is a playable character (as Aya) in Pokémon Conquest (Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition in Japan), with her partner Pokémon being Snorunt and Froslass.

Sources

As of this edit, this article uses content from "Aya", which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.

• The Koei Wiki – Aya