Nagao Torachiyo was the third son of the head of Echigo province in northeastern Japan.

With the death of his father in 1543, the family's control of the area had begun to disintegrate.

Torachiyo had not only restored order to the area but also gained control of neighboring provinces, becoming one of the most powerful warriors on the Kanto Plain in central Honshu.

Uesugi Norimasa, who had inherited the position of kanrei, or governor-general, of Kanto and whose family had long been the most powerful in the area, had been defeated in 1552 by the Hojo clan and had taken shelter with Torachiyo, whom he had adopted as his son.

Torachiyo had then changed his surname to Uesugi.

He had received many of the hereditary vassals of the Uesugi family, and he had also become involved in a series of battles with the eastern warlords of the Hojo and Takeda families for control of the Kanto region.

Uesugi's battles with the noted general Takeda Shingen had resulted in no permanent gain for either side, however.

Meanwhile, Oda Nobunaga had become the strongest military leader in Japan, and in 1573 he had overthrown the shogunate and begun to consolidate his control over the capital.

The only warrior strong enough to challenge Oda is Uesugi, and in 1577 he agrees to undertake an expedition to restore the shogunate.

He dies, however, before the expedition can get under way.