He was adopted in 1737 at four years of age by Mosuke UEDA, who ran an oil and paper merchant business called Shimaya at Eramachi in Dojima (the present-day 1-chome Dojima, Kita Ward, Osaka City), and was called Senjiro.
1737年（元文2年）4歳、堂島永来町（現、大阪市北区(大阪市)堂島1丁目）の紙油商嶋屋、上田茂助の養子となり、仙次郎と呼ばれた。