Ueda was born in Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, on 11 May 1910. He was the only son of a textile wholesaler. When he was around 3 years old, his father died of the flu, after which the family moved to Osaka.
Ueda worked for the Wakayama Prefectural Office. He served in the Japanese Navy during the Second World War, and he also witnessed the Hiroshima bombing. He had four children.
After the retirement, he devoted himself to haiku and writing, even self-publishing his essays under the pseudonym Morihiko Ueda in his 90s. In 2012, he moved to a health care facility for the elderly in Nara City.
Ueda died in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan on 9 September 2022, at the age of 112 years, 121 days.
In March 2017, he became the oldest living man in Nara Prefecture, at the age of 106.
On 22 August 2020, following the death of 110-year-old Motoi Fukunishi of Ibaraki, he became the oldest living man in Japan, at the age of 110.
On 3 April 2021, Ueda surpassed the age of Tessaku Tominaga, and became the oldest known man ever to have lived in Nara Prefecture, at the age of 110 years, 327 days.
On 22 January 2022, following the death of Mollie Walker of the United States, Ueda became the oldest known living veteran of World War II.