Ashikaga Yoshimasa

Ashikaga Yoshimasa

Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利 義政, January 20, 1436 – January 27, 1490)^[1] was the 8th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimasa was the son of the sixth shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori.^[2] His official wife was Hino Tomiko.

On the August 16, 1443 (Kakitsu 3, 21st day of the 7th month), 10-year-old shogun Yoshikatsu died of injuries sustained in a fall from a horse. He had been shogun for only three years. Immediately, the bakufu elevated Yoshinari, the young shogun's even younger brother, to be the new shogun.^[3] Several years after becoming shogun, Yoshinari changed his name to Yoshimasa, by which name he is better known.^[4]

Shogunal succession

Significant events which shaped the period during which Yoshimasa was shogun:

• 1443 – Southern Court supporters steal the Imperial regalia.^[5]
• 1445 – Hosokawa Katsumoto, Kyoto kanrei.^[5]
• 1446 – Southern army suffers crushing defeat.^[5]
• 1448 – Remnants of Southern dynasty suppressed.^[5]
• 1449 – Yoshimasa appointed shogun; Ashikaga Shigeuji appointed Kantō kubō.
• 1450–1455 – Disturbances in Kamakura between Kantō kubō Ashikaga Shigeuji and his Kanrei.^[5]

Events leading up to civil war

A number of decisions lead eventually to armed conflict:

• 1454 – Dissension of Hatakeyama succession.^[5]
• 1455 – Dissension in Kamakura between Kubō and his Uesugi Kanrei line: "Koga Kubō" (1455–1583) established.^[5]
• 1457 – "Horikoshi Kubō" (1457–1491) established.^[5]
• 1458 – Imperial regalia restored to Northern Court.^[5]
• 1460 – Hatakeyama rebels against Yoshimasa.^[5]
• 1464 – Yoshimasa adopts Ashikaga Yoshimi.^[5]
• 1466 – Yoshihisa born; Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado ascends throne.^[5]
• 1466 – Dissension over Shiba succession.^[5]
• 1467 – Outbreak of Ōnin War.^[6]

Ōnin War

By 1464, Yoshimasa had no heir, so he adopted his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, in order to avoid any conflicts which might arise at the end of his shogunate. However, in the next year, Yoshimasa was surprised by the birth of a son, Ashikaga Yoshihisa. The infant's birth created a conflict between the two brothers over who would follow Yoshimasa as shogun. Yoshimasa's wife, Hino Tomiko, attempted to get Yamana Sōzen to support the infant's claim to the shogunate.^[7] By 1467 the simmering dispute had evolved, encouraging a split amongst the powerful daimyō and clan factions. The armed conflict which ensued has come to be known as the Ōnin War.^[8] This armed contest marks the beginning the Sengoku period of Japanese history, a troubled period of constant military clashes which would last over a century. A number of developments affect the unfolding Ōnin War's battles:

• 1468 – Yoshimi joins Yamana Sōzen.^[5]
• 1469 – Yoshihisa appointed heir to shogunate.^[5]
• 1471 – Asakura Takakage appointed shugo of Echizen Province.^[5]
• 1473 – Yamana Sōzen and Hosokawa Katsumoto both die.^[5]

In the midst of on-going hostilities, Yoshimasa retired in 1473. He relinquished the position of Seii Taishogun to his young son who became the ninth shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa; but effectively, Yoshimasa continued to hold the reins of power. With the leaders of the two warring factions dead and with the ostensible succession dispute resolved, the rationale for continuing to fight faded away. The exhausted armies dissolved and by 1477 open warfare ended.

• 1477 – The Ōnin War is considered at an end.^[5]

Yoshimasa's heirs

When Yoshimasa declared that Yoshihisa would be the next shogun after he stepped down from that responsibility, he anticipated that his son would out-live him. When Shogun Yoshihisa died prematurely, Yoshimasa reassumed the power and responsibility he had wanted to lay aside. Shogun Yoshimasa adopted the son of his brother, Yoshimi. In 1489, shogun Yoshitane was installed; and Yoshimasa retired again.

Grave of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Kyoto

Before Yoshimasa died in 1490, he again adopted a nephew as heir, this time the son of his brother, Masatomo. Although Yoshitane did outlive Yoshimasa, his shogunate would prove short-lived. Yoshitane died in 1493.^[9]

Also before he married with Hino Tomiko,sister of Hino Katsumitsu,he has a concibune,Lady Oima who pregnant at 8 month and Tomiko know it later she push Lady Oima from stair and she miscarriage.

Shogun Yoshimasa was succeeded by shogun Yoshihisa (Yoshimasa's natural son), then by Shogun Yoshitane (Yoshimasa's first adopted son), and then by shogun Yoshizumi (Yoshimasa's second adopted son). Yoshizumi's progeny would directly succeed him as head of the shogunate. In the future, power struggles from outside the clan would also lead to a brief period in which the great-grandson of Yoshitane would be installed as a puppet leader of the Ashikaga shogunate.^[9]

Higashiyama culture

During Yoshimasa's reign Japan saw the growth of the Higashiyama Culture (Higashiyama bunka),^[10] famous for tea ceremony (Sado), flower arrangement (Kado or Ikebana), Noh drama, and Indian ink painting. Higashiyama culture was greatly influenced by Zen Buddhism and saw the rise of Japanese aesthetics like Wabi-sabi and the harmonization of imperial court (Kuge) and samurai (Bushi) culture.

In the history of this Higashiyama bunka period, a few specific dates are noteworthy:

• 1459 (Chōroku 3): Shogun Yoshimasa provided a new mikoshi and a complete set of robes and other accouterments for this festival on the occasion of repairs to the Atsuta Shrine in the 1457–1459 (Chōroku 1–3).^[11]
• 1460 (Chōroku 3): Yoshimasa initiated planning for construction of a retirement villa and gardens as early as 1460;^[12] and after his death, this property would become a Buddhist temple called Jisho-ji (also known as Ginkaku-ji or the "Silver Pavilion").^[13]
• February 21, 1482 (Bummei 14 , 4th day of the 2nd month): Construction of the "Silver Pavilion" is commenced.^[14]
• January 27, 1490 (Entoku 2, 7th day of the 1st month): The former-Shogun Yoshimasa died at age 56 in his Higashiyama-dono estate,^[15] which marks the beginning of the end of Higashiyama bunka.

Eras of Yoshimasa's bakufu

The years in which Yoshimasa was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.^[16]

• Hōtoku (1449–1452)
• Kyōtoku (1452–1455)
• Kōshō (1455–1457)
• Chōroku (1457–1460)
• Kanshō (1460–1466)
• Bunshō (1466–1467)
• Ōnin (1467–1469)
• Bunmei (1469–1487)
• Chōkyō (1487–1489)
• Entoku (1489–1492)

Notes

References

• Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702214851; OCLC 7574544
• Keene, Donald. (2003). Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13056-1; OCLC 52268947
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 585069

Chronology, dates and paternity of the Ashikaga shoguns
Name Lived Reigned Son of 1st Takauji 1305–1358 1338–1358 Sadauji 2nd Yoshiakira 1330–1368 1358–1367 Takauji 3rd Yoshimitsu 1358–1408 1367–1395 Yoshiakira 4th Yoshimochi 1386–1428 1395–1423 Yoshimitsu 5th Yoshikazu 1407–1425 1423–1425 Yoshimochi 6th Yoshinori 1394–1441 1428–1441 Yoshimitsu 7th Yoshikatsu 1433–1443 1442–1443 Yoshinori 8th Yoshimasa 1435–1490 1449–1474 Yoshinori Name Lived Reigned Son of   9th Yoshihisa 1465–1489 1474–1489 Yoshimasa 10th Yoshitane 1465–1522 1490–1493 1508–1521 Yoshimi 11th Yoshizumi 1478–1513 1493–1508 Masatomo 12th Yoshiharu 1510–1550 1521–1545 Yoshizumi 13th Yoshiteru 1535–1565 1545–1565 Yoshiharu 14th Yosihide 1538–1568 1564–1568 Yoshitsuna 15th Yoshiaki 1537–1597 1568–1573 Yoshiharu
Related topics: Muromachi period Hana-no Gosho Nijō Castle Ashikaga clan Seii Taishogun