Ashikaga Yoshinori

Ashikaga Yoshinori

Ashikaga Yoshinori (足利 義教, July 12, 1394 – July 12, 1441) was the 6th shogun (rokudai shogun)^[1] of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1429 to 1441 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshinori was the son of the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.^[2]

Shogunal succession

After the death of the fifth shogun Ashikaga Yoshikazu in 1425, the fourth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi resumed his role as head of the shogunate. Yoshimochi had no other sons, nor did he name a successor before he himself died in 1428.^[2]

Yoshinori, who had been a Buddhist monk since the age of ten,^[3] became Seii Taishogun on the day of Yoshimochi's death. From amongst the handful of possible Ashikaga candidates, his name was selected by the shogunal deputy (Kanrei), Hatakeyama Mitsuie, who drew lots in the sanctuary of Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Kyoto; and it was believed that Hachiman's influence had affected this auspicious choice.^[4]

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

• 1429 – Yoshinori appointed shogun.^[5]
• 1430 – The Southern Court's army surrenders.^[5]
• 1432 – Akamatsu Mitsusuke flees; Yoshinori receives rescript from China.^[6]
• 1433 – Ōtomo rebels; Hieizan monks rebel.^[5]
• 1434 – Tosen bugyō established to regulate foreign affairs.^[7]
• 1436 – Yasaka Pagoda at Hokanji in Kyoto destroyed by fire.^[8]
• 1438 – Kantō kubō Ashikaga Mochiuji rebels – Eikyō Rebellion.^[5]
• 1439 – Mochiuji commits suicide; dissatisfaction with Yoshinori grows.^[9]
• 1440 – Yasaka Pagoda at Hokanji in Kyoto re-constructed by Yoshinori.^[8]
• 1441 – Yoshinori grants Shimazu suzerainty over the Ryūkyū Islands; Akamatsu murders Yoshinori – Kakitsu Incident; Yamana kills Akamatsu.^[10]

Yoshinori strengthened the power of the shogunate by defeating Ashikaga Mochiuji in the Eikyo Rebellion of 1438. During the period, Chinese contacts were increased and Zen Buddhism gained influence, which had broad cultural consequences.^[1] For example, the Hon-dō or main hall at Ikkyu-ji is today the oldest standing T'ang style temple in the Yamashiro (southern Kyoto Prefecture) and Yamato (Nara Prefecture) Provinces. It was built in 1434 and was dedicated by Yoshinori.^[11]

Foreign relations

In 1432, trade and diplomatic relations between Japan and China were restored. Both had been discontinued by Yoshimochi. The Chinese emperor reached out to Japan by sending a letter to the shogunate via the kingdom of the Ryūkyū Islands; Yoshinori responded favorably.^[4][12]

According to Mansai Jugo Nikki (満済准后日記), the system of the Tosen-bugyō (唐船奉行) was established in 1434 to mediate overseas trade. The functions of the Tosen-bugyō included: (1) defending trading ships in Japanese waters, (2) procuring export goods, (3) mediating between the Muromachi shogunate and shipping interests, and (4) managing record-keeping. It is significant that the Muromachi shogunate was the first to appoint the executive officers of the samurai class to high positions in its diplomatic bureaucracy. After Yoshinori's time, the totosen (渡唐船) (the fleet of ships going from Japan to Ming China) consisted of the ships belonging principally to three different kinds of owners: the Muromachi shogun, temples, and the shugo daimyo.^[7]

Assassination

Yoshinori was notorious for his oppressive measures and unpredictable dictatorial whims.^[13] Yoshinori was assassinated by the Akamatsu family of military governors who invited him to a Noh performance at their residence and assassinated him during the evening play.^[14] Yoshinori was 48 at the age of his assassination which was organized by Akamatsu Mitsusuke, who had learned that Yoshinori planned to bestow on a youthful male favorite three provinces belonging to Mitsusuke;^[15] shortly thereafter, it was determined that his 8-year-old son, Yoshikatsu, would become the new shogun.^[16]

Although the Ashikaga line continued through this seventh shogun, the power of the shoguns gradually eroded and the shogunate fell into decline.^[17] The mere fact of that assassination and treason had become a reality served to undercut the previous military ethic of loyalty.^[18]

Eras of Yoshinori's bakufu

The years in which Yoshinori was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.^[19]

• Eikyō (1429–1441)
• Kakitsu (1441–1444)

Notes

References

• Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702214851; OCLC 7574544
• Blum, Mark Laurence and Shinʼya Yasutomi. (2005). Rennyo and the Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-513275-5 (cloth)
• Crompton, Louis, Homosexuality and Civilization, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2003.
• 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
• Kinihara, Misako. "The Establishment of the Tosenbugyo in the Reign of Ashikaga Yoshinori" (唐船奉行の成立 : 足利義教による飯尾貞連の登用), Tokyo Woman's Christian University: Essays and Studies. Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 27–53.
• 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

See also

Media related to Ashikaga Yoshinori at Wikimedia Commons

• East Asian age reckoning

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