was a Japanese ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

(1467–1603) who ruled a part of

Echizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga Province, Kaga, Wakasa Province, Wakasa, Hida Province, Hida, and Ōmi Provin ...

in present-day

Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...

. He was a regent of Ashikaga Shogunate. Yoshikage's conflicts with

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

(1534–1582) resulted in his death and the destruction of the

Asakura clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Asakura", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 3 DF 7 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-4. ...

and its

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, Ichijōdani Castle.

Early life

Yoshikage was born at the

castle in

, Ichijōdani Castle, in the present-day Kidanouchi district of Fukui,

. His father was

Asakura Takakage Asakura (written: 朝倉, 浅倉, 麻倉) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: Real people *Asakura clan, famous Japanese clan during Sengoku period **, ''daimyō'' *, Japanese musician, songwriter and producer *, Western ...

(1493–1548) and his mother is presumed to be the daughter of Takeda Motomitsu. The Asakura had displaced the

Shiba clan was a Japanese clan.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)("Shiba," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 54 DF 58 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-05-03. History ...

as the

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

military commanders of part of Echizen in 1471. Yoshikage succeeded his father as head of the Asakura clan and castle lord of Ichijōdani Castle in 1548. He proved to be adept at political and diplomatic management, markedly demonstrated by the Asakura negotiations with the

Ikkō-ikki were armed military leagues that formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries, composed entirely of members of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. In the early phases, these ''ikki'' leagues opposed the rule of local Shugo, go ...

in Echizen at the start of his reign, which would at last put an end to major conflict between both parties. As a result of the negotiations and effective governance by Yoshikage, Echizen enjoyed a period of relative domestic stability compared to the rest of

Japan. Consequently, Echizen became a site for refugees fleeing the violence in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

. Ichijōdani became a center of culture modeled on the capital at Kyōto.

Conflicts with Oda Nobunaga

After the capture of Kyoto in 1568,

Ashikaga Yoshiaki "Ashikaga Yoshiaki" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the 15th and final ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan who reigned from 1568 to 1573 when he ...

appointed Yoshikage as a regent and requested Asakura aid in driving Nobunaga out of the capital. In the mean time, after installing Yoshiaki as Shogun, Nobunaga had evidently pressed Yoshiaki to request all local daimyō to come to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

and attend a certain banquet, but Yoshikage refused. As a result, in 1570, Oda Nobunaga launched an invasion of Echizen. Due to Yoshikage’s lack of military skill, Oda's forces besieged Kanegasaki Castle (in modern-day Tsuruga city), opening the entire Asakura Domain to invasion. Yoshikage benefited from military conflict between Oda Nobunaga and his brother-in-law,

Azai Nagamasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period known as the brother-in-law and enemy of Oda Nobunaga. Nagamasa was head of the Azai clan seated at Odani Castle in northern Ōmi Province and married Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564, fathering ...

(1545–1573). Later, Azai launched a pincer attack with Asakura against Nobunaga at Kanegasaki, but Nobunaga withdrew his troops, the coalition of Asakura and Azai forces failed to capture Nobunaga. Later in July 1570, in the Battle of Anegawa, Yoshikage and Nagamasa were defeated by numerically superior combined forces of the Oda and

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

s led by Nobunaga and Ieyasu (1543–1616). Yoshikage fled to Hiezan (

Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana ...

, Hiei Monastery) after the Battle of Anegawa and negotiated a reconciliation with Nobunaga and was able to avoid conflict for three years.

Death

In 1573, after Yoshikage fled from the Siege of Hikida Castle, Nobunaga attack Asakura's castle town, and besieged Ichijodani Castle, Yoshikage was eventually betrayed by his cousin, Asakura Kageaki (1529–1574). He was forced to commit suicide by

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

at Rokubō Kenshō-ji, a temple which was located in present-day Ōno, Fukui Prefecture. He was 39 years old. The Asakura clan was destroyed with the death of Yoshikage.

Ichijōdani Asakura family historic ruins

The former Asakura residence in Fukui Prefecture was excavated in 1967 and revealed the ruins of the castle, residences, and gardens of Ichijōdani. The site has been designated a

Special Places of Scenic Beauty is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural ...

Special Historic Sites is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural ...

, and an Important Cultural Properties of Japan as the Ichijōdani Asakura Family Historic Ruins. The site covers .

References

External links

https://archive.today/20030925005405/http://www.sengoku-expo.net/person/E/176.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asakura, Yoshikage Samurai Daimyo 1533 births 1573 deaths Suicides by seppuku 16th-century suicides People from Fukui Prefecture People from Fukui (city) Yoshikage