"Ashikaga Yoshimasa" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the eighth ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 during the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. His actions led to the

Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era name, Japanese era during which the war started; the war ende ...

(1467–1477), which triggered 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 ...

. His reign saw a cultural flourishing in the arts, the development of

tea ceremony Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...

Zen Buddhism Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...

and wabi-sabi aesthetics.

Biography

Yoshimasa was the son of the sixth shōgun

Ashikaga Yoshinori was the sixth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1429 to 1441 during the Muromachi period of medieval Japan. Yoshinori was the son of the third ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). His childhood name ...

. His childhood name was Miharu (三春). His official wife was

Hino Tomiko was a prominent figure during the Muromachi period and the beginning of the Sengoku period. She was daughter to Hino Shigemasa and was the official wife of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate (at first Tomik ...

. On August 16, 1443, the 10-year-old ''shōgun'' Yoshikatsu died of injuries sustained in a fall from a horse. He had been shōgun for only three years. Immediately, the ''bakufu'' elevated Yoshinari, the young shōgun's even younger brother, to be the new ''shōgun''. Several years after becoming shōgun, Yoshinari changed his name to Yoshimasa, by which he is better known. Also in 1443, supporters of the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors ( Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitivel ...

orchestrated the theft of the Imperial regalia. Following this event, in 1445,

Hosokawa Katsumoto was one of the Kanrei, the deputies to the Ashikaga shogunate, Shōgun, during Japan's Muromachi period. He is famous for his involvement in the creation of Ryōan-ji, a temple famous for its rock garden, and for his involvement in the Ōnin War ...

assumed the role of Kyoto ''

kanrei or, more rarely, ''kanryō'', was a high political post in feudal Japan; it is usually translated as ''shōguns deputy''. After 1349, there were actually two ''Kanrei'', the ''Kyoto Kanrei'' and the ''Kantō Kanrei''. But originally from 1219 unt ...

''. The year 1446 marked a significant development as the Southern army faced a crushing defeat, leading to the subsequent suppression of remnants from the Southern dynasty in 1448. In 1449, Yoshimasa was appointed shōgun, and

Ashikaga Shigeuji ( – 1497) was a Muromachi period warrior and the Kamakura-fu's fifth and last '' Kantō kubō'' (''Shōgun'' Deputy). Fourth son of fourth ''Kubō'' Ashikaga Mochiuji, he succeeded his father only in 1449, a full decade after his death by '' ...

became '' Kantō kubō''. While the period between 1450 and 1455 experienced disturbances in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

between ''Kantō kubō'' Ashikaga Shigeuji and his Uesugi ''Kanrei''.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron'', p. 331. Ashikaga Yoshimasa letter

The 1450s saw several events unfolded which set the stage for the impending

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. In 1454, dissension arose in the Hatakeyama succession. Discord in Kamakura between the ''Kubō'' and his Uesugi ''Kanrei'' line, resulting in the establishment of "Koga ''Kubō''" (1455–1583) in 1455. Following this in 1457, the "Horikoshi ''Kubō''" (1457–1491) was established. The Imperial regalia, which had been stolen, was restored to the

Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. Even though the present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the ...

in 1458. In 1460, Hatakeyama rebelled against Yoshimasa. The latter adopted

Ashikaga Yoshimi (March 3, 1439 – February 15, 1491) was the brother of Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, and a rival for the succession in a dispute that would lead to the Ōnin War. Life Yoshimi was the abbot of a Jōdo monastery when he was first approached ...

in 1464. The year 1466 saw the birth of Yoshihisa, and Emperor

Go-Tsuchimikado was the 103rd emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後土御門天皇 (103) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1464 through 1500. This 15th-century sover ...

ascended the throne during the same year. Additionally, dissension over the Shiba succession occurred in 1466.

Ōnin War

By 1464, Yoshimasa had no heir, so he adopted his younger brother,

, 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 was the 9th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron'', p. 331. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth ''shōgun'' Ash ...

. The infant's birth created a conflict between the two brothers over who would follow Yoshimasa as ''shōgun''. Yoshimasa's wife, Hino Tomiko, attempted to get

Yamana Sōzen was originally before becoming a monk. Due to his red complexion, he was sometimes known as ''Aka-nyūdō'', "the Red Monk". He was one of the ''shogun'' ''daimyōs'' who fought against Hosokawa Katsumoto during the Ōnin War in Heian-kyō. Bi ...

to support the infant's claim to the shogunate. By 1467 the simmering dispute had evolved, encouraging a split amongst the powerful ''

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 ...

'' ''

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 ...

s'' and clan factions. The armed conflict which ensued has come to be known as the

. This armed contest marks the beginning of the

Japanese history The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when ...

, a troubled period of constant military clashes which lasted over a century. A number of developments affect the unfolding battles of the war such as the moment Yoshimi joins Yamana Sōzen in 1468; Yoshihisa appointed heir to shogunate in 1469; appointed ''shugo'' 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 1471 and when

and

both die in 1473. In the midst of on-going hostilities, Yoshimasa retired in 1473. He relinquished the position of ''Sei-i Taishōgun'' to his young son, who became the ninth ''shōgun''

; 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.

Yoshimasa's heirs

When Yoshimasa declared that Yoshihisa would be the next ''shōgun'' after he stepped down from that responsibility, he anticipated that his son would out-live him. When ''shōgun'' Yoshihisa died prematurely, Yoshimasa reassumed the power and responsibility he had wanted to lay aside. ''Shōgun'' Yoshimasa adopted the son of his brother, Yoshimi. In 1489, ''shōgun'' Yoshitane was installed; and Yoshimasa retired again. 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.Ackroyd, p. 298. Also, before he married

, sister of Hino Katsumitsu, he had a concubine, Lady Oima, who was 8 months pregnant when Tomiko pushed her from the stairs which resulted in a miscarriage. Shōgun Yoshimasa was succeeded by ''shōgun'' Yoshihisa (Yoshimasa's natural son), then by ''shōgun'' Yoshitane (Yoshimasa's first adopted son), and then by ''shōgun'' 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.

Higashiyama culture

During Yoshimasa's reign Japan saw the growth of the

Higashiyama culture The Higashiyama culture (東山文化 ''Higashiyama bunka'') is a segment of Japanese culture that includes innovations in architecture, the visual arts and theatre during the late Muromachi period. It originated and was promoted in the 15th cen ...

(''Higashiyama bunka''), famous for

(''Sadō''), flower arrangement (''Kadō'' or ''

Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...

''), '' Noh''

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

, and

Indian ink India ink (British English: Indian ink; also Chinese ink) is a simple black or coloured ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing and outlining, especially when inking comic books and comic strips. In ...

painting. Higashiyama culture was greatly influenced by

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and saw the rise of Japanese aesthetics like ''

Wabi-sabi In traditional Japanese aesthetics, centers on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It is often described as the appreciation of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". It is prevalent in many forms of Japanese ...

'' and the harmonization of imperial court (''Kuge'') and

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

(''Bushi'') culture. In the history of this ''Higashiyama bunka'' period, a few specific dates are noteworthy: * 1459 (''Chōroku 3''): ''Shōgun'' Yoshimasa provided a new ''

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

'' 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'').Ponsonby-Fane. (1962). ''Studies in Shinto and Shrines'', p. 452. * 1460 (''Chōroku 3''): Yoshimasa initiated planning for construction of a retirement villa and gardens as early as 1460; and after his death, this property would become a Buddhist temple called Jishō-ji (also known as

Ginkaku-ji , officially named , is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the constructions that represent the Higashiyama Culture of the Muromachi period. History Ashikaga Yoshimasa initiated plans for creating a retirement vi ...

or the "Silver Pavilion"). * February 21, 1482 (''Bummei 14, 4th day of the 2nd month''): Construction of the "Silver Pavilion" is commenced. * January 27, 1490 (''Entoku 2, 7th day of the 1st month''): The former ''shōgun'' Yoshimasa died at age 56 in his ''Higashiyama-dono'' estate, which marks the beginning of the end of ''Higashiyama bunka''.

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Hino Shigeko (1411–1463) * Wife:

(1440 – June 30, 1496) * Concubine: Oodate Sachiko * Children: ** son (b. 1459) by Tomiko **

by Tomiko ** daughter (1463–1486) by Tomiko ** Koyama Masatoshi (1462–1505) buddhist priest in Keikyoji by Tomiko ** Yuyama Suzho (1455–1532) later Sojiin by Sachiko * Adopted sons: **

Ashikaga Yoshizumi was the 11th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1494 to 1508 during the Muromachi period of Japan. He was the son of Ashikaga Masatomo and grandson of the sixth ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshinori.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). His ...

Ashikaga Yoshitane , also known as , was the 10th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who headed the shogunate first from 1490 to 1493 and then again from 1508 to 1521 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshitane was the son of Ashikaga Yoshimi and grandson ...

Eras of Yoshimasa's ''bakufu''

The years in which Yoshimasa was ''shōgun'' are more specifically identified by more than one

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a t ...

or ''

nengō The or , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being "", meaning "origin, basis"), followed b ...

''.Titsingh, * ''

Hōtoku was a after '' Bun'an'' and before ''Kyōtoku.'' This period spanned the years from July 1449 through July 1452. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1449 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The previous er ...

'' (1449–1452) * ''

Kyōtoku was a after '' Hōtoku'' and before ''Kōshō.'' This period spanned the years from July 1452 through July 1455. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1452 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The old era e ...

'' (1452–1455) * ''

Kōshō was a after ''Kyotoku, Kyōtoku'' and before ''Chōroku.'' This period spanned the years from July 1455 through September 1457. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', pp. 331349. Change of Era * ...

'' (1455–1457) * ''

Chōroku was a after ''Kosho (era), Kōshō'' and before ''Kanshō.'' This period spanned the years from September 1457 through December 1460. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1457 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of e ...

'' (1457–1460) * '' Kanshō'' (1460–1466) * ''

Bunshō was a after '' Kanshō'' and before ''Ōnin''. The period spanned the years February 1466 through March 1467. The reigning emperor during this period was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du Japon'', pp. 352364. Change of era * ...

'' (1466–1467) * ''

Ōnin was a after '' Bunshō'' and before ''Bunmei''. This period spanned the years from March 1467 through April 1469. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1467 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The old era en ...

'' (1467–1469) * ''

Bunmei was a after '' Ōnin'' and before ''Chōkyō''. This period spanned from April 1469 through July 1487.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Bunmei''" i ''Japan encyclopedia'', p. 89 n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussb ...

'' (1469–1487) * ''

Chōkyō was a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', "year name") after '' Bunmei'' and before '' Entoku''. This period spanned the years from July 1487 through August 1489. The reigning emperor was Go-Tsuchimikado''-tennō'' (後土御門天皇). Ch ...

'' (1487–1489) * ''

Entoku was a after ''Chōkyō'' and before '' Meiō''. This period spanned the years from August 1489 through July 1492. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1489 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The old era en ...

'' (1489–1492)

Notes

References

* Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron''. Brisbane:

University of Queensland Press University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1948 as a traditional university press, UQP now publishes books for general readers across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's ...

.
OCLC 7574544
* Keene, Donald. (2003)
''Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan''.
New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

.
OCLC 52268947
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 585069
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashikaga, Yoshimasa

15th-century shōguns People of the Muromachi period

Yoshimasa 1440s in Japan 1450s in Japan 1460s in Japan 1470s in Japan 1480s in Japan 15th-century Japanese people 15th-century monarchs in Asia