was the sixth ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators 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, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' of the

Ashikaga shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establi ...

who reigned from 1429 to 1441 during the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Yoshinori was the son of the third ''

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the third '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu ...

. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). His childhood name was Harutora ().

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Fujiwara no Yoshiko (1358–1399) * Wives: ** Hino Muneko (d. 1447) ** Sanjo Yoshiko, daughter of Sanjo Masaaki * Concubines: ** Hino Shigeko (1411–1463) ** Kozaisho no Tsubone ** Shoben-dono ** Otomi no Kata, daughter of Tamagawa no Miya and granddaughter of

Emperor Chōkei was the 98th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned from 1368 through 1383. His personal name was Yutanari (寛成) and his regal name roughly translates to "Long Celebration". Genealogy His father was ...

* Children: **

Ashikaga Yoshikatsu was the seventh '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1442 to 1443 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshikatsu was the son of 6th '' shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshinori with his concubine, Hino Shigeko (1411–1463). His child ...

by Shigeko **

Ashikaga Yoshimasa Ashikaga (足利) may refer to: * Ashikaga clan (足利氏 ''Ashikaga-shi''), a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Minamoto clan; and that formed the basis of the eponymous shogunate ** Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府 ''Ashikaga bakufu''), a ...

by Shigeko ** Daijin'in by Shigeko ** Ashikaga Yoshikano later Shogoin by Shigeko ** a daughter by Kozaisho **

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 approac ...

by Kozaisho ** Ashikaga Masatomo (1435–1491) by Shoben ** Ashikaga Yoshinaga by Shoben ** Kosho'in ** Sankyo

Shogunal succession

After the death of the Fifth ''shōgun''

Ashikaga Yoshikazu was the fifth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1423 to 1425 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshikazu was the son of the fourth ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshimochi. Yoshimochi ceded power to his son, and Yoshikazu became ...

in 1425, The Fourth ''Shōgun''

Ashikaga Yoshimochi was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1394 to 1423 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimochi was the son of the third ''shōgun'' Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Succession and rule In 1394, ...

resumed his role as head of the

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military dictators 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, though during part of the Kamakur ...

. Yoshimochi had no other sons, nor did he name a successor before he himself died in 1428. Yoshinori, who had been a Buddhist monk since the age of ten, became '' Sei-i Taishōgun'' on the day of Yoshimochi's death. From amongst the handful of possible Ashikaga candidates, his name was selected by the shogunal deputy (''

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''. Originally, from 1219 until ...

''),

Hatakeyama Mitsuie Hatakeyama (written: 畠山 or 畑山) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese rhythmic gymnast *, Japanese electronic musician *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese rugby union player *, Japanese shogi player ...

, who drew lots in the sanctuary of Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

; and it was believed that Hachiman's influence had affected this auspicious choice.Keene, Donald. (2003). Significant events which shaped the period during which Yoshinori was ''shōgun'': * 1429 – Yoshinori appointed ''shōgun''.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron'', p. 330. * 1430 – The Southern Court's army surrenders. * 1432 –

Akamatsu Mitsusuke was a Japanese samurai of the Akamatsu clan during the Muromachi Period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005) "''Kaikitsu-no-hen,''"''Japan encyclopedia,'' p. 456. Early life Mitsusuke was the son of Akamatusu Yoshinori. Assassin In 1441, Mi ...

flees; Yoshinori receives rescript from China. * 1433 – Ōtomo rebels;

Hieizan is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

monks rebel. * 1434 – Tosen bugyō established to regulate foreign affairs.Kinihara, Misako
''The Establishment of the Tosen-bugyō 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''. Abstract. * 1436 – Yasaka Pagoda at Hokanji in Kyoto destroyed by fire.
/ref> * 1438 –

Kantō kubō (also called , , or ) was a title equivalent to ''shōgun'' assumed by Ashikaga Motouji after his nomination to ''Kantō kanrei'', or deputy shōgun for the Kamakura-fu, in 1349.Kokushi Daijiten (1983:542) Motouji transferred his original title t ...

Ashikaga Mochiuji Ashikaga Mochiuji (, 1398–1439) was the Kamakura-fu's fourth Kantō kubō during the Sengoku period (15th century) in Japan. During his long and troubled rule the relationship between the west and the east of the country reached an all-time lo ...

rebels – Eikyō Rebellion. * 1439 – Mochiuji commits suicide; dissatisfaction with Yoshinori grows. * 1440 – Yasaka Pagoda at Hokanji in Kyoto re-constructed by Yoshinori. * 1441 – Yoshinori grants Shimazu suzerainty over the

Ryūkyū Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

; Akamatsu murders Yoshinori – Kakitsu Incident; Yamana kills Akamatsu. Yoshinori strengthened the power of the shogunate by defeating

in the Eikyo Rebellion of 1438. During the period, Chinese contacts were increased and

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

Buddhism gained influence, which had broad cultural consequences.JAANUS (Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System)
''Kitayama bunka''(北山文化).
/ref> For example, the ''

Hon-dō Main hall is the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English t ...

'' or main hall at Ikkyu-ji is today the oldest standing

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

-style temple in the Yamashiro (southern Kyoto Prefecture) and Yamato (Nara Prefecture) Provinces. It was built in 1434 and was dedicated by Yoshinori.

Foreign relations

In 1432, trade and diplomatic relations between

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

] were restored. Both had been discontinued by Yoshimochi. The Chinese emperor reached out to Japan by sending a letter to the shogunate via the Realm, kingdom of the Ryūkyū Islands; Yoshinori responded favorably. 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 ''shōgun'', temples, and the

shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The pos ...

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 n ...

''.

Assassination

Yoshinori was notorious for his oppressive measures and unpredictable dictatorial whims. In 1441, Yoshinori was assassinated by Akamatsu Noriyasu, son of

who invited him to a

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

performance at their residence and assassinated him during the evening play. Yoshinori was 48 at the age of his assassination which was organized by Mitsusuke, who had learned that Yoshinori planned to bestow three provinces belonging to him to his cousin Akamatsu Sadamura, who came to be given an important position by Yoshinori because Sadamura's younger sister became his concubine and gave birth to a son. Shortly thereafter, it was determined that his 8-year-old son, Yoshikatsu, would become the new ''shōgun''. Akamatsu Mitsusuke had already a problem in 1427 with the fifth Shogun

, who tried to confiscate his territory; Mitsusuke burned down his own residence in Kyoto and went to Harima province, and gathered his family to prepare for the battle. This infuriated Yoshimochi, who ordered to search and kill them, but the confusion continued as those who were ordered to subjugate them refused to dispatch troops. Also died in the incident Yamana Hirotaka (Shugo of Iwami province), Kyogoku Takakazu (Shugo of Yamashiro, Izumo, Oki and Hida provinces), and Ouchi Mochiyo (Shugo of Suo, Nagato, Buzen and Chikuzen provinces). Mitsusuke confined himself in Yamashiro Castle, and died with 69 members of his family on October 12, after he was attacked by the shogunal army. Although the Ashikaga line continued through this seventh shogun, the power of the ''shōguns'' gradually eroded and the shogunate fell into decline. The mere fact of that assassination and treason had become a reality served to undercut the previous military ethic of loyalty.

Eras of Yoshinori's ''bakufu''

The years in which Yoshinori was shogun 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 ''regnum'' 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 ...

or ''

nengō The , also known as , 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 ""), followed by the literal ...

''.Titsingh, *''

Eikyō was a after ''Shōchō'' and before '' Kakitsu''. This period spanned the years from September 1429 through February 1441. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1429 : The era name was changed to mark the beginning of the reign of Empero ...

'' (1429–1441) *''

Kakitsu was a after ''Eikyō'' and before '' Bun'an''. This period spanned the years from February 1441 through February 1444. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1451 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The prev ...

'' (1441–1444)

Notes

References

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

University of Queensland Press Established in 1948, University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house. Founded as a traditional university press, UQP has since branched into publishing books for general readers in the areas of fiction, non-fiction, poetr ...

.
OCLC 7574544
* Blum, Mark Laurence and Shinʼya Yasutomi. (2005)
''Rennyo and the Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism.''
New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, USA. (cloth) * Crompton, Louis, ''Homosexuality and Civilization'', Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2003. * 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, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

.
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 , ', 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