was the fourth ''

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 1394 to 1423 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 ...

. Yoshimochi was the son of the third ''shōgun''

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).

Succession and rule

In 1394, Yoshimitsu gave up his title in favor of his young son, and Yoshimochi was formally confirmed in his office as '' Sei-i Taishōgun''. Despite any appearance of retirement, the old ''shōgun'' didn't abandon any of his powers, and Yoshimitsu continued to maintain authority over the shogunate until his death. Yoshimochi exercised unfettered power as ''shōgun'' only after his father died in 1408. In 1398, during the sixth year of the reign of King

Taejo of Joseon Taejo of Joseon (4 November 1335 – 27 June 1408), born Yi Seong-gye (), was the founder and first ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. After ascending to the throne, he changed his name to Yi Dan (), and reigned from 1392 to 1398. He was ...

, a diplomatic mission was sent to Japan.

Pak Tong-chi Bak Don-ji () was a Korean scholar-bureaucrat, diplomat and ambassador, representing Joseon interests in the '' tongsinsa'' (diplomatic mission) to the Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bafuku'') in Japan.Kang, Etsuko H. (1997)''Diplomacy and Ideology ...

and his retinue arrived in Kyoto in 1398 (''

Ōei was a after ''Meitoku'' and before ''Shōchō''. This period spanned the years from July 1394 through April 1428. Reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1394 : The new era name was created because of plague. The previous era ended and a ...

5, 8th month''). Shogun Yoshimochi presented the envoy with a formal diplomatic letter; and presents were given for the envoy to convey to the Joseon court. In 1408, Yoshimochi comes into his own as a ''shōgun''. The next year

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 ...

becomes

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 ...

.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: the Tokushi Yoron,'' p. 330. In 1411, Yoshimochi breaks off relations with China.Sansom, George. (1961).

Emperor Go-Komatsu was the 100th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後小松天皇 (100) retrieved 2013-8-28. and the sixth and final Emperor of the Northern Court. He is officially cons ...

abdicates in 1413, therefore

Emperor Shōkō was the 101st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')称光天皇 (101) retrieved 2013-8-28. His reign spanned the years from 1412 through 1428. Genealogy His personal name w ...

ascends the throne in repudiation of an agreement. This resulted in renewed hostility between the shogunate and supporters of

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 definitively ...

. Dissension erupts between

, the

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 ...

in Kamakura, and

Uesugi Zenshū , also known as Uesugi Ujinori, was the chief advisor to Ashikaga Mochiuji, an enemy of the Ashikaga shogunate in feudal Japan. When he was rebuked by Mochiuji in 1415, and forced to resign, Zenshū organized a rebellion. Zenshū received aid f ...

(the Kantō

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 ...

) in 1415, and the Uesugi rebels the following year, but it was quelled by Mochiuji by 1417. A Korean attack on Tsushima (

Ōei Invasion The , known as the Gihae Expedition ( (己亥東征)) or Conquest of Tsushima (대마도 정벌(對馬島征伐)) in Korean, was a 1419 invasion from Joseon against wokou (Japanese pirate) bases on Tsushima Island, which is located in the middle ...

) happened in 1419, and serious famine with great loss of life occurred the next year. In 1422, there was a resurgence in supporters of the Southern Court. Yoshimochi cedes authority to his son in 1423, but he had to retake responsibilities of the office of ''shōgun'' when his son died in 1425.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron, p. 330.'' Yoshimochi followed his father's example by formally ceding his powers to a young son, 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 ...

, who was then 18.

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Fujiwara no Yoshiko (1358–1399) * Wife: Hino Eiko (1390–1431) * Concubines: ** Tokudaiji Toshiko ** Kohyoe-dono * Children: **

Era of Yoshimochi's ''bakufu''

The years in which Yoshimochi 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 ''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, * ''

'' (1394–1428)

Notes

References

* Ackroyd, Joyce I. (1982) ''Lessons from History: the Tokushi Yoron''. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
OCLC 7574544
* Kang, Etsuko Hae-jin. (1997). ''Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese–Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century''. Basingstoke, Hampshire; Macmillan. ; * Sansom, George Bailey (1961)
''A History of Japan: 1334–1615''.
Stanford: Stanford University Press. ; * 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
{{Authority control

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, ...

14th-century shōguns 15th-century shōguns Yoshimochi Yoshimochi