was a ''daimyō'' of the

Hatakeyama clan The was a Japanese samurai clan. Originally a branch of the Taira clan and descended from Taira no Takamochi, they fell victim to political intrigue in 1205, when Hatakeyama Shigeyasu, first, and his father Shigetada later were killed in battle ...

and, according to some accounts, invented the '' horo'', a stiffened cloak used by messengers and bodyguards to improve their visibility on the battlefield, and to act as an arrow-catcher. Masanaga is most well known for his disputes in 1467 with

Hatakeyama Yoshinari was a Japanese samurai and feudal lord (''daimyō'') of the Muromachi period (early 15th century), who is most known for his rivalry with Hatakeyama Masanaga over the position of Kanrei, or Shōgun's Deputy. This rivalry grew out of the larger ...

over the position of

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 ...

. This grew out of the larger conflict between

Hosokawa Katsumoto was one of the Kanrei, the Deputies to the 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, which sparked the 1 ...

and

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 ''daimyōs'' who fought against Hosokawa Katsumoto during the Ōnin War in Heian-kyō. Biography Yam ...

, which escalated into 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 during which the war started; the war ended during the Bunmei ...

. Masanaga and Yoshinari were largely stalemated for much of this period, as Yamana and Hosokawa Katsumoto warned that the first to engage in battle within the capital would be declared a rebel. Becoming a "rebel" meant losing alliances as well as honor. Both were soon sucked into the larger war, however, and Hatakeyama Masanaga ended up fighting Ōuchi Masahiro, one of Yamana's generals.

References

Taira clan Hatakeyama clan People of Muromachi-period Japan 1442 births 1493 deaths {{samurai-stub