was a ''

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

'' general in the service of the

Ashikaga 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 ...

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. The present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the Northern Cou ...

, during Japan's

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

Life

In 1338, he was sent by

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Murom ...

to assist in the defence of the

Kuromaru The , or "Black Fortress", was a fortress of the ''Kanrei'' Shiba Takatsune located in Echizen Province (present-day Nittazuka, Fukui, Fukui Prefecture) in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It was attacked twice during the Nanboku-chō Wars of t ...

, a fortress belonging to ''

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 ...

Shiba Takatsune 　 was the Constable (''shugo'') of Echizen Province during the 14th century Nanboku-chō Wars in Japan. He acted to block the northward progress of Nitta Yoshisada, who supported the Emperor's Southern Court against the ''shōgun''s Northern C ...

. His men clashed with fifty horsemen under the command of

Nitta Yoshisada was a samurai lord of the Nanboku-chō period Japan. He was the head of the Nitta clan in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period. He famously marched on Kamakura, besieging ...

, one of the more famous commanders of the rival Southern Court. Nitta was mortally wounded by an arrow in this exchange. In 1347, he faced

Kusunoki Masatsura , along with his father Masashige and brothers Masanori and Masatoki, was a supporter of the Southern Imperial Court during Japan's Nanbokucho Wars. Masatsura was one of the primary military leaders who revived the Southern Court in the 1340s. ...

at Sakai no ura in

Izumi Province :''The characters ''泉州'' are also used for the name of the Chinese city of Quanzhou''. was a province of Japan in the area of southern Osaka Prefecture. Tango bordered on Kii to the south, Yamato and Kawachi to the west, and Settsu to ...

. Hosokawa was greatly outnumbered, and so he broke off his attack. He was followed by Kusunoki, and was defeated in a night attack at Kawachi, suffering numerous casualties. Hosokawa fell back to Tennoji, and was defeated again, despite the aid of

Yamana Tokiuji Yamana may refer to: * Yamana, Astrakhan Oblast, Russia * Yamana clan, a Japanese clan * Yamana Gold, a Canadian-based gold mining company operating in South and Central America * Yahgan people in Chile and Argentina * Yahgan language Yahgan o ...

. Though Kusunoki was defeated and killed soon afterwards, at the Battle of Shijō Nawate, Hosokawa Akiuji did not take part. In 1352, he helped

Ashikaga Yoshiakira was the second ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1358 to 1367 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshiakira was the son of the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Takauji. His mother was ...

in pushing back Loyalist forces to Anau.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hosokawa, Akiuji 1352 deaths Samurai Ōshū-Hosokawa clan Year of birth missing