was a Japanese ''

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 ...

'' of the

Muromachi 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 ...

and

Sengoku The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various s ...

periods, and the head of the

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese Samurai kin group or clan. Ancestors # Emperor Jimmu # Emperor Suizei # Emperor Annei # Emperor Itoku # Emperor Kōshō # Emperor Kōan # Emperor Kōrei # Emperor Kōgen # Emperor Kaika # Emperor Sujin # Emperor Suinin # Emper ...

. Harumoto's childhood name was Sōmei-maru (聡明丸). He was born to

Hosokawa Sumimoto was a samurai commander in the Muromachi period during the 16th century of Japan. Sumimoto was one of the few sons of Hosokawa Yoshiharu and an adopted son of Hosokawa Masamoto, who was the Kanrei of the Ashikaga shogunate. His roots was the Hos ...

, another renowned samurai of the Muromachi era.

Early life

Harumoto succeeded to a house at the age of seven, after his father's death in 1520. While still a minor, he was supported by his caretaker Miyoshi Motonaga. His childhood name was Rokurō ().

Shogun Deputy (''Kanrei'')

In 1531, Harumoto defeated

Hosokawa Takakuni Hosokawa Takakuni (, 1484 – 17 July 1531) was the most powerful military commander in the Muromachi period under Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the twelfth ''shōgun''. His father was Hosokawa Masaharu, a member of the branch of the Hosokawa clan. His ch ...

, and regained the power. In addition, he feared Motonaga who had got credit and killed him next year. After that, Harumoto ruled the whole area of

Kinai is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kinai ...

(

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the ''Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyoto its ...

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, the ...

Kawachi Province was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in the past, with Kawachi ...

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 t ...

and

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

) and took hold 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 establ ...

as the

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 1543, Hosokawa Ujitsuna who was the foster son of Takakuni, raised his armies, and in 1549,

Miyoshi Nagayoshi , eldest son of Miyoshi Motonaga, was a Japanese samurai and powerful ''daimyō'' who ruled seven provinces of Kansai. Nagayoshi held the court titles of Shūri-dayū (修理太夫) and Chikuzen no Kami (筑前守), and was also known by the more ...

who was a dominant retainer and the first son of Motonaga betrayed Harumoto and took side with Ujitsuna. Because of that, Harumoto was defeated. Harumoto,

Ashikaga Yoshiteru , also known as Yoshifushi or Yoshifuji, was the 13th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1546 to 1565 during the late Muromachi period of Japan. He was the eldest son of the 12th ''shōgun'', Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and his mother ...

who was the 13th

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 ...

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 ...

'' and

Ashikaga Yoshiharu was the twelfth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate from 1521 through 1546 during the late Muromachi period of Japan.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982). ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron'', p. 332. He was the son of the eleventh ''shōgun'' Ashi ...

who was the father of Yoshiteru were purged to

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countrie ...

Retirement

Harumoto and Yoshiteru had battled quite hard with Nagayoshi for the power of the Ashikaga shogunate. However, Harumoto was beaten, and he retired after he reconciled himself with Nagayoshi in 1561.

Death

Harumoto died from a disease in 1563. The head family of the

broke down as a result of his death.

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Seitai-in * Wives: ** daughter of Sanjo Kin'yori ** daughter of Rokkaku Sadayori * Children: ** Hosokawa Akimoto (1548–1615) ** Hosokawa Haruyuki ** daughter married

Asakura Yoshikage was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period (1467–1603) who ruled a part of Echizen Province in present-day Fukui Prefecture. He was a regent of Ashikaga Shogunate. Yoshikage's conflicts with Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) resulted in his deat ...

** daughter married Inoo Sadamune ** daughter married Daidoji Akiei

References

* 1514 births 1563 deaths Daimyo Keichō-Hosokawa clan {{Daimyo-stub