was a leading military commander 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 ...

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

(modern-day

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

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 ...

. The characters for his name can also be read as Toki Nariyori. He became the eighth head of the

Toki clan The is a Japanese kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 61 retrieved 2013-5-9. History The Toki claim descent from Minamot ...

at the age of 15Jinbun Tenji-shitsu
Gifu Prefectural Museum. Accessed May 8, 2008. and was the adopted son of Toki Mochimasu. His sons included

Toki Masafusa was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 61 retrieved 2013-5-9. Masafusa was the son ...

and Toki Motoyori. After becoming a priest later in life, his name was changed to Muneyasu (宗安). His remains are at Zuiryū-ji in the city of

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

Rise to power

When Mochimasu's eldest son, Toki Mochikane (土岐持兼) died, Mochikane's son was selected to be the next ''

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 ...

'' (governor) of Mino Province. However,

Saitō Toshinaga was a ''daimyō'' during Japan's Muromachi period. He was the son of Saitō Sōen (斎藤宗円), ''shugo'' of Mino Province, and the older brother of Saitō Myōchin, making him the uncle of the warlord Saitō Dōsan. By his first wife, he was t ...

, a ''

shugodai were officials during feudal Japan. Shugodai were representatives of provincial shugo when the shugo could not exercise his power, being often away from his province. Unlike shugo, who were appointed from the central power, shugodai were locally ...

'' (vice-governor), pushed Shigeyori to be the next ''shugo''. At the time, Shigeyori was a member of the related

Isshiki clan is a Japanese kin group of the Sengoku period. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Isshiki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 16 retrieved 2013-5-25. History The clan clai ...

, but was adopted by Mochimasu and succeeded him in 1467. This is one of the many examples during the middle part of the Muromachi period in which the ''shugodai'' usurped the power of the ''shugo''; the

Saitō clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that ruled Mino province in the Sengoku period. The clan appropriated the name of a defunct samurai clan named "Saitō" that had previously hailed from Echizen province and claimed descent from Fujiwara Toshihit ...

even had its own power usurped later on. In 1467, Shigeyori fought for the western armies in 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 ...

. He commanded a group of 8,000 men and fought with the forces stationed 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 ...

; his actions protected the life of

Saitō Myōchin was a ''daimyō'' and a monk during the Sengoku periodUta de Megutta Shiro
. Gujo City. Access ...

, the current ''shugodai'' of Mino Province. Afterwards, the Tomishima (富島氏 ''Tomishima-shi'') and Nagae (長江氏 ''Nagae-shi'') clans sided with the eastern armies and a civil war broke out within Mino Province, but Myōchin was able to defeat them. Because there were fears that the eastern armies would be able to take control of an influence the ''

bakufu , 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 ...

'', the western armies worked to gain organize and join with powerful shrines and other strong groups. Through this, Myōchin was able to extend his power to Owari,

Ise Ise may refer to: Places *Ise, Mie, a city in Japan **Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie *Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria *Ise, Norway, a village in Norway *Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan *River Ise, a tributary of the R ...

, Ōmi and Hida provinces and Shigeyori was able to exert more influence over the western armies.

Return to Mino Province

In 1477, after the end of the

, Shigeyori gave sanctuary to

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 approached ...

and his son

Ashikaga Yoshitane , also known as , was the 10th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who headed the shogunate first from 1490 to 1493 and then again from 1508 to 1521 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshitane was the son of Ashikaga Yoshimi and grandson o ...

, the nominal heads of the western armies, he returned home to Mino Province. Yoshimi and Yoshitane spent the following eleven years living in

Kawate Castle was a castle that existed between the Nanboku-chō period and the Sengoku period. Its ruins are located in the present-day city of Gifu, Gifu, Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. An alternative way to write its name in Japanese is 革手城, which has ...

. After Myōchin died in 1480,

Saitō Myōjun Saitō, Saito, Saitou or Saitoh (written: or ) are the 20th and 21st most common Japanese surnames respectively. Less common variants are , , and . Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese sailor *, Japanese women's footballer *, Jap ...

and Saitō Toshifuji fought for the right to succeed Myōchin. Myōjun won and further strengthened the power of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toki, Shigeyori Daimyo 1442 births 1497 deaths