(March 3, 1439 – February 15, 1491) was the brother of

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 ...

Ashikaga Yoshimasa 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 ...

, and a rival for the succession in a dispute that would lead to 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 ...

Life

Yoshimi was the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of a Jōdo monastery when he was first approached in 1464 by

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 ...

, who wished to support a bid for Yoshimi to become shōgun. He originally sought to stick to his religious life, and had no desires to become shōgun. However, by 1464, he was convinced to join his brother, the shōgun, and assist him, putting himself into a position to be the next in the line of succession. The birth of the Shōgun's son placed Yoshimi in an awkward situation, making his succession no longer definite, but he remained as Yoshimasa's Deputy. Despite Yoshimi's support by Hosokawa, it was Hosokawa's opponent,

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 ...

, who stayed in Yoshimi's mansion for a time, and who attended a ceremony in March 1467 honoring the shōgun and his brother. Hosokawa did not attend, as he was preparing for the imminent war between himself and Yamana, who supported the succession of the shōgun's infant son

Ashikaga Yoshihisa was the 9th ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron'', p. 331. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth ''shōgun'' Ashi ...

. Following the initial battles between Hosokawa and Yamana within the capital (

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 ...

), the

turned into a war between Yoshimi and his brother the Shōgun. Through a set of complicated events, Yoshimi became one of Yamana's chief generals, and was declared a "rebel" by the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

, and stripped of his court rank. That same year, 1469, the shōgun officially named his son heir. Yamana and Hosokawa both died soon afterwards, in 1473, and the Ōnin War came to an end in 1477, along with Yoshimi's political aspirations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashikaga, Yoshimi Samurai Japanese Buddhist clergy

Yoshimi Yoshimi is a unisex Japanese given name and can also be used as a surname. Possible writings *佳美, meaning "excellent, beautiful" *良美, meaning "good, beautiful" *好美, meaning "like, beautiful" *芳美, meaning "fragrant, beautiful" P ...

1439 births 1491 deaths