Born at Ichijōdani, seat of his father Asakura Takakage, the Sengoku daimyō of Echizen (Fukui). The Asakura had ruled Echizen since about the time of the Ōnin War, and the castle town of Ichijōdani flourished as a place where Kyoto culture bloomed.
When his father died suddenly, he succeeded at 16 by the traditional count and became the 11th head of the Asakura, at first under the name Nobukage. Asakura Sōteki, a famed general of the clan who had served his father, supported the young lord.
He received the character "Yoshi" from the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and changed his name to Yoshikage. As shugo of Echizen, the Asakura were closely tied to the shogunate and respected as a distinguished daimyō house.
In the midst of fighting the Ikkō uprising in Kaga, Sōteki died of illness. Losing the pillar who had long supported the Asakura was a heavy blow to Yoshikage.
Around this time many nobles, monks and men of culture fleeing war-torn Kyoto gathered at Ichijōdani. Yoshikage loved waka, renga, the tea ceremony and painting, and enjoyed a brilliant cultural life, holding a winding-stream poetry party by the river with guests from Kyoto.
Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who had lost his brother Yoshiteru, took refuge in Echizen and asked for help to return to Kyoto. Yoshikage entertained him generously but was slow to send troops to march on the capital.
His eldest son and heir, Kumagimimaru, died suddenly as a small child, and Yoshikage grieved deeply. The same year, tired of waiting, Yoshiaki left Echizen for Oda Nobunaga and entered Kyoto with him.
Having ignored Nobunaga's summons to Kyoto, he was attacked by him. Nobunaga withdrew when Azai Nagamasa betrayed him and joined the Asakura, but later that year at the Battle of Anegawa the Azai–Asakura forces were beaten by the Oda–Tokugawa army.
That autumn he took up position on Mount Hiei with the Azai army, facing Nobunaga (the Shiga campaign). When winter came, he made peace with Nobunaga through the mediation of the shogun Yoshiaki and the court.
Takeda Shingen marched west and the encirclement against Nobunaga tightened. Yoshikage too took the field in Ōmi (Shiga), but when winter came he withdrew his troops to Echizen, disappointing Shingen, it is said.
He marched to help the Azai, who were under attack by Nobunaga, but was defeated and fled back to Ichijōdani. After moving on to Ōno he was betrayed by his kinsman Asakura Kageakira and took his own life. Ichijōdani was burned and the Asakura were destroyed. The town's remains survive today as the Ichijōdani Asakura Family Historic Ruins.
Takeda ShingenAshikaga YoshiteruAshikaga YoshiakiAzai NagamasaOda Nobunaga
Ōtomo SōrinKikkawa MotoharuLuís FróisKobayakawa TakakageShimazu YoshihisaŌmura SumitadaOda NobunagaHosokawa Yūsai (Fujitaka)
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.