He was born the son of Ashikaga Takauji. His mother was Takauji's principal wife Akahashi Toshiko, making him the full younger brother of Ashikaga Yoshiakira, later the second shogun. His childhood name is said to have been Kamewakamaru. His father had only just founded the Muromachi shogunate, and fighting with the Southern Court still continued in many places.
His brother Yoshiakira, who had governed the Kantō from Kamakura, was called back to Kyoto to take charge of shogunate politics. In his place Motouji went down to Kamakura and became the Kamakura kubō, ruling the Kantō. He was a boy of nine, and the Kantō kanrei Uesugi Noriaki and Kō no Morofuyu supported the young Motouji in governing.
The Kannō Disturbance, the struggle between Takauji and his brother Tadayoshi, intensified. Motouji is also said to have been adopted by his uncle Tadayoshi, and he found himself in a painful position between his father and uncle. Warriors of both sides clashed in the Kantō too, and his guardian Kō no Morofuyu lost his life after being defeated by Tadayoshi's faction.
His uncle Tadayoshi, defeated in his struggle with Takauji, died in Kamakura. Rumors say he was poisoned, but nothing is certain. In the same year Motouji held his coming-of-age ceremony and entered adulthood. The death of the uncle who had cherished him is thought to have deeply affected the boy.
When Takauji returned to Kyoto, Motouji left Kamakura and set up camp at Irumagawa in Musashi Province. This was to guard against the Nitta forces of the Southern Court, and he stayed there for about nine years, uniting the warriors of the Kantō. For this reason he is also called "Lord Irumagawa".
His father Takauji died in Kyoto, and his brother Yoshiakira became the second shogun. In the same year Nitta Yoshioki, who had been active in the Kantō for the Southern Court, met his end at the Yaguchi crossing in Musashi. Working together with his brother in Kyoto, Motouji devoted himself to defending and stabilizing the Kantō.
The Kantō shitsuji Hatakeyama Kunikiyo had led Kantō troops against the Southern Court in the Kinai but achieved little, drawing the discontent of the warriors. Motouji heeded the warriors' complaints and removed Kunikiyo, thereafter standing at the center of government himself. This greatly strengthened the power of the Kamakura kubō.
He recalled as Kantō kanrei Uesugi Noriaki, who had once been removed for siding with Tadayoshi. Against the army of Haga Zenka, a chief retainer of the Utsunomiya who opposed this, he fought at Iwadonoyama in Musashi, leading his troops in person to victory. From then on the post of Kantō kanrei was handed down in the Uesugi family.
This year he was raised to the junior third rank. Motouji deeply respected the Zen monk Gidō Shūshin, who had come to Kamakura, and often received his teachings. He also learned the shō from the court musician Toyohara Nariaki and enjoyed music. While a commander who went into battle, he is also known as a cultured man who valued learning and the arts.
He contracted measles and died this year at the young age of twenty-seven. His son Ashikaga Ujimitsu succeeded him as the second Kamakura kubō. The system Motouji built became the foundation of the Kamakura government that ruled the Kantō. Later Kamakura kubō, however, often clashed with the shogun in Kyoto, sowing the seeds of turmoil in the Kantō.
Ashikaga TakaujiAshikaga Yoshiakira
Imagawa Sadayo (Ryōshun)Hosokawa YoriyukiAshikaga YoshiakiraKan'amiShiba YoshimasaAshikaga YoshimitsuZeamiShō Hashi
People of the Muromachi period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.