Who was this person?
The eighth Muromachi shogun. Feuds among powerful governors, including over his succession, led to the Ōnin War (1467–1477), which badly weakened the shogunate. Yet he built the Silver Pavilion (Jishō-ji) in Higashiyama, Kyoto, and fostered Higashiyama culture: shoin architecture, the tea ceremony and flower arranging.
| Name | Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利義政) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1436 – 1490 |
| Period | Muromachi period |
| Birthplace | Kyoto |
| Also known as | Higashiyama-dono, Yoshishige (earlier name) |
| Main achievements |
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Born a son of the 6th shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori, a ruler feared for his harshness.
His father Yoshinori was killed by the military governor Akamatsu Mitsusuke (Kakitsu Incident). His brother Yoshikatsu became the 7th shogun but died young two years later, making Yoshimasa heir.
At 13 he became the 8th shogun, but real power lay with his mother Hino Shigeko, his favorites and the great military governors.
He married Hino Tomiko, who would later wield great influence over politics and finances.
In a great famine the Kamo River in Kyoto was said to be choked with the dead. Even so Yoshimasa pressed on with rebuilding his palace and was reportedly admonished by the emperor.
Having no son, he brought his brother Yoshimi back from the priesthood as heir. But the next year Tomiko bore a son, Yoshihisa.
The shogunal succession dispute combined with succession feuds in the Hatakeyama and Shiba houses and the rivalry of Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen to ignite the Ōnin War. Kyoto became a battlefield for eleven years and many temples and mansions burned. Yoshimasa could not stop the fighting.
In the year Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen both died, he passed the shogunate to Yoshihisa, then 8.
The lords withdrew to their provinces and the Ōnin War finally ended. But the shogunate was weakened, and an age of gekokujō—the low overthrowing the high—spread across the land.
He began building a villa at Higashiyama in Kyoto (Higashiyama-dono) and lived there. Withdrawn from politics, he enjoyed tea, flower arrangement, garden-making and ink painting; the gardener Zen'ami and painter Kanō Masanobu were active there.
He took vows. The Dōjinsai room in the villa's Tōgudō, with tatami, staggered shelves and a built-in desk in shoin-zukuri style, became a model for today's Japanese rooms.
Shogun Yoshihisa died young while campaigning in Ōmi. That year the villa's Kannon Hall (later the Silver Pavilion) was raised, becoming the emblem of Higashiyama culture with its quiet, austere beauty.
He died at 54 without seeing the Silver Pavilion completed. Politically he could not prevent war, but Higashiyama culture left a deep mark on Japanese life and culture today.
A. The eighth Muromachi shogun. Feuds among powerful governors, including over his succession, led to the Ōnin War (1467–1477), which badly weakened the shogunate. Yet he built the Silver Pavilion (Jishō-ji) in Higashiyama, Kyoto, and fostered Higashiyama culture: shoin architecture, the tea ceremony and flower arranging.
A. Period: Muromachi period. Born in 1436, died in 1490.
A. Ashikaga Yoshimasa was born in Kyoto.
A. A great civil war that lasted about eleven years from 1467. Succession disputes in the shogunal and deputy-shogunal houses merged with the rivalry of Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen, and much of Kyoto burned. It is seen as the road into the Sengoku period.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Akamatsu MitsusukeAshikaga YoshinoriYamana SōzenIchijō KaneyoshiHosokawa KatsumotoHino TomikoAsakura Takakage (Toshikage)Hatakeyama Masanaga
SōgiAsakura Takakage (Toshikage)Hosokawa KatsumotoŌta DōkanAshikaga YoshimiHino TomikoHatakeyama MasanagaHosokawa Masamoto
People of the Muromachi period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.