Born the second son of Imagawa Norikuni. His birth is dated to Karyaku 1 (1326), though some say 1325. The Imagawa were Ashikaga kin and later became shugo daimyo based in Suruga. His common name was Rokuro.
In the Nanbokucho wars and the Kannō Disturbance he served Takauji and Yoshiakira and won merit. Amid fierce politics he guarded his house and gained experience as a commander. The ground for his later great post in Kyushu was laid then.
To check the strong Southern Court Kikuchi and others in Kyushu, the bakufu named Sadayo Kyushu tandai. He prepared carefully, won local warriors, and advanced on Dazaifu. So began his long rule of Kyushu.
He took Dazaifu in Chikuzen and forced the Southern Court back. By slowly building an encirclement he pressed the brave Kikuchi Takemitsu and others. As tandai he tried to unite northern Kyushu for the bakufu and spread its authority west.
At Mizushima in Higo he suspected and killed his ally Shoni Fuyusuke. The Shoni, Shimazu and Otomo turned against him, and the tandai risked isolation. The failure, against his usual caution, long plagued his Kyushu rule.
By persistent attack he took the Kikuchi base, Kikuchi Castle. He kept pressing Southern strongholds such as Yatsushiro and by the early 1390s had largely subdued Southern forces in Kyushu. Pacification came after long war.
Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu recalled him and dismissed him as Kyushu tandai. Strained ties with great daimyo and fear of his power are cited as causes. Shibukawa Mitsuyori succeeded him. Over twenty years of Kyushu rule ended abruptly.
Taking vows as Ryoshun, he wrote while living in Suruga and elsewhere. In Oei 9 he finished the Nantaiheiki, telling Imagawa deeds, his own stance, and grievances toward bakufu politics for his descendants. As a poet he left many works.
He mixed with Reizei Tameyuki, Shotetsu and others, writing poetic treatises and travel notes. In old age away from war he lived long in letters. It was a calm, learned life in contrast to the strain of his tandai years.
Family records say he died in Oei 27 (1420), but some notes imply he was already dead by 1418; the year is debated. He was about ninety. Warrior and poet, his life is told as emblematic of early Muromachi.
Ashikaga YoshimitsuAshikaga TakaujiHosokawa Yoriyuki
Nitta YoshisadaAshikaga TakaujiAshikaga TadayoshiNijō YoshimotoHosokawa YoriyukiAshikaga YoshiakiraKan'amiAshikaga Motouji
People of the Muromachi period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.