Ashikaga Yoshinori 足利 義教
Shōgun
In office 1428–1441
Monarch	Go-Hanazono
Preceded by	Ashikaga Yoshikazu
Succeeded by	Ashikaga Yoshikatsu
Head Priest ofEnryaku-ji Temple
In office 1419–1428
Preceded by	Shōgon
Succeeded by	Chiben
Personal details
Born	(1394-07-12)July 12, 1394
Died	July 12, 1441(1441-07-12) (aged 47)
Spouse	Hino Muneko
Children	Ashikaga Yoshikatsu Ashikaga Masatomo Ashikaga Yoshimasa Ashikaga Yoshimi
Parents	Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (father) Fujiwara no Yoshiko (mother)
Signature

Ashikaga Yoshinori (足利 義教; July 12, 1394 – July 12, 1441) was the sixthshōgun of theAshikaga shogunate who reigned from 1429 to 1441 during theMuromachi period of medievalJapan. Yoshinori was the son of the thirdshōgunAshikaga Yoshimitsu.^[1] His childhood name was Harutora (春寅). In 1433, he initiated the compilation of the last imperialwaka anthology,Shinshoku Kokinwakashū, but was not satisfied with its compilation agenda which undermined his authority.^[2]

After the death of the fifthshōgunAshikaga Yoshikazu in 1425, the fourthShōgunAshikaga Yoshimochi resumed his role as head of theshogunate. Yoshimochi had no other sons, nor did he name a successor before he himself died in 1428.^[1]

Yoshinori, who had been a Buddhist monk since the age of ten,^[3] becameSei-i Taishōgun on the day of Yoshimochi's death. From amongst the handful of possible Ashikaga candidates, his name was selected by the shogunal deputy (Kanrei),Hatakeyama Mitsuie, who drew lots in the sanctuary ofIwashimizu Hachiman Shrine inKyoto; and it was believed thatHachiman's influence had affected this auspicious choice.^[4]

Yoshinori was appointedshōgun in 1429, one year before the surrender of theSouthern Court. However during his reign, several rebellions erupted, including the Ōtomo rebellion and the uprising of rebel monks onMount Hiei, both occurring in 1433; and the Eikyō Rebellion occurred under the leadership ofKantō kubōAshikaga Mochiuji in 1438.^[5] Yoshinori strengthened the power of the shogunate by defeating Mochiuji,^[6] who committed suicide the following year as dissatisfaction with Yoshinori continued to grow.^[7]

During this period, Ming Chinese contacts were increased andZen Buddhism gained influence, which had broad cultural consequences.^[6] For example, theHon-dō or main hall at Ikkyu-ji is today the oldest standingTang-style temple in the Yamashiro (southern Kyoto Prefecture) and Yamato (Nara Prefecture) Provinces. It was built in 1434 and was dedicated by Yoshinori.^[8]

The Yasaka Pagoda at Hokanji inKyoto was destroyed by fire in 1436 but was reconstructed four years later by Yoshinori.^[9]

Earlier in 1432, the samuraiAkamatsu Mitsusuke had fled the region^[10] and later murders Yoshinori in the Kakitsu Incident; Akamatsu is in turn killed by Yamana.^[11]

In 1432, trade and diplomatic relations between the shogunate and Ming China were restored. Both had been discontinued by Yoshimochi. The Chinese emperor reached out to Japan by sending a letter to the shogunate via thekingdom of theRyūkyū Islands; Yoshinori responded favorably.^[4][12] Receiving the Ming-designated title "King of Japan" allowed Yoshinori to monopolize Japan's trade with China, advantaging him over local lords.^[13]

According toMansai Jugo Nikki (満済准后日記), the system of theTosen-bugyō (唐船奉行) was established in 1434 to mediate overseas trade. The functions of theTosen-bugyō included: (1) guarding trading ships in Japanese waters, (2) procuring export goods, (3) mediating between the Muromachi shogunate and shipping interests, and (4) managing record-keeping. It is significant that the Muromachi shogunate was the first to appoint the executive officers of the samurai class to high positions in its diplomatic bureaucracy. After Yoshinori's time, thetotosen (渡唐船) (the fleet of ships going from Japan to Ming China) consisted of the ships belonging principally to three different kinds of owners: the Muromachishōgun, shrines and temples, and theshugodaimyō.^[14]

In 1441, Yoshinori granted theShimazu clan suzerainty over theRyūkyū Islands.^[11]

Yoshinori was notorious for his oppressive measures and unpredictable dictatorial whims.^[15] In 1441, Yoshinori was assassinated by Akamatsu Noriyasu, son ofAkamatsu Mitsusuke who invited him to aNoh performance at their residence in Kyoto and assassinated him during the evening play.^[16] Yoshinori was 47 at the age of his assassination which was organized by Mitsusuke, who had learned that Yoshinori planned to bestow three provinces belonging to him to his cousin Akamatsu Sadamura, who came to be given an important position by Yoshinori because Sadamura's younger sister became his concubine and gave birth to a son.^[17]

Shortly thereafter, it was determined that his 8-year-old son, Yoshikatsu, would become the newshōgun.^[18] Akamatsu Mitsusuke had already a problem in 1427 with the fifth ShogunAshikaga Yoshimochi, who tried to confiscate his territory; Mitsusuke burned down his own residence in Kyoto and went to own Harima province, and gathered his family and retainer to prepare for the battle. This infuriated Yoshimochi, who ordered to search and kill them, but the confusion continued as those who were ordered to subjugate them refused to dispatch troops.^{[citation needed]} Another person who died in the incident was Yamana Hirotaka (Shugo ofIwami province), Kyogoku Takakazu (Shugo ofYamashiro,Izumo,Oki andHida province), and Ouchi Mochiyo (Shugo ofSuo,Nagato,Buzen andChikuzen province). Mitsusuke confined himself in Yamashiro Castle, and died with 69 members of his family on October 12, after he was attacked by the shogunal army.^{[citation needed]}

Although the Ashikaga line continued through this seventh shogun, the power of theshōguns gradually eroded and the shogunate fell into decline.^[19] The mere fact of that assassination and treason had become a reality served to undercut the previous military ethic of loyalty.^[20]

• Father:Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
• Mother: Fujiwara no Yoshiko (1358–1399)
• Wives:
  • Hino Muneko (d. 1447)
  • Sanjo Yoshiko, daughter of Sanjo Masaaki
• Concubines:
  • Hino Shigeko (1411–1463)
  • Kozaisho no Tsubone
  • Shoben-dono
  • Otomi no Kata, daughter of Tamagawa no Miya and granddaughter ofEmperor Chōkei
• Children:
  • Ashikaga Yoshikatsu by Shigeko
  • Ashikaga Yoshimasa by Shigeko
  • Daijin'in by Shigeko
  • Ashikaga Yoshikano later Shogoin by Shigeko
  • a daughter by Kozaisho
  • Ashikaga Yoshimi by Kozaisho
  • Ashikaga Masatomo (1435–1491) by Shoben
  • Ashikaga Yoshinaga by Shoben
  • Kosho'in
  • Sankyo

The years in which Yoshinori was shogun are more specifically identified by more than oneera name ornengō.^[21]

• Eikyō (1429–1441)
• Kakitsu (1441–1444)

• Hakuseki, Arai. (1712).Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron. English translation and commentary by Joyce Ackroyd,University of Queensland Press, 1982.ISBN 9780702214851;OCLC 7574544
• Blum, Mark Laurence and Shinʼya Yasutomi. (2005).Rennyo and the Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism. New York:Oxford University Press, USA.ISBN 978-0-19-513275-5 (cloth)
• Crompton, Louis,Homosexuality and Civilization, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2003.
• Keene, Donald. (2003).Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan. New York:Columbia University Press.ISBN 978-0-231-13056-1;OCLC 52268947
• Kinihara, Misako."The Establishment of the Tosenbugyo in the Reign of Ashikaga Yoshinori" (唐船奉行の成立 : 足利義教による飯尾貞連の登用),Tokyo Woman's Christian University: Essays and Studies. Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 27–53.
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou,Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.OCLC 585069

• 1394 births
• 1441 deaths
• 15th-century Japanese people
• 15th-century shōguns
• Ashikaga shōguns
• Ashikaga clan
• Assassinated Japanese people

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