Ashikaga Yoshiharu 足利 義晴
Shōgun
In office 1521–1545
Monarchs	Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara
Preceded by	Ashikaga Yoshitane
Succeeded by	Ashikaga Yoshiteru
Personal details
Born	(1511-04-02)April 2, 1511
Died	May 20, 1550(1550-05-20) (aged 39)
Spouse(s)	Keiju-in, daughter ofKonoe Hisamichi
Children	Ashikaga Yoshiteru Ashikaga Yoshiaki Ashikaga Shūkō Shiratori Yoshihisa Rigen Three daughters
Parents	Ashikaga Yoshizumi (father) Hino Akiko (mother)
Signature

Ashikaga Yoshiharu (足利 義晴; April 2, 1511 – May 20, 1550) was the twelfthshōgun of theAshikaga shogunate from 1521 through 1546 during the lateMuromachi period ofJapan.^[1] He was the son of the eleventhshōgunAshikaga Yoshizumi.^[2]

From a western perspective, Yoshiharu is significant, as he was shōgun when the first contact of Japan with theEuropean West took place in 1543. APortuguese ship, blown off its course toChina, landed in Japan. In 1526, Yoshiharu invited archers from neighbouring provinces to come to the capital for an archery contest.^[3]

His childhood name was Kameomaru (亀王丸). On 1 May 1521, after ShōgunAshikaga Yoshitane andHosokawa Takakuni struggled for power over the shogunate and Yoshitane withdrew toAwaji Island, the way was clear for Ashikaga Yoshiharu to be installed as shōgun as he enters Kyoto.^[4][1]

In 1521, Hosokawa Takakuni orchestrated the appointment of Yoshiharu as shōgun. By 1526, tumultuous events marked by the Kasai and Miyoshi rebellions unfolded. In 1528, the political landscape shifted dramatically as Yoshiharu was ousted by Miyoshi Nagamoto, setting the stage for a period of significant change.^[1][5]

The 1530s further complicated the era, beginning with the eruption of theIkkō rebellion in 1533. 1536 became a pivotal year withEmperor Go-Nara's ascension, and by 1538, internal strife plagued the Koga Kubō's family, introducing new layers of discord. Later in 1546 Yoshiharu sought refuge in Ōmi, while his son, Yoshiteru, assumed the role of shōgun in exile.^[1][5]

Void of any political power and repeatedly forced from the capital inKyoto, Yoshiharu retired in 1546 over a political struggle betweenMiyoshi Nagayoshi andHosokawa Harumoto making his sonAshikaga Yoshiteru the thirteenth shōgun. He died on 20th May, 1550.^[6] Later in 1568, supported byOda Nobunaga, his other sonAshikaga Yoshiaki became the fifteenth shōgun.^[1]

• Father:Ashikaga Yoshizumi
• Mother: Hino Akiko
• Wife: Keijuin (1514–1565)
• Concubines:
  • Oodate Tsuneoki's daughter
• Children:
  • Ashikaga Yoshiaki by Keijuin
  • Ashikaga Yoshiteru by Keijuin
  • Ashikaga Shuko (d. 1565)
  • Shiratori Yoshihisa (d. 1547)
  • daughter married Takeda Yoshimune
  • daughter married Miyoshi Yoshitsugu
  • daughter married Karasume Kosen
  • Nun in Hyokoji temple

The years in which Yoshiharu wasshōgun are more specifically identified by more than oneera name ornengō.^[7]

• Daiei (1521–1528)
• Kyōroku (1528–1532)
• Tenbun (1532–1555)

• Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982)Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron. Brisbane:University of Queensland Press.ISBN 9780702214851;OCLC 7574544
• 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

• 1511 births
• 1550 deaths
• 16th-century shōguns
• Ashikaga shōguns
• Ashikaga clan

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text