← Explore on the interactive map

Ashikaga Yoshimi

Type Figure Region Japan Time c. 1439–1491 Also known as Yoshimi、Yoshitaka

Younger brother of 8th Muromachi shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, once regarded as shogunal heir, later drawn into succession disputes after Yoshihisa's bi…

Timeline

  1. c. 1439–1460Kyoto · KinkiBorn in Kyoto, the power center of the Muromachi shogunate, as the full brother of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. Educated in court and warrior etiquette from childhood, he grew up amid the intertwined influences of shogunal retainers and imperial court factions, laying the groundwork for his later involvement in shogunal succession issues.
  2. 1461–1469Kyoto · KinkiWhen Yoshimasa had no son, he designated Yoshimi as heir; after Yoshimasa's legitimate son Yoshihisa was born in 1465, the succession arrangement changed once more. Yoshimi, through the mediation of daimyō such as Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen, contended with the faction of his sister-in-law Hino Tomiko, as Kyoto's political situation grew increasingly tense, sowing the seeds of the Ōnin War.
  3. 1469–1491Kyoto · KinkiIn 1469 Yoshimi took Buddhist vows, receiving the dharma name Tōji, yet never fully withdrew from politics. After the Ōnin War broke out his stance conflicted with Yoshihisa's faction, and he was at one point exiled to Ōmi and elsewhere; he returned to Kyoto in his later years and died there in 1491.

Sources