Yoshiuji Ashikaga

Japanese: 足利義氏 - あしかが・よしうじ

Year of death: January 21, 1583 (February 13, 1583)
Year of birth: Tenbun 10 (1541)
A military commander in the Sengoku period. Son of Haruuji and the daughter of Hojo Ujitsuna. 5th Koga kubō. His childhood name was Umechiyoōmaru. Uhyoe no suke. In 1555, he came of age and took one character from the name of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, and named himself Yoshiuji. In December 1552, with the help of his uncle Hojo Ujiyasu, he succeeded his father Haruuji as head of the family. He established palaces in Kamakura, Koga, Kasai, and other locations, and from the following year he issued many letters of assurance of land ownership to his vassals and nearby temples and shrines, and mediated disputes between eastern daimyo, bringing about a revival of the power of the kubō. This was the final glory of the Koga kubō, backed by the ability of his uncle Ujiyasu. During this time, he faced opposition from his father, Haruuji, and his half-brother, Fujiuji, but was protected by Ujiyasu's younger brother Ujiteru and others and played a role as a bulwark against anti-Hojo forces, and when the alliance between the Hojo and Echigo Uesugi clans was formed in 1569, he ended his role and settled in his base of Koga. As he died without a son, his daughter Ujihime married Kunitomo (Yoriuji) of the Koyumi kubo family, continuing his lineage.

(Ichimura Takao)

Yoshiuji Ashikaga

Year of death: Kencho 6.11.21 (1255.1.1)
Year of birth: Bunji 5 (1189)
A samurai of the early Kamakura period. Son of Yoshikane and the daughter of Hojo Tokimasa. He made a name for himself fighting against Asahina Yoshihide, a brave general on the Wada side, in the Wada War of 1213. He held high-ranking government positions, from Kebiishi to Mutsu no Kami and Samato no Kami, and maintained his position as the head of the Minamoto clan after the Genji Shoguns were defeated. For this reason, he was cooperative with the Hojo clan, becoming the son-in-law of Hojo Yasutoki, and acting on the Hojo side during the Jokyu War (1221) and Hoji War (1247). In 1238, he built the Great Buddha Hall at Kongo Sammai-in Temple in Mount Koya for Hojo Masako. During this time, he served as the guardian of Mikawa Province (Aichi Prefecture), and as a reward for the Jokyu War, he held territory in Mimasaka Province (Okayama Prefecture), and further acquired the confiscated territory of Chiba Hidetane during the Hoji War, laying the foundation for the later development of the Ashikaga clan.

(Fumihiko Gomi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天正11.1.21(1583.2.13)
生年：天文10(1541)
戦国時代の武将。晴氏と北条氏綱の娘の子。5代古河公方。幼名は梅千代王丸。右兵衛佐。弘治1(1555)年元服,将軍足利義輝の諱の1字をもらい義氏と名乗る。天文21(1552)年12月,伯父北条氏康の力添えで父晴氏の家督を継承。鎌倉,古河,葛西などに御所を構え,翌年より家臣や近辺の寺社に多くの所領安堵状を発し,東国大名間の紛争調停を行うなど公方権力の蘇生現象を生み出したが,それは伯父氏康の実力に裏付けられた古河公方最後の輝きであった。その間,父晴氏や異父兄藤氏らの反発を受けるが,氏康の弟氏照らに守られながら,反北条氏勢力に対する防波堤としての役割を果たし,永禄12(1569)年の北条・越後上杉両氏の同盟成立を機に,その役割を終えて本拠地古河に定住した。男子なく没したため,娘氏姫が小弓公方家の国朝(頼氏)と結婚,その血筋を伝えた。

(市村高男)

足利義氏

没年：建長6.11.21(1255.1.1)
生年：文治5(1189)
鎌倉前期の武士。義兼と北条時政の娘の子。建保1(1213)年の和田合戦では和田方の勇将朝比奈義秀と戦って名をあげる。検非違使から陸奥守,左馬頭になるなど,高位の官職を歴任して源氏将軍が滅んだのちの源氏のトップの地位を保持した。それだけに北条氏には協力的で,北条泰時の娘婿となり,承久の乱(1221),宝治合戦(1247)などに北条方として行動し,暦仁1(1238)年には北条政子のために高野山の金剛三昧院に大仏殿を建立した。その間,三河国(愛知県)の守護,また承久の乱の恩賞で美作国(岡山県)に所領を持ち,さらに宝治合戦では千葉秀胤の没収所領を獲得するなど,のちの足利氏発展の基礎を築いた。

(五味文彦)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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