Yoshimochi Ashikaga

Japanese: 足利義持 - あしかが・よしもち

Year of death: 1428.2.3 (1st January 18th)
Year of birth: Shitoku 3/Genchu 3.2.12 (1386.3.12)
The fourth Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate. Yoshimitsu's eldest son, his mother was Keiko, the daughter of Aki Hogen, a Sanboin Temple official. In December 1394, at the age of just nine, he was appointed Shogun, and was promoted to Junior Fifth Rank, two years later he was appointed as a councilor, and in the 13th year of the Oei era, he was promoted to Gon Dainagon and Udaisho. However, during this time, his father Yoshimitsu still controlled all government affairs, so Shogun was merely a puppet. He also had serious antagonism with Yoshimitsu, as he had been scolded by his father and had asked the denso Hino Shigemitsu for help, and this was reflected in his policies in later years. After Yoshimitsu's death in May 1382, he began to rule on his own, and was assisted by his elder retainers Shiba Yoshimasa and Hatakeyama Mitsuie. Important policies included refusing the title of Retired Emperor bestowed on his late father Yoshimitsu, denying his path to usurpation, and breaking off diplomatic relations with China, disliking its submission to the Ming Dynasty. He also demolished and relocated the Kitayama Palace, which had been his late father's government office, to Sanjo Bomon Palace. In 1590, he supported Emperor Shoko of the Northern Court, but this violated the Treaty of Peace between the two Courts, and the governors of Hida and Ise Provinces rose up in revolt. In 1591, the Uesugi Zenshu Rebellion occurred in Kanto, but both were quickly suppressed, and Yoshimochi's 20 years of rule were a rare period of stability during the Muromachi period. After taking direct control of the government, he was promoted to Minister of the Interior, and in March 1592, he handed over the position of Shogun to his eldest son, Yoshikazu, but continued to take charge of government affairs and was called "Muromachi-dono." Two years later, Yoshikazu died young, leaving the position of Shogun vacant. Around this time, a conflict between Kai and Hitachi prompted the Shogunate to discuss dispatching troops to Kanto, but senior retainers opposed the dispatch, arguing for a "policy of reconciliation between distant countries," and the Kamakura kubo Ashikaga Mochiuji also made concessions to the Shogunate, and the situation did not become serious. In Yoshimochi's later years, the guardian monk Sanboin Mansai became the chairman of the senior retainers' council, and important matters were decided by consensus among the senior retainers. Under Yoshimochi's rule, the shugo domain system developed in the provinces, and the power of the vassals of the feudal lord and local lord families was strengthened. When Yoshimochi's condition became serious due to a tumor, the senior retainers wanted Yoshimochi to designate the successor himself, but Yoshimochi, who had no legitimate son, refused, and finally the successor was decided by an unprecedented drawing of lots (divine judgment), and as a result, Yoshinori, Yoshimochi's younger brother by the same mother, was chosen. This reflected the trend of the time that the wishes of the senior retainers took precedence over the will of the head of the family.

(Akira Imaya)

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

Japanese:

没年：正長1.1.18(1428.2.3)
生年：至徳3/元中3.2.12(1386.3.12)
室町幕府第4代将軍。義満の嫡子,母は三宝院坊官安芸法眼の娘慶子。応永1(1394)年12月わずか9歳で元服して将軍に任官,正五位下に叙し,2年後参議,同13年には権大納言兼右大将に上る。しかしこの間父義満が依然として政務全般を掌握していたので,将軍位は傀儡に過ぎなかった。また父に叱責されて伝奏日野重光に救解を頼んだこともあり,義満との反目は深刻で,これが後年の施策に反映したとされる。同15年5月義満の死により親政を始め,宿老斯波義将,畠山満家らがこれを助けた。重要な政策としては,亡父義満に贈られた上皇の尊号を拒否して皇位簒奪路線を否定したこと,明への屈従を嫌って断交したことなどがある。また亡父の政庁である北山第を破却,移建して三条坊門第に移った。同19年には北朝の称光天皇を擁立したが,これが両朝和約に違反するとして飛騨・伊勢両国司らが蜂起,また同23年には関東に上杉禅秀の乱が起こるがいずれも短期に鎮圧され,義持の治世20年間は室町期中まれな安定期だったといえる。親政後は内大臣に上り,同30年3月将軍を嫡子義量に譲るが,政務はとり続け,「室町殿」と称された。2年後義量が夭折し,将軍位は空位となった。このころ甲斐,常陸の紛争を機に幕閣では関東出兵が議されたが,宿老は「遠国融和策」を主張して出兵に反対,鎌倉公方足利持氏も幕府に譲歩して大事には至らなかった。晩年は護持僧三宝院満済が宿老会議の座長となり,重事は宿老の合議により決定された。義持の治政下に地方では守護領国制が進展し,大名,国人の諸家では家臣団の力が強化された。腫物の傷がもとで重態に陥ると,宿老らは義持自らによる後嗣指定を望んだが,嫡子のない義持はこれを拒否,ついに前代未聞のくじ(神判)による跡目決定となり,その結果同母弟の義教が選ばれた。これは当主の遺言よりも家老の意向が優先するという時代思潮を反映したものである。

(今谷明)

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

<<: Yoshiyasu Ashikaga

>>: Yoshimitsu Ashikaga