Yamana Mochitoyo

Japanese: 山名持豊 - やまな・もちとよ

Year of death: March 18, 1473 (April 15, 1473)
Year of birth: 1404
A military commander in the Muromachi period. The second son of Tokihiro and the younger brother of Mochihiro. He served as Saemon no Sa, Danjo Shosuke, and Uemon no Kami. He later became a monk and took the post of Buddhist name Soho and Sozen. In May 1431, Mochihiro was disliked by the Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshinori, and was dethroned. In August of the following year, he was handed the family headship by his father Tokihiro and became Shugo of the four provinces of Tajima, Bingo, Aki, and Iga. Prior to June of the same year, he held the posts of Samurai-dokoro Tojin and Yamashiro Shugo, and came to occupy a position in the Shogunate government second only to the Hosokawa and Hatakeyama clans. In June 1441, when Akamatsu Mitsusuke murdered Shogun Yoshinori (the Kakitsu Incident) and took refuge in Harima, Mochitoyo was appointed commander-in-chief of the attack, but he turned a blind eye to his subordinates' plundering of the capital, citing "fatigue on the part of the family," and was reprimanded by the Kanrei. In September of the same year, Mochitoyo's forces annihilated Mitsusuke's clan at Kiyama in Harima, and in recognition of his achievements, he was awarded Mitsusuke's former territories of Harima, Bizen, and Mimasaka. The Yamana clan's territory expanded to nine provinces, including Tajima, Inaba, Hoki, Iwami, Harima, Mimasaka, Bizen, Bingo, and Aki, making them the largest feudal lord with territories, surpassing the eight territories of the Hosokawa clan. In order to maintain his expanded territory, Mochitoyo carefully devised measures to preserve it, such as marrying his daughter to Hosokawa Katsumoto. In 1450, he became a monk and took the name Sozen. In 1454, he came into conflict with Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa in an attempt to kill Akamatsu family member Norihisa, and in November of the same year he retired and handed over the family headship to his legitimate son Noritoyo, but the following year he defeated Norihisa in Bizen. In 1458, Akamatsu Masanori was pardoned for his achievement in recovering the sacred seal, and his conflict with his son-in-law Hosokawa Katsumoto became decisive. When Ise Sadachika and others were ousted in the Bunsho Coup (1466), he summoned Hatakeyama Yoshinari to oust Hatakeyama Masanaga, who was supported by Katsumoto, and thus the Onin War broke out. Even within the Shogunate, Hino Tomiko, who disliked the heir to the family, Ashikaga Yoshimi, passed on her inheritance to Mochitoyo in the hope that her own son, Ashikaga Yoshihisa, would become head of the family. Mochitoyo united the daimyo of the Western Army, including Ouchi Masahiro, to challenge Katsumoto, but he was nominally inferior to the Eastern Army, which had the support of the Imperial Court and the shogunate, and was forced into a psychologically inferior position when Yoshimi, whose rift with Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa had become decisive, was invited to become Shogun. Furthermore, Mochitoyo allowed Akamatsu Masanori to retake the three provinces of Harima, Bizen, and Mimasaka, and in his later years he leaned towards peacemaking. A famous episode in "Dust Mound Tale" shows him justifying his overthrow of the ruling class by arguing for the superiority of "time" over "example" as advocated by the nobles.

(Akira Imaya)

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

Japanese:

没年：文明5.3.18(1473.4.15)
生年：応永11(1404)
室町時代の武将。時煕の次子,持煕の弟。左衛門佐,弾正少弼,右衛門督。のち出家して法名宗峰,宗全。兄持煕は永享3(1431)年5月,室町幕府将軍足利義教に疎んぜられ廃嫡,翌々年8月父時煕から家督を譲られ,但馬,備後,安芸,伊賀4カ国の守護に就任した。同12年6月以前に侍所頭人と山城守護を兼任,幕閣では細川・畠山両氏に次ぐ地位を占めるに至った。嘉吉1(1441)年6月,赤松満祐が将軍義教を弑殺し(嘉吉の変)播磨に籠城すると討手の総大将に指名されたが,部下の洛中掠奪を「家人疲労」と称して黙認し,管領の譴責を受けた。同年9月,持豊軍は播磨木山に満祐一族を滅ぼし,その功により満祐の旧分国播磨,備前,美作を与えられた。ここに至り山名氏の領国は但馬,因幡,伯耆,石見,播磨,美作,備前,備後,安芸の9カ国に膨張し,細川氏の8分国を凌ぐ最大の国持ち大名となった。持豊は拡大した分国を維持するため,娘を細川勝元に嫁がせるなど慎重に保全策を巡らした。宝徳2(1450)年,入道して宗全と号す。享徳3(1454)年赤松遺族則尚を討とうとして将軍足利義政と対立,同年11月には隠居して家督を嫡子教豊に譲ったが,翌年には則尚を備前に討ち滅ぼしている。長禄2(1458)年,赤松政則が神璽奪回の功により赦免されるや婿細川勝元との対立は決定的となり,文正の政変(1466)で伊勢貞親らが失脚すると畠山義就を召し出して勝元の支持する畠山政長を追い落とし,ここに応仁の大乱が勃発した。将軍家でも跡目足利義視を嫌う日野富子が実子足利義尚の家督を期待して持豊に款を通じた。持豊は大内政弘ら西軍諸大名を糾合して勝元に挑戦するが,禁裏と幕府を擁する東軍に対し名分上劣位にあったうえ,将軍足利義政との不和が決定的となった義視を迎えて将軍に擬するなど,精神的劣勢を余儀なくされた。また分国も赤松政則に播磨,備前,美作3国の奪回を許すありさまで,晩年は和平工作に傾いた。公家の主張する「例」に対して「時」の優位を説き,下剋上を正当化したことは『塵塚物語』にみえる有名なエピソードである。

(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

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