Battle of Yuki

This was a battle fought between 1440 (Eikyō 12) and the following year, when Yuki Ujitomo of Shimousa supported the surviving children of Ashikaga Mochiuji, the Kamakura kubo who had been defeated and killed in the Eikyō Rebellion (1438-39), and rebelled against the shogunate. As the Yuki clan, with Naomitsu and Motomitsu as the guardians of Awa and Shimotsuke, expanded their influence, they deepened their conflict with the Uesugi clan, the Kanrei of the Kanto region, who were aiming to advance into the Shimotsuke and Hitachi areas. However, when Uesugi Norizane gained real power in the Kanto region after the Eikyō Rebellion, conflict between the two became inevitable. In 1540, Ujitomo welcomed Mochiuji's two surviving sons, Yasuomaru and Haruomaru, to Yuki Castle (Yuki City, Ibaraki Prefecture) and raised an army, and the shogunate dispatched Norizane and Uesugi Kiyokata to pursue Ujitomo. The Oyama, Utsunomiya and other Kanto clans also split into two factions and a siege battle lasted for about a year, but on April 16, 1541 (Kakitsu 1), Yuki Castle fell and Ujitomo and his son committed suicide. Yasuomaru and Haruomaru were captured and killed in Mino on their way to Kyoto. This battle, which could be said to be the final battle of the Eikyō Rebellion, ended with a victory for the shogunate and established the Uesugi clan's control over the Kanto region, but anti-Uesugi struggles among the Kanto clans and internal divisions and conflicts continued, causing social turmoil in the eastern provinces.

[Takao Ichimura]

"Yuki City History Volumes 1 and 4" (1977, 1980, Yuki City)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1440年（永享12）から翌年にかけて下総(しもうさ)の結城氏朝(うじとも)が永享(えいきょう)の乱（1438～39）で敗死した鎌倉公方(くぼう)足利持氏(あしかがもちうじ)の遺児を擁し幕府に抗した合戦。結城氏は直光(なおみつ)・基光(もとみつ)が安房(あわ)・下野(しもつけ)守護となって勢力を伸ばすにつれて、下野・常陸(ひたち)方面への進出を目ざす関東管領(かんれい)上杉氏との対立を深めていたが、永享の乱で上杉憲実(のりざね)が関東の実権を握るに及び、両者の抗争は不可避となった。40年氏朝は持氏の遺児安王(やすおう)丸、春王(はるおう)丸の2子を結城城（茨城県結城市）に迎えて挙兵、幕府は憲実、上杉清方(きよかた)らを氏朝追討に派遣した。小山(おやま)、宇都宮(うつのみや)氏など関東諸家も2派に分裂して約1年にわたる籠城(ろうじょう)戦が展開されたが、41年（嘉吉1）4月16日結城城は落城、氏朝父子は自殺、安王丸、春王丸も捕らえられ京都に送られる途中美濃(みの)で殺された。永享の乱の総括ともいうべきこの合戦は幕府方の勝利に終わり、上杉氏による関八州支配を現出させたが、関東諸家の反上杉闘争、およびその内部分裂・対立が繰り返され、東国の社会情勢の混乱が続いた。

［市村高男］

『『結城市史　第1、第4巻』（1977、80・結城市）』

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