Revolt of Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Part of Momoyama period

An Ukiyo-e painting of Ashikaga Yoshiaki escaping, painted by Utagawa Toyonobu, 1884.
DateJuly 1573
Location
Kyoto
35°01′33″N 135°45′42″E / 35.0259°N 135.7616°E / 35.0259; 135.7616
Result Oda Nobunaga victory
Belligerents
Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Ashikaga clan
Matsunaga clan
Takeda Shingen		 Oda Nobunaga and Oda clan
Strength
Unknown 30,000 soldiers
Revolt of Ashikaga Yoshiaki is located in Kyoto Prefecture
Revolt of Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Location within Kyoto Prefecture
Revolt of Ashikaga Yoshiaki is located in Japan
Revolt of Ashikaga Yoshiaki
Revolt of Ashikaga Yoshiaki (Japan)
Oda Nobunaga, painted by Kanō Sōshū, 1583.

The Revolt of Ashikaga Yoshiaki (Japanese: 足利義昭の乱) was a revolt staged by Ashikaga Yoshiaki in 1573. Yoshiaki was the 15th Shogun of Japan and a member of the Ashikaga clan who became the shogun in 1568, Yoshiaki gained power after he enlisted Oda Nobunaga to help him in his goal to become the shogun, the Oda clan armies entered Kyoto thus re-establishing the Muromachi shogunate. The seize of power was quick because there was no effective central authority in Kyoto at the time. Yoshiaki was used as a Puppet leader by Nobunaga who had direct control.[1]

In 1573 the revolt took place, Yoshiaki was extremely dissatisfied with his degree of power[2] in the government and sought to challenge Nobunaga and assert control. Yoshiaki requested the aid of Takeda Shingen and the Takeda clan as well as the Matsunaga clan to help him in the revolt. Yoshiaki attempted to escape Kyoto and headed for Sakai where he wanted to take refuge.[3] However Nobunaga pursued Yoshiaki and captured Kyoto which also effectively ended the rule of the Ashikaga clan.[4]

Background

The Ashikaga clan ruled Japan for about 240 years from 1333 to 1573, In the mid 16th century the power and control of the Ashikaga clan was diminishing which also led to a declining reputation and loss of respect. Much of Japan was ignoring the rule of the clan and the shogun, although various factions like the Oda clan and Imagawa clan fought for control of the central government as it was still an important and powerful position. In 1564 the 13th shogun of Japan and Yoshiaki's brother, Ashikaga Yoshiteru,[5] was facing internal strife. Yoshiteru attempted to consolidate his power and sought support from the other clans of Japan, Yoshiteru's adversary was the Hosokawa clan. The Hosokawa clan sought to overthrow Yoshiteru and in 1565 Matsunaga Hisahide started an offensive against Yoshiteru, Hisahide sent his son Matsunaga Hisamichi and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu to lay siege against Yoshiteru's castle (known today as Nijō Castle) and stage a Coup d'état. The castle was surrounded and forced Yoshiteru to commit Seppuku (ritual suicide).

Jesuit missionary Father Luís Fróis, in his account of the overthrow of Ashikaga Yoshiteru, wrote about the strong Homosexual love relationship between Yoshiteru and his squire, Odachidono. According to Father Fróis, the shōgun's squire, Odachidono:

"fought so valiantly and with such intrepid spirit that all the rebels started to shout out that he should not be killed, but that he should be taken alive. Nonetheless, seeing his master die, and believing it a great dishonour to survive him, the youth threw away his sword, and pulling out his dagger, he cut open his throat and then his belly. Finally he killed himself by lying down flat with the dagger in his belly."[6]

After the death of Yoshiteru, Hisahide and the Hosokawa clan had Ashikaga Yoshihide become the new shogun, Yoshihide was favoured more as he would be a puppet shogun for them.[7] Yoshihide started losing power and importance, this left a power gap in Kyoto and was an opportunity for both Nobunaga and Yoshiaki. Yoshiaki sought to overthrow Yoshihide, by 1668 Yoshihide[8] lost power and Yoshiaki offered Nobundaga an alliance, this was a useful opportunity for Nobunaga as he also wanted to gain the control of Kyoto. Because of the Eiroku Incident of 1565 Yoshiakis elder brother Yoshiteru (the 13th shogun) died and his younger brother Ashikaga Shuko, a head of Rokuon'in, was also killed. This forced Yoshiaki to attempt to escape but at this time Yoshiaki was arrested by Matsunaga Hisahide and confined at Kofuku-ji Temple (it is said that Hisahide did not kill Kakukei because he was afraid of having Kofuku-ji Temple for an enemy; Kakukei was Shogun's brother and promised to be Betto (director) of Kofuku-ji Temple in the future). After being arrested Yoshiaki was actually able to escape from Kyoto and went into hiding in the Ōmi Province and had rely on the help of Rokkaku Yoshikata and Rokkaku Yoshiharu. Soon after moving to the Ōmi Province, Yoshiaki had to retreat to Yoshizumi Takeda in the Wakasa Province during August 1673 after Yoshiharu's contact Miyoshi-Sanninshu found out that Yoshiaki was hiding in Omi. Yoshiaki again escaped to the Mino Province with the help of Akechi Mitsuhide and Nobunaga.[9]

Yoshiaki was able to come out hiding with the help of Nobunaga, they allied and started planning on their takeover. Before moving to Kyoto Nobunaga's and Yoshiaki's biggest rival was the Rokkaku clan, while invading Kyoto Nobunaga asked the Rokkaku clan to provide troops for the invasion, the Rokkaku clan refused and instead started fighting Nobunaga's troops. Soon the Rokkaku clan suffered a crushing defeat and were forced to flee, most of the clan fled to Kannonji Castle in the province of Koga which was heavily controlled by Shinobi families.[10] Nobunaga's armies marched and took Kyoto relatively quickly, installing Yoshiaki as the 15th shogun.[11]

The revolt (1572 - 1573)

Ashikaga Yoshiaki, painted by Sadanobu Matsudaira (松平定信 (編)).

Yoshiaki's dissatisfaction

By 1672 Yoshiaki became very dissatisfied with his degree of power.[2] Yoshiaki seemed to thank Nobunaga at first; he addressed him as 'my father ODA Danjo no Chu (Nobunaga)' in his thank-you letter to Nobunaga on October 24. Although he had kept a good relationship with Nobunaga by trying to give him positions of vice shogun and Kanrei, relations between them became worse because Nobunaga began to limit the power of Shogun. Nobunaga made a rule 'Denchu on'okite', which had nine articles, on January 1569, and an additional seven articles on January 1570, and forced Yoshiaki to accept them.[9] He wanted more control and began to understand that Nobunaga was using him as a puppet leader.

The siege and revolt

In 1673, after about 5 years of being the shogun, Yoshiaki began a siege against Nobunaga with the order that was given to him by the monk Kennyo. Asakura Shingen and Asakura Yoshikage tried to subjugate Yoshiaki. Azai Nagamasa, Matsunaga Hisahide, Sanninshu Miyoshi, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and others joined in the siege against Nobunaga. The siege was defeating Nobunaga and his armies were put into a corner, but the siege was halted because of the death of Takeda Shingen, Shingen died of an unknown disease. Yoshiaki after the failed siege requested the help of the Matsunaga clan and allied with them. Yoshiaki and the Matsunaga clan gathered an army in Makishima castle in April and again in July[12] which is when the revolt started. This angered Nobunaga who took his armies and invaded Kyoto, Nobunaga reportedly set fire to Kyoto which forced Yoshiaki to retreat. He then planned to seek asylum in Sakai (near Osaka), on the way to Sakai it was reported that Yoshiaki was robbed by a thief and called a 'poor Kubo' (a poor court noble) by the civilians. After the retreat, Yoshiaki became a Buddhist monk. It was reported that Yoshiaki went into hiding as a monk so he could disguise himself.[9][13]

Aftermath (1573 - 1585)

Exile in Wakae

After the retreat, Yoshiaki was initially supposed to be either executed or forced to commit Seppuku but because of the intervention of the monk Kennyo of the Hōgan-ji Temple[14] Yoshiaki was instead banished by Nobunaga to the Kawachi Province, specifically Sakai where Yoshiaki was ordered to go. Yoshiaki however didn't go to Sakai and instead fled to Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, who was one of the leaders of the Miyoshi clan, the feudal lord of the Kawachi region and Yoshiaki's sisters husband. Yoshiaki remained as a Buddhist monk in Wakae for the next 3 years, he shaved his head and changed his name to Sho-san, which he later changed to Rei-o In,[15] some sources claim that he was also named Buke Gosho.[9] Yoshitsugu sheltered Yoshiaki in the Wakae-Jo castle. A few months later in November, Nobunaga sent troops to destroy Yoshitsugu's castles and ruin him, the Oda forces were led by Sakuma Nobumori, they laid siege to Wakae-Jo castle, Yoshitsugu was also betrayed by his senior vassals who were called the 'Wakae Triumvirate'. The castle soon fell, Yoshitsugu committed Seppuku and so did his wife and children.[16]

The battle of Ishiyama Hongan-ji, by Utagawa Yoshifuji (1828-1887).

Ishiyama Hongan-ji War (1575)

In 1570, Oda Nobunaga started a war against the Ikkō-ikki movement. He specifically targeted the fortifications, castles and communities that belonged to the Ikkō-ikki. Yoshiaki was a devout Buddhist and supported the Ikkō-ikki in their fight against Nobunaga, in early 1575 Yoshiaki sent a letter to Mōri Terumoto asking for his aid in supplying the Ikkō-ikki, Yoshiaki eventually raised some troops himself from the Iga and Koga provinces and aided the besieged.[12]

Yoshiaki's government in exile (1576)

Yoshiaki remained the shogun even after the revolt and retreat from Kyoto, he did not relinquish his title and remained the shogun. In 1576, Yoshiaki established a Government in exile (Shogunate) at Tomo-No-Ura in the Bingo Province (Mori clan (Genji) domain at that time), at the time Ashikaga Takauji (a relative of Yoshiaki) successfully recovered from illness, he helped Yoshiaki and continued to give orders to various feudal lords to suppress Nobunaga.[9]

Yoshiaki's resignation (1588)

After Nobunaga committed suicide in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582, during a stay at Tomo in Bingo province, Yoshiaki tried to go up to Kyoto again with Mōri Terumoto's help and besought Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie as well. But his relationship with the Mori clan worsened because Kobayakawa Takakage, who was close to Hideyoshi, opposed helping Yoshiaki. Yoshiaki's support for Katsuie was against the Mori clans approach to Hideyoshi. In 1585, Hideyoshi became the unofficial shogun of Japan but in 1588 Yoshiaki officially resigned his position of Seii Taishogun (shogun) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the official shogun. Yoshiaki was given the title of Jusangu by the Imperial Court and became a Shozan priest, he was also given a Fief of 10,000 Koku and became the master of Makishima Castle in Yamashiro Province.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ashikaga Yoshiaki | Warrior-Statesman, Sengoku Period, Shogun | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  2. 1 2 Ackroyd, Joyce (1982). Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron. p. 332.
  3. ↑ Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook (3rd ed.). London: Cassell. p. 32. ISBN 1854095234.
  4. ↑ Writers, YABAI (2018-06-28). "The Ashikaga Shoguns and Ashikaga Yoshiaki | YABAI - The Modern, Vibrant Face of Japan". YABAI. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  5. ↑ Klaproth, Julius von (1834). Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon (in French). Oriental Translation Fund.
  6. ↑ Watanabe, Tsuneo; Iwata, Junʼichi (1989). Love of the Samurai: A Thousand Years of Japanese Homosexuality. Gay Men's Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-85449-115-5.
  7. ↑ Turnbull, Stephen (2004) [1st pub. 1998]. The Samurai Sourcebook (3rd ed.). London: Cassell. ISBN 1-85409-523-4.
  8. ↑ Sansom, George (1961). A History of Japan, 1334–1615. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804705259.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Yu, A. C. "Ashikaga Yoshiaki - Japanese Wiki Corpus". www.japanesewiki.com. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  10. ↑ Yu, A. C. "Rokkaku Yoshitaka - Japanese Wiki Corpus". www.japanesewiki.com. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  11. ↑ Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook (3rd ed.). London: Cassell. pp. 31–32. ISBN 9781854095237.
  12. 1 2 Berry, Mary Elizabeth (1982). Hideyoshi. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780674390256.
  13. ↑ Klaproth, Julius von (1834). Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon (in French). Oriental Translation Fund.
  14. ↑ Yu, A. C. "Kennyo - Japanese Wiki Corpus". www.japanesewiki.com. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  15. ↑ Klaproth, Julius von (1834). Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon (in French). Oriental Translation Fund.
  16. ↑ Yu, A. C. "Miyoshi Yoshitsugu - Japanese Wiki Corpus". www.japanesewiki.com. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
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