Ashikaga Motouji
Encyclopedia
was a warrior of the Nanboku-chō period. The fourth son of shogun
Ashikaga Takauji
, he was the first of a dynasty of five Kantō Kubō
, Kamakura
-based representatives in the vital Kamakura-fu
of Kyoto
's Ashikaga regime
. Meant to stabilize a volatile situation in the Kantō, a region where many warrior clans wanted the return of the shogunate from Kyoto
back to Kamakura, the dynasty he started almost immediately developed the ambition to usurp the shogunate, becoming a serious headache for the central government. Motouji was the only kubō who always remained loyal to the Kyoto government. During the Kannō Disturbance, a historical episode with serious repercussions on his life, he tried to reconcile his father with his uncle Ashikaga Tadayoshi
and, after his father's demise, he collaborated with his elder brother, shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira
, to stabilize the shogunate. He died still young during an epidemic.
, the first of the Ashikaga shoguns Ashikaga Takauji left the city for Kyoto
in pursuit of Nitta Yoshisada
. He left behind his 4-year-old son Yoshiakira
as his representative in the trust of three guardians: Hosokawa Kiyouji, Uesugi Noriaki, and Shiba Ienaga. This action however formally divided the country in two, giving the east and the west two separate administrations with similar authority and powers.
In 1349 Takauji called Yoshiakira to Kyoto to take his brother Tadayoshi's place, replacing him in Kamakura with another of his sons, Motouji, to whom he gave the title of Kantō kanrei
, or "Kantō deputy". Because the kanrei was the son of the shogun, ruled Kantō and controlled the military forces there, the area was usually called Kamakura Bakufu or Kamakura Shogunate, and Motouji shogun or Kamakura/Kantō Gosho, an equivalent title. When later the habit of calling kubō the shogun spread from Kyoto to the Kantō, the ruler of Kamakura came to be called Kamakura kubō. The kanrei title was passed on to the Uesugi hereditary shitsuji. However, the first time the Kanto Kubō title appears in writing is in a 1382 entry of the , after Motouji's death.
In 1349 Takauji sent Motouji to the Kantō to replace Yoshiakira, solidify his power and protect his interests there. Motouji and all the Kantō Kubō that followed him resided in the Ashikaga clan's family mansion in today's Jōmyōji neighborhood in the east of Kamakura. At the location now stands a black memorial stele, whose inscription reads:
Location: Jōmyōji 4-2-25, near Nijinohashi Bridge.
Since Motouji was then just a child, real power was in the hands of two shitsuji Uesugi Noriaki and Kō no Morofuyu
, men Takauji trusted.
However, the following year Uesugi, together with Takauji's brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi
, defected and allied himself with Emperor Go-Daigo
of the Southern Court, a sworn enemy of the Ashikaga, and left Kamakura for Kōzuke province
. Kō remained faithful to Motouji, but was killed in battle by Uesugi at Kai. Takauji responded running to Kamakura, defeating his brother's forces, and taking him prisoner. Tadayoshi died later, probably of poisoning. In 1352 Nitta Yoshioki
and Yoshimune
(both sons of Nitta Yoshisada
) took Kamakura, and Motouji had to escape. Once again, Takauji had to come to his son's succor to restore order. The situation having stabilized, Takauji returned to Kyoto, leaving Hatakeyama Kunikiyo as the new shitsuji.
After Takauji's death, Nitta Yoshioki meant to attack Kamakura again, but Motouji had him caught and drowned in a river in 1358. With the Kantō finally peaceful, Motouji sent troops commanded by Hatakeyama Kunikiyo to help his brother Yoshiakira attack Yoshino Province
, where Go-Daigo had installed his court, but was betrayed by Kunikiyo, who disobeyed orders and instead went to attack Nitta Yoshinaga. He personally defeated Kunikiyo, then reconciled himself with Uesugi Noriaki in 1364 and reinstated him to his former post. Because Noriaki had sided with Ashikaga Tadayoshi during the Kannō Disturbance
, this act is believed to have done much to pacify the Kantō.
Motouji died during an epidemic
in 1367 at the age of 28 while firmly in power. He is buried at the family temple
of Zuisen-ji
.
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
Ashikaga Takauji
Ashikaga Takauji
was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...
, he was the first of a dynasty of five Kantō Kubō
Kanto kubo
was a title equivalent to shogun assumed by Ashikaga Motouji after his nomination to Kantō kanrei, or deputy shogun for the Kamakura-fu, in 1349. Motouji transferred his original title to the Uesugi family, which had previously held the hereditary title of , and would thereafter provide the Kantō...
, Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
-based representatives in the vital Kamakura-fu
Kamakura-fu
The or was a regional government installed in Kamakura, in today's Kanagawa Prefecture, by the Ashikaga shogunate which lasted from 1349 to 1455. It was headed by a dynasty of Ashikaga rulers called Kamakura Kubō...
of Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
's Ashikaga regime
Ashikaga shogunate
The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...
. Meant to stabilize a volatile situation in the Kantō, a region where many warrior clans wanted the return of the shogunate from Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
back to Kamakura, the dynasty he started almost immediately developed the ambition to usurp the shogunate, becoming a serious headache for the central government. Motouji was the only kubō who always remained loyal to the Kyoto government. During the Kannō Disturbance, a historical episode with serious repercussions on his life, he tried to reconcile his father with his uncle Ashikaga Tadayoshi
Ashikaga Tadayoshi
was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period of Japanese history and a close associate of his elder brother Takauji, the first Muromachi shogun. Son of Ashikaga Sadauji and of a daughter of Uesugi Yorishige, the same mother as Takauji, he was a pivotal figure of the chaotic transition...
and, after his father's demise, he collaborated with his elder brother, shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira
Ashikaga Yoshiakira
was the 2nd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1358 to 1367 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshiakira was the son of the founder and first shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Takauji....
, to stabilize the shogunate. He died still young during an epidemic.
Background
In the first weeks of 1336, two years after the fall of KamakuraSiege of Kamakura (1333)
The 1333 siege of Kamakura was a battle of the Genkō War, and marked the end of the power of the Hōjō clan, which had dominated the regency of the Kamakura shogunate for over a century...
, the first of the Ashikaga shoguns Ashikaga Takauji left the city for Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
in pursuit of Nitta Yoshisada
Nitta Yoshisada
was the head of the Nitta family in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period, capturing Kamakura from the Hōjō clan in 1333....
. He left behind his 4-year-old son Yoshiakira
Ashikaga Yoshiakira
was the 2nd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1358 to 1367 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshiakira was the son of the founder and first shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Takauji....
as his representative in the trust of three guardians: Hosokawa Kiyouji, Uesugi Noriaki, and Shiba Ienaga. This action however formally divided the country in two, giving the east and the west two separate administrations with similar authority and powers.
In 1349 Takauji called Yoshiakira to Kyoto to take his brother Tadayoshi's place, replacing him in Kamakura with another of his sons, Motouji, to whom he gave the title of Kantō kanrei
Kanrei
or, more rarely, kanryō, was a high political post in feudal Japan; it is usually translated as Shogun's Deputy. After 1349, there were actually two Kanrei, the Kyoto Kanrei and the Kantō Kanrei....
, or "Kantō deputy". Because the kanrei was the son of the shogun, ruled Kantō and controlled the military forces there, the area was usually called Kamakura Bakufu or Kamakura Shogunate, and Motouji shogun or Kamakura/Kantō Gosho, an equivalent title. When later the habit of calling kubō the shogun spread from Kyoto to the Kantō, the ruler of Kamakura came to be called Kamakura kubō. The kanrei title was passed on to the Uesugi hereditary shitsuji. However, the first time the Kanto Kubō title appears in writing is in a 1382 entry of the , after Motouji's death.
Career
After Minamoto no YoritomoMinamoto no Yoritomowas the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199.-Early life and exile :Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, heir of the Minamoto clan, and his official wife, a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, who was a member of the...
founded his shogunateKamakura shogunateThe Kamakura shogunate was a military dictatorship in Japan headed by the shoguns from 1185 to 1333. It was based in Kamakura. The Kamakura period draws its name from the capital of the shogunate...
, Ashikaga YoshikaneAshikaga Yoshikanewas a Japanese samurai military commander, feudal lord in the late Heian and early Kamakura period of Japan's history. He played an active part in the Jishō-Juei War and the later military campaign as a closely related person of the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, and made Ashikaga...
made this place his residence. His descendants also resided here for well over 200 years thereafter. After Ashikaga Takauji became shogun and moved to Kyoto, his son and second shogun Yoshiakira decided to also live there. Yoshiakira's younger brother Motouji then became Kantō kanrei and commanded his army from here. This became a tradition for all of the Ashikaga that followed. They, after Kyoto's fashion, gave themselves the title kubō. In 1455 kubō Ashikaga Shigeuji, after clashing with Uesugi NoritadaUesugi clanThe was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from the Fujiwara clan and particularly notable for their power in the Muromachi and Sengoku periods ....
, moved to IbarakiIbaraki, Ibarakiis a town located in Higashiibaraki District, Ibaraki, Japan.The town was set to merge with Mito, Ibaraki on December 8, 2007, but following the election of a new mayor in April 2007, these plans were abandoned....
's Shimōsa province and the residence was demolished.
Erected in March 1918 by the Kamakurachō Seinendan
Location: Jōmyōji 4-2-25, near Nijinohashi Bridge.
Since Motouji was then just a child, real power was in the hands of two shitsuji Uesugi Noriaki and Kō no Morofuyu
Kō no Morofuyu
was, together with his cousins Moronao and Moroyasu, one of shogun Ashikaga Takauji's most important generals during the Nanboku-chō period. He was adopted as a son by Moronao. He was of Mikawa province, shugo of Musashi province and Kantō kanrei...
, men Takauji trusted.
However, the following year Uesugi, together with Takauji's brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi
Ashikaga Tadayoshi
was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period of Japanese history and a close associate of his elder brother Takauji, the first Muromachi shogun. Son of Ashikaga Sadauji and of a daughter of Uesugi Yorishige, the same mother as Takauji, he was a pivotal figure of the chaotic transition...
, defected and allied himself with Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo
Emperor Go-Daigo was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession....
of the Southern Court, a sworn enemy of the Ashikaga, and left Kamakura for Kōzuke province
Kozuke Province
was an old province located in the Tōsandō of Japan, which today comprises Gunma Prefecture. It is nicknamed as or .The ancient provincial capital was near modern Maebashi. During the Sengoku period, Kōzuke was controlled variously by Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, the late Hōjō clan, and...
. Kō remained faithful to Motouji, but was killed in battle by Uesugi at Kai. Takauji responded running to Kamakura, defeating his brother's forces, and taking him prisoner. Tadayoshi died later, probably of poisoning. In 1352 Nitta Yoshioki
Nitta Yoshioki
Nitta Yoshioki was a samurai of the Nitta family, who fought for the Imperial Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Nitta Yoshisada....
and Yoshimune
Nitta Yoshimune
was the third son of Nitta Yoshisada, and a commander of loyalist forces during the Nanbokuchō Wars.In 1352, Yoshimune led a force from Echigo Province to contribute to the loyalist efforts to drive the Shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, from the city...
(both sons of Nitta Yoshisada
Nitta Yoshisada
was the head of the Nitta family in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period, capturing Kamakura from the Hōjō clan in 1333....
) took Kamakura, and Motouji had to escape. Once again, Takauji had to come to his son's succor to restore order. The situation having stabilized, Takauji returned to Kyoto, leaving Hatakeyama Kunikiyo as the new shitsuji.
After Takauji's death, Nitta Yoshioki meant to attack Kamakura again, but Motouji had him caught and drowned in a river in 1358. With the Kantō finally peaceful, Motouji sent troops commanded by Hatakeyama Kunikiyo to help his brother Yoshiakira attack Yoshino Province
Yoshino Province
thumb|250px|right|Location of Yoshino Province c. 716. was a short-lived special division of the provinces of Japan, a part of Kinai. It was composed of only one district, . Its present day location is the southern part of Nara Prefecture....
, where Go-Daigo had installed his court, but was betrayed by Kunikiyo, who disobeyed orders and instead went to attack Nitta Yoshinaga. He personally defeated Kunikiyo, then reconciled himself with Uesugi Noriaki in 1364 and reinstated him to his former post. Because Noriaki had sided with Ashikaga Tadayoshi during the Kannō Disturbance
Kannō disturbance
The , also called Kannō no juran, was a civil war which developed from antagonisms between Shogun Ashikaga Takauji and his brother, Ashikaga Tadayoshi, thus dividing and weakening the early Ashikaga shogunate...
, this act is believed to have done much to pacify the Kantō.
Motouji died during an epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
in 1367 at the age of 28 while firmly in power. He is buried at the family temple
Bodaiji
A , in Japanese Buddhism is a temple which, generation after generation, takes care of a family's dead giving them burial and performing ceremonies in their soul's favor. The name is because in Japan the term , which originally meant just Buddhist enlightenment , has also come to mean either the...
of Zuisen-ji
Zuisen-ji
is a Buddhist temple of the Rinzai sect in Nikaidō's near Kamakura, Japan. During the Muromachi period it was the family temple of the Ashikaga rulers of Kamakura : four of the five kubō are buried there in a private cemetery closed to the public and first kubō Ashikaga Motouji's is also known...
.
See also
- Kamakura, Kanagawa - The Muromachi and Edo periods
- Kantō KubōKanto kubowas a title equivalent to shogun assumed by Ashikaga Motouji after his nomination to Kantō kanrei, or deputy shogun for the Kamakura-fu, in 1349. Motouji transferred his original title to the Uesugi family, which had previously held the hereditary title of , and would thereafter provide the Kantō...
- Nanboku-chō period
See also
- Kamakura, Kanagawa - The Muromachi and Edo periods
- The article Nanboku-chō period