was a samurai of the Hosokawa clan

Hosokawa clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from Emperor Seiwa and a branch of the Minamoto clan, by the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga shogunate's administration. In the Edo period, the Hosokawa clan was one of the largest landholding daimyo families in Japan...

, and prominent government minister under the Ashikaga shogunate

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...

, serving as Kyoto 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....

 (Shogun's Deputy in Kyoto) from 1367 to 1379. The first to hold this post, he solidified the power of the shogunate, as well as elements of its administrative organization. He was also Constable (Shugo

Shugo

was a title, commonly translated as "Governor," given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan...

) of the provinces of Sanuki

Sanuki Province

was an old province of Japan on the island of Shikoku, with the same boundaries as modern Kagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called .It faced the Inland Sea and bordered on Awa and Iyo Provinces. Across Naruto strait it bordered Awaji Province too. Administratively it was included as a part of...

, Tosa

Tosa Province

is the name of a former province of Japan in the area that is today Kōchi Prefecture on Shikoku. Tosa was bordered by Iyo and Awa Provinces. It was sometimes called .-History:The ancient capital was near modern Nankoku...

, and Settsu

Settsu Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises the eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or .Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province.-History:...

.

The son of Hosokawa Yoriharu, Yoriyuki also served the shogunate as a military commander, and fought the Yamana clan

Yamana clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan which was one of the most powerful of the Muromachi period ; at its peak, members of the family held the position of Constable over eleven provinces. Originally from Kōzuke province, and later centered in Inaba province, the clan claimed descendance from the Seiwa...

, ultimately achieving victory over them in 1361. Commanding shogunal forces in a number of battles, and serving under 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....

, Yoriyuki even killed his own cousin, Hosokawa Kiyouji, who defected to the other side.

Yoriyuki was appointed Shogun's Deputy in 1367, when Yoshiakira was very ill; on his deathbed, Yoshiakira entrusted Yoriyuki with the care of his son Yoshimitsu. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

was the 3rd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who ruled from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was the son of the second shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira....

 became shogun the following year, at the age of ten. For the next six years, Yoriyuki served as his chief minister. The "government under his guidance," according to George Bailey Sansom

George Bailey Sansom

Sir George Bailey Sansom was a historian of pre-modern Japan particularly noted for his historical surveys and attention to Japanese society....

, "was stern and just ... This was the first time since the fall of the Hōjō

Hojo clan

See the late Hōjō clan for the Hōjō clan of the Sengoku Period.The in the history of Japan was a family who controlled the hereditary title of shikken of the Kamakura Shogunate. In practice, the family had actual governmental power, many times dictatorial, rather than Kamakura shoguns, or the...

 that law was enforced and order maintained". Inspired by the policies of the Kemmu era

Kemmu restoration

The is the name given to both the three year period of Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period, and the political events that took place in it...

 of thirty years earlier, Yoriyuki sought to introduce and maintain discipline and loyalty among the various samurai families and to suppress forces of dissent. To that end, he promulgated sumptuary law

Sumptuary law

Sumptuary laws are laws that attempt to regulate habits of consumption. Black's Law Dictionary defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expenditures in the matter of apparel, food, furniture, etc." Traditionally, they were...

s, placing strict guidelines on the kinds of luxury items samurai could wear, and certain extravagant customs, such as the exchanging of New Year's gifts. When Yoshimitsu came of age, he would reject notions of frugality, and would take issue with Yoriyuki over this particular element of policy; Yoshimitsu's retirement villa, the gold-covered Kinkaku-ji

Kinkaku-ji

, also known as , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. The garden complex is an excellent example of Muromachi period garden design. It is designated as a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape, and it is one of 17 locations comprising the Historic Monuments of Ancient...

, serves as a good example of the degree to which he did not care for thrift.

To further encourage the loyalty of the most powerful clans at Court, Yoriyuki created the post of Kanrei (the shogun's deputy had previously been called Shitsuji) and proposed that his family, the Hosokawa, should share the post with the Shiba

Shiba clan

The was a Japanese clan claiming descent from the Minamoto clan of the Heian era that held influence and territory in the provinces of Echizen province and Owari province to which they were governors during the Sengoku era. However, they were unable to make a transition to Sengoku-daimyo and lost...

 and Hatakeyama clan

Hatakeyama clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan. Originally a branch of the Taira clan and descended from Taira no Takamochi, they fell victim of political intrigue in 1205, when Hatakeyama Shigeyasu, first, and his father Shigetada later were killed in battle by Hōjō forces in Kamakura...

s, alternating appointments between the clans. He saw to the enforcement of the property rights of hereditary landlords, religious groups, and Imperial lands, seeking to extend the military and legal powers of the shogunate to protect these lands from being seized by force by roving warlords. Several of these warlords, associated with the former Deputy Kō no Moronao

Ko no Moronao

was a Japanese samurai of the Nanboku-chō period who was the first to hold the position of Shitsuji . He was appointed by Ashikaga Takauji, the first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. As Deputy, he served not only an administrative governmental function, but also as general of the Shogun's armies...

, had been issuing orders and edicts in the name of the shogunate; this, too, was put to an end.

Yoriyuki also saw to the development of the shogunate's administrative procedures. Under the previous two shoguns, affairs were largely handled personally, with very little organization or procedure. Under Yoriyuki's guidance, administrative methods were established, and the government's operations organized to a significant degree.

Though largely successful in increasing the power of the shogunate, and establishing modes of administrative organization, Yoriyuki eventually drew the ire of members of the other samurai families, who accused him of collecting power for himself. In 1379, he was asked by the shogun to resign.