Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Information about Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

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Yoshimitsu Ashikaga
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Kinkaku, the Golden Pavilion at Kinkaku-ji, originated as the villa of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.


Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利 義満 September 25, 1358—May 31, 1408) was the 3rd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was the son of the second shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira.

In the year after the death of his father Yoshiakira in 1367, Yoshimitsu became Seii Taishogun. He took Zeami Motokiyo as his lover in 1374. Yoshimitsu constructed his residence in the Muromachi section in the capital of Kyoto in 1378. As a result, in Japanese, the Ashikaga shogunate and the corresponding time period are often referred to as the Muromachi shogunate and Muromachi period.

Yoshimitsu united the Northern and Southern Court (Nanboku-cho) in 1392, ending the over 50 year long Northern and Southern Court Period. This finally firmly established the authority of the Muromachi shogunate and suppressed the power of the regional daimyo.

In 1394, Yoshimitsu retired and his son became the fourth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi. However, Yoshimitsu still maintained authority over the shogunate until his death. In 1404, Chinese Ming Dynasty sent Zheng He to Japan in a diplomatic trip. Ming Dynasty entitled Yoshimitsu "The King of Japan" and presented him a "The King of Japan" seal, which he accepted. Yoshimitsu replied in letter ending with "The King of Japan, your vassal Yoshimitsu."("日本国王，臣源义满"), willing to improve relations with China and profit from trades, in what the Chinese considered tribute.[1]

Yoshimitsu died in 1408. His villa became Rokuon-ji, which today is famous for its three-storied, gold-covered reliquary known as "Kinkaku." So famous is this single structure, in fact, that the entire temple itself is often (mistakenly) called Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion.

Eras of Yoshimitsu's bakufu

The years in which Yoshimitsu was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

Nanboku-chō southern court
  • Eras as reckoned by legitimate Court (as determined by Meiji rescript)
  • Shōhei (1346-1370)
  • Kentoku (1370-1372)
  • Bunchū (1372-1375)
  • Tenju (1375-1381)
  • Kōwa (1381-1384)
  • Genchū (1384-1393)
Nanboku-chō northern court
  • Eras as reckoned by pretender Court (as determined by Meiji rescript)
  • Ōan (1368-1375)
  • Eiwa (1375-1379)
  • Kōryaku (1379-1381)
  • Eitoku (1381-1384)
  • Shitoku (1384-1387)
  • Kakei (1387-1389)
  • Kōō (1389-1390)
  • Meitoku (1390-1393)‡
Post-Nanboku-chō reunified court
  • Eras merged as Meitoku 3 replaced Genchū 9 as Go-Kameyama abdicated.
  • Meitoku (1393-1384)‡
  • Ōei (1394-1428)

References

Notes

1. ^ L. Worden, Robert (1994), "Kamakura and Muromachi Periods, 1185-1573, Economic and Cultural Developments", A Country Study: Japan (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress), <[1] (retrieved on 2007-04-06)

Further reading

Preceded by:
Ashikaga Yoshiakira		Muromachi Shogun:
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
1368–1394		Succeeded by:
Ashikaga Yoshimochi




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