Ashikaga Takauji (August 18, 1305 – June 7, 1358) was the inaugural shogun and founder of the Ashikaga shogunate, marking the commencement of Japan's Muromachi period. He was also known as Minamoto no Takauji of the Minamoto clan, tracing his lineage directly from the samurai of the Seiwa Genji line, who were descendants of Emperor Seiwa. They had settled in the Ashikaga region of Shimotsuke Province, which corresponds to modern-day Tochigi Prefecture.
According to the Zen master and scholar Muso Soseki, who enjoyed Takauji's favor and collaborated closely with him, Takauji possessed three notable qualities. First, he demonstrated exceptional composure in battle, harboring no fear of death. Second, he exhibited mercy and tolerance. Third, he displayed great generosity towards those in subordinate positions.
During his early years, he bore the childhood name Matagoro. Takauji initially served as a general for the Kamakura shogunate and was dispatched to Kyoto in 1333 to quell the Genko War that had erupted in 1331. Over time, as Takauji grew disillusioned with the Kamakura shogunate, he aligned himself with the banished Emperor Go-Daigo and Kusunoki Masashige, successfully capturing Kyoto. Subsequently, Nitta Yoshisada joined their cause and besieged Kamakura. When the city fell to Nitta, the shogunal regent Hojo Takatoki and his clan members committed ritual suicide. This marked the end of the Kamakura shogunate and the Hojo clan's dominance, leading to Emperor Go-Daigo's reinstatement and the initiation of the Kenmu Restoration.
However, dissatisfaction among the samurai clans soon arose due to the reestablished imperial court's efforts to revert to the social and political structures of the Heian period. Despite Takauji's warnings, these concerns were disregarded. Taking advantage of the situation, Hojo Tokiyuki, Takatoki's son, instigated the Nakasendai rebellion in an attempt to restore the shogunate in Kamakura in 1335. Takauji suppressed the rebellion and claimed Kamakura for himself. Championing the cause of his fellow samurai, he assumed the title of Sei-i Taishogun and distributed land to his followers without the court's approval. Although he declared his allegiance to the imperial court, Emperor Go-Daigo dispatched Nitta Yoshisada to retake Kamakura.
Takauji vanquished Yoshisada in the battles of Sanoyama and Mishima, paving the way for his advance on Kyoto. He briefly seized Kyoto in February 1336, only to be driven out by forces led by Prince Takanaga, Prince Norinaga, Kitabatake Akiie, and Yūki Munehiro. Following a retreat to the west, Takauji allied himself with the Kyūshū-native clans. After prevailing over the Kikuchi clan in the Battle of Tatarahama in 1336, he gained substantial control over Kyushu. Simultaneously, his brother made progress by land, and both reached the vicinity of present-day Kobe in July.
In the pivotal Battle of Minatogawa in 1336, Takauji once again defeated Yoshisada and slew Masashige, ultimately securing control of Kyoto. Takauji installed Emperor Komyo from the Northern Court (the illegitimate court, as opposed to the exiled Southern Court) as emperor, instigating the turbulent period of Northern and Southern Courts (Nanbokucho), characterized by the conflict between two rival emperors, which persisted for nearly six decades.
In addition to various honors bestowed upon him by Emperor Go-Daigo, Takauji received the title of Chinjufu-shogun, or Commander-in-chief of the Defense of the North, and the courtly title of the Fourth Rank, Junior Grade. His Buddhist name was Tojiinden Niyama Myogi dai koji Chojuji-dono.
See also
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Okubo Tadanori
Okubo Tadanori (January 13, 1842 – August 10, 1897) was the 9th daimyo of Odawara Domain in Sagami Province (modern-day Kanagawa Prefecture) during the late Edo period. Before the Meiji Restoration, he held the courtesy title of Kaga no Kami.
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Okubo Tadayo
Okubo Tadayo (1532 – October 28, 1594) was a samurai general who served Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and later became the daimyo of Odawara Domain in the early Edo period.
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Araki Murashige
Araki Murashige (1535 – June 20, 1586) was a samurai and retainer of Ikeda Katsumasa, the head of the powerful Settsu-Ikeda clan in Settsu Province. Initially serving under Katsumasa, he aligned himself with Oda Nobunaga after Nobunaga’s successful campaign to establish control over Kyoto.
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Yuki Hideyasu
Yuki Hideyasu (March 1, 1574 – June 2, 1607) was a Japanese samurai who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods, serving as the daimyō of Fukui Domain in Echizen Province. Born Tokugawa Ogimaru, he was the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Lady Oman (also known as Lady Kogō), a handmaiden to Ieyasu’s wife, Lady Tsukiyama. Due to Ieyasu’s fears of his wife’s reaction to Oman’s pregnancy, Ogimaru and his twin brother were born in secrecy at the home of Honda Shigetsugu, one of Ieyasu’s retainers. Oman’s other son eventually became a priest, while Ogimaru was raised apart from Ieyasu, whom he only met at the age of three, in a meeting arranged by his older half-brother, Matsudaira Nobuyasu.
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Tsutsui Sadatsugu
Tsutsui Sadatsugu (June 6, 1562 – April 2, 1615) was a prominent figure in the Sengoku and early Edo periods, known as the cousin and adopted heir of Tsutsui Junkei, the feudal lord of Yamato Province. Following Junkei's death in 1584, Toyotomi Hideyoshi relocated Sadatsugu to Iga Province, where he oversaw the construction of Iga Ueno Castle, marking the height of his prominence.
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Matsudaira Kiyoyasu
Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (September 28, 1511 – November 29, 1535) served as the 7th lord of the Matsudaira clan during Japan's tumultuous Sengoku period. Renowned as the paternal grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Japan's "great unifiers," Kiyoyasu expanded his clan’s influence, bringing all of northern Mikawa Province under his control after subduing the Saigo clan. His power was further symbolized by the construction of Okazaki Castle, a testament to the Matsudaira’s growing dominance.
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Matsudaira Hirotada
Matsudaira Hirotada (June 9, 1526 – April 3, 1549) was a daimyo and lord of Okazaki Castle in Mikawa Province during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku Period. He is best known as the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.
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Ikeda Tsuneoki
Ikeda Tsuneoki (1536 – May 18, 1584), also known as Ikeda Nobuteru, was a prominent daimyo of the Ikeda clan and a distinguished military commander during Japan's Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He served under the influential warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tsuneoki’s connection to Nobunaga began early, as his mother, Yotokuin, was Nobunaga’s wet nurse and later became a concubine to Oda Nobuhide, Nobunaga's father.
