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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Uemura Masakatsu
Masakatsu was a member of the Uemura clan and the son of Uemura Masatada; from an early age he served Tokugawa Ieyasu. During the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa Province in 1563, having converted from the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist sect to the Jōdoshū sect, he took part in suppressing the rebels. After these events, Masakatsu was appointed a military governor and was granted land holdings. According to a number of sources, he was one of the so-called “Three Governors of Mikawa” (Mikawa sanbugyō), together with Amano Yasukage (1537–1613) and Koriki Kiyonaga (1530–1608).
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Tomoe Gozen
Gozen is regarded as one of the few historically documented examples of true female warriors of feudal Japan, known as onna-musha or onna-bugeisha. Although Japanese history records countless women who at various times were forced to take up arms—for example, in defense of their castles—Tomoe Gozen was, without any doubt, a genuinely skilled and accomplished fighter. She was the wife of Kiso (Minamoto) Yoshinaka, although The Tale of the Heike describes her more as a female vassal. Yoshinaka rose in rebellion against the Taira clan and, in 1184, captured Kyoto after his victory at the Battle of Kurikawa. After the Taira were driven into the western provinces, Yoshinaka began insistently asserting that he alone was worthy of assuming leadership of the Minamoto clan and taking on the mantle of its head.
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Tachibana Muneshige
Tachibana Muneshige was born the eldest son of Takahashi Shigetane, one of the principal retainers of the Ōtomo clan and commander of Iwaya Castle. In childhood, he bore the name Senkumamaru. His early years coincided with a period of intense military confrontation between the Ōtomo clan and other powerful warrior houses of Kyūshū—namely the Shimazu, Akizuki, and Ryūzōji clans.
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Tachibana Dosetsu
Tachibana Dōsetsu is the name by which Hetsugi Akitsura is more widely known; the name of this lineage is also found read as Hekki or Bekki. For a long period, Akitsura served the Ōtomo clan, the daimyō of Bungo Province, and took part in wars against the Ōuchi family, the principal enemies of the Ōtomo in northwestern Kyushu. In the 1560s, Akitsura seized the castle of the Tachibana clan, which had rebelled against the Ōtomo, and thereafter adopted the surname Tachibana. Around the same time, he took Buddhist vows and assumed the name Dōsetsu, which means “Snowy Road.”
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Taira no Masakado
Taira no Masakado embodied the quintessential samurai of his era—self-assured, harsh, and unyielding. In his youth, he served in the palace guard and repeatedly proved his bravery while suppressing unrest. Thanks to these achievements, Masakado sought the post of chief of the capital’s military-police office (the kebiishi-chō), but he was rejected: by that time, nearly all court positions—now little more than privileged sinecures—were controlled by members of the powerful Fujiwara clan.
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Sakakibara Yasumasa
Yasumasa was the second son of Sakakibara Nagamasa and was born in Ueno in Mikawa Province. From a young age, he began serving Tokugawa Ieyasu and eventually rose to the position of one of his most trusted generals. His wife was the daughter of Osuga Yasutaka. Ieyasu first noticed the young Yasumasa during the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa in 1564. Thanks to his demonstrated abilities, Yasumasa was granted the privilege of using the character “yasu”—the second character of Ieyasu’s own name—in his own. Although he was the second child in his family, he became his father’s heir, though the exact reasons for this remain unknown.
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Sakai Tadatsugu
Tadatsugu was one of the most renowned generals serving Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Ieyasu broke ties with the Imagawa clan, Tadatsugu—an ardent supporter of this decision—was granted command of Yoshida Castle in 1565, which controlled the coastal road from Tōtomi to Mikawa. During the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, he held the right flank of the Tokugawa forces even when the troops sent by Oda fled under the assault of the Takeda army. In the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, he personally requested permission to carry out a night attack on the Takeda camp, which he executed brilliantly together with Kanamori Nagachika.
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Ryuzoji Takanobu
Takanobu was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Takaie and the great-grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane. His father was killed by a man named Baba Yoritiku in 1544. At a young age, Takanobu took Buddhist vows and received the monastic name Engetsu. However, around the age of eighteen, he returned to secular life, and in 1548, after the death of Ryūzōji Tanehide, he became the head of both branches of the Ryūzōji family.
