Ashikaga Ujimitsu
Ashikaga Ujimitsu (足利氏満) (1359–1398) was a Nanboku-chō period warrior and the Kamakura-fu's second Kantō kubō, or Shōgun Deputy. Son of first Kantō Kubō Ashikaga Motouji, he succeeded his father in 1367 at the age of nine when this last suddenly died during an epidemic. It was during his reign that the Kanto kubō title became common enough to appear for the first time in writing. It is in fact contained in a 1382 entry of the Tsurugaoka Jishoan (鶴岡事書安). This title was in itself rebellious, because it was first adopted by Takauji himself and its use therefore implied equality with the shogun.[1] In fact, sometimes the Kanto Kubō was called Kantō shōgun.[1]
Ujimitsu was the first Kantō kubō to openly aspire to the shogunate, and his relationship with shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in Kyoto consequently deteriorated to the point of being likened to that of "cats and dogs".[2]
Biography
Ujimitsu worked continuously to define and solidify the structures of the Kamakura Bakufu he had inherited. Having gained full control of Kantō, he then conceived the idea of becoming shōgun, taking advantage of the fact that shōgun Yoshimitsu was busy subduing
Ujimitsu never completely abandoned the ambition to become shōgun, and gradually his relationship with shogun Yoshimitsu worsened to the point of being described as one of open enmity.
He died at the age of 41 and was buried at a Rinzai temple near Kamakura called Yōan-ji (永安寺), later incorporated in Zuisen-ji[3]). This is the same temple where in his grandson Mochiuji, defeated in 1439 by Kyoto's army, would commit seppuku disembowel himself to avoid the shame of capture.
On the spot near Zuisen-ji where Yōan-ji used to be stands a stele, which reads:[7]
When Kantō kubō Ashikaga Ujimitsu died on January 11, 1398,[8] he was given the posthumous name Yōanji Hekizan Zenkō (永安寺壁山全公). His son Mitsukane built this temple and gave it his father's posthumous name. The temple's oshō Dombo Ushūō was a follower of Musō Soseki. On March 24, 1439[9] kubō Mochiuji, a descendant of Ujimitsu, fought here against shōgun Yoshinori, was defeated and disemboweled himself. The temple was burned and never rebuilt. This is where it stood.
Erected by the Kamakuramachi Seinendan in March 1926
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Sansom (147–148)
- ^ "Dogs and monkeys" (犬猿の中) in Japanese
- ^ a b c Matsuo (1997:118–120)
- ^ a b Papinot (1972:36–37)
- ^ a b c d e Yasuda (1991:18)
- ^ The "Ashikaga Ujimitsu" entry of Papinot's dictionary claims that it was shogun Yoshiakira who was subduing Kyūshū. This is surely a mistake, since Yoshiakira had died in 1367, the year in which Ujimitsu became kūbō.
- ^ Original Japanese text available here
- Nengō (Eikyō 11, 10th day of the 2nd month) using Nengocalc Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
References
- Matsuo, Kenji (1997). Chūsei Toshi Kamakura wo Aruku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Chūkō Shinsho. ISBN 4-12-101392-1.
- Papinot, E. (1910). "Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan". 1972 Printing. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo, ISBN 0-8048-0996-8.
- Yasuda, Motohisa, ed. (1990). Kamakura, Muromachi Jinmei Jiten. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha. OCLC 24654085.
- Sansom, George (January 1, 1977). A History of Japan (3-volume boxed set). Vol. 2 (2000 ed.). Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN 4-8053-0375-1.