Ashikaga Tadayoshi

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Recent research suggests that this portrait, traditionally believed to be of Minamoto no Yoritomo, is likely to be that of Ashikaga Tadayoshi^[1]

Ashikaga Tadayoshi (足利直義^?) (1306, Japan - March 13, 1352, Kamakura, Japan) was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period (1337-92) of Japanese history and associate of his elder brother Ashikaga Takauji, the first Muromachi shogun.

[edit] Biography

After helping Emperor Go-Daigo in the Kemmu Restoration of 1333, Tadayoshi was made governor (kami) of Sagami Province (now part of Kanagawa prefecture). In 1335, during the Nakasendai Rebellion led by Hōjō Tokiyuki (d 1353), Tadayoshi killed Go-Daigo's son, Prince Morinaga. Turning against Go-Daigo, Tadayoshi and Takauji set up a rival emperor in 1336 and founded the Muromachi shogunate in 1338. Dividing power between them, Takauji took charge of military affairs and Tadayoshi of judicial and administrative matters. In 1350, however, because of conflict with Takauji's deputy Kō no Moronao, Tadayoshi rebelled; in 1351 he occupied Kyoto. (See Kanno Disturbance). A subsequent reconciliation between the brothers proved to be brief. Tadayoshi fled to Kamakura, but Takauji pursued him there with an army. In March 1352, shortly after an ostensible second reconciliation, Tadayoshi died suddenly, most likely by poisoning.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Weapons & Fighting Techniques Of The Samurai Warrior 1200-1877 AD accessed on June 24, 2009

[edit] References

• Papinot, E. (1910). "Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan." 1972 Printing. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo, ISBN 0-8048-0996-8.