Ashikaga Yoshimi

Ashikaga Yoshimi (1439–1491), a son of Shogun Yoshinori and younger brother of Yoshimasa, first lived as the monk Gijin at Jōdo-ji in Kyoto. In 1464 he returned to secular life after Yoshimasa designated him as a successor. The birth of Yoshimasa’s son Yoshihisa the next year left the household with competing futures. Yoshimi’s position depended on recognition and powerful supporters, not a settled rule of automatic inheritance. [S01]

During the Ōnin War, the civil war centered on Kyoto, he initially belonged to the eastern coalition, but left Kyoto for Ise in 1467. After returning in 1468, he broke again with Yoshimasa and entered the western side. These movements changed what the armies claimed to defend. The war also involved disputed successions in the Hatakeyama and Shiba houses and competing provincial networks. Yoshimi’s rivalry with his nephew cannot explain the whole conflict. [S01]

In 1477 he withdrew to Mino under Toki Shigeyori’s protection. Yoshihisa’s death in 1489 reopened the succession, and Yoshimi returned to Kyoto with his son Yoshiki, later called Yoshitane. Reconciled with Yoshimasa, he became his son’s senior supporter; Yoshitane took the shogunate in 1490. Yoshimi died the following year. He never became shogun himself, but survival through displacement and changing alliances eventually brought his branch back to the succession. [S01, S02]