Ashikaga Takauji – Study of Japanese Sword

June 17, 2019June 11, 2021 Yurie Endo 遠藤由利江 57| Muromachi Period History (室町時代), Uncategorized

54|Part 2 of — 20|Muromachi Period History (室町時代歴史)

This is a detailed part of the 20 | Muromachi Period History. Please read chapter 20 before reading this section.

0-timeline - size 24 Nuromach & Sengoku

The red circleabove indicate the time we discuss in this chapter

Until the Muromachi (室町) period, the political history and the sword history are parallel in our study. The above timelines show: the middle line is for the sword history, and the bottom line is for the political history.

The styles of swords were distinctively different between those in the Muromachi period and the Sengoku period (戦国時代). Therefore, for sword study, the Muromachi period and the Sengoku period have to be separated. Japanese history textbooks define that the Muromachi period is from 1393 (the end of Nanboku-cho) until 1573 when Oda Nobunaga (織田信長) removed Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki (足利義昭) from Kyoto (the fall of the Muromachi Bakufu). In those textbooks, the Sengoku period is described as a part of the Muromachi period. However, we need to divide the Muromachi period and the Sengoku period for the sword study’s purpose.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利義満)

The best time during the Muromachi period was when Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利義満, Grandson of Ashikaga Takauji) was in power. He moved the Bakufu to Muromachi (室町) in Kyoto; therefore, it is called the Muromachi period. By the time most of the South Dynasty Samurai went under the North Dynasty, the South Dynasty accepted the Shogun Yoshimitsu’s offer to end the fight against the North Dynasty. This acceptance established the power of the Ashikaga family in the Muromachi Bakufu.

Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu created a tremendous amount of profit from trades with China (Ming). He built a famous beautiful resort villa in Kyoko, the Golden Pavillion (Kinkaku-Ji Temple 金閣寺*). It is said that he created the Golden Pavillion to display his power and wealth. The beautiful culture called the Kitayama Bunka (Kitayama culture 北山文化) was created around this time.

*Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-Ji Tempe金閣寺) —– The official name is Rokuon-ji Temple (鹿苑寺). Saionji Kintsune (西園寺公経) built it first as his resort house in the Kamakura period. Shogun Yoshimitsu acquired it in 1397, and he rebuilt it as his villa. He also used it as an official guesthouse.

After Shogun Yoshimitsu’s death, the villa was converted to Rokuon-ji Temple. It is a part of Rinzaishu Sokoku-ji Temple, which is the head temple of a denomination of the Zen sect, Rinzaishu Sokoku-ji group(臨済宗相国寺派). Kinkaku-ji is a reliquary hall containing relics of Buddha. Kinkaku-ji Temple represents the glorious Kitayama Bunka (Kitayama culture). In 1994, it was registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site. https://www.shokoku-ji.jp/kinkakuji/

57 Kinkakuji trip 2019 My photo May 2019,

Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利義政)

After Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利義満) died, the Muromachi Bakufu became less financially prosperous, and the military power decreased. As a result, Daimyos (feudal lords) gained more control. A few generations after Shogun Yoshimitsu, Ashikaga Yohimasa became the 8th Shogun). His wife was the famous Hino Tomiko (refer Hino tomiko Chapter 20|Muromachi Period History (室町時代歴史) .

It is said that Shogun Yoshimasa was not interested in his job as a Shogun, but he was much more interested in art and culture. He created the foundation of today’s Japanese art and culture, such as the Japanese garden, Shoin-zukuri (書院造)* interior design, tea ceremony, flower arrangements, painting, and other art forms. His cultural attribute is called Higashiyama Bunka (Higashiyama culture (東山文化).

As described in 20|Muromachi Period History (室町時代歴史) , Shogun Yoshimasa did not have a child. His brother Yoshimi (義視) was supposed to be the next Shogun. But his wife, Hino Tomiko, gave birth to a son, Yoshihisa (義尚). Hino Tomiko asked Yamana Sozen (山名宗全; powerful family) to back up her son. At the same time, brother, Yoshimi, tied up with Hosokawa Katsumoto (another powerful family 細川勝元). The problem was that Shogun Yoshimasa was paying too much attention to all his cultural hobbies, and did not pay attention to the problem he created by not being clear who should be the next Shogun. He did not yield the Shogunate to either one.

In 1467, on top of the successor problem, because of other conflicts of interests of other powerful Daimyo, a civil war, “Onin-no-Run (応仁の乱 )” broke out. All Daimyo were divided and sided either the Hosokawa group or the Yamana group. Eventually, the war spread to the rest of Japan and lasted over ten years. Finally, in 1477, after both Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sozen died, Shogun Yoshimasa decided to transfer the Shogunate to his son Yoshihisa. Because of this war, Kyoto was devastated. The power of the Muromachi Bakufu declined significantly.

While all this was happening, and people were suffering, Yoshimasa was still spending money to build the Ginkaku-ji Temple (The Silver Pavillion: 銀閣寺). He died without seeing the completion of the Ginkaku-ji Temple. The Onin-no-Run would lead to the next Sengoku period, the 100-year-long Warring States Period).

*Shoin-zukuri (書院造)———- A traditional Japanese residential interior style with Tatami mats, a nook, and a Shoji screen, sliding door. This style is the base of the interior of the Japanese house today.

Shoin Zukuri style Japanese room

57 Shoin zukuri

Public Domain GFDL,cc-by-sa-2.5,2.0,1.0 file: Takagike CC BY-SA 3.0view terms File: Takagike Kashihara JPN 001.jpg

My Japanese room

May 4, 2019December 5, 2021 Yurie Endo 遠藤由利江 53| Part 2 of --- 18 Nanbokucho( 南北朝 )period 1333 - 1393

51| Part 2 of — 17 Nanboku-Cho Period History 1333 – 1392 (南北朝歴史)

This section is a continued part of 17|Nanboku(Yoshino) Cho Period History (1333-1392) . Please read Chapter 17 before reading this section.

0-timeline - size 24 Nanboku-cho

The red circle above indicates the time we discuss in this section

The Nanboku-cho period (1333 – 1392) was between the fall of Kamakura Bakufu and the beginning of the Muromachi Bakufu. It was the time when the North Dynasty and the South Dynasty co-existed at the same time. Right around the time of the Mongolian Invasion, Emperor Go-saga passed away without deciding the next emperor. Because of that, his two heirs and their family lines, the Daigakuji-to (大覚寺統) line and the Jimyoin-to (持明院統) line, alternately took the emperor position after Emperor Go-saga‘s death. This system was politically precarious. On top of that, many inconvenient problems happened; for example, while one emperor was still very young, the next-in-line emperor died young from a head injury when he was playing on a slippery stone.

At a time like this, Go-daigo (後醍醐天皇) became the emperor. He was put on the throne as a temporary emperor until young emperors grew up. Around this time, the power of the emperors was declining. The Kamakura Bakufu (government) controlled the emperors. After the Mongolian Invasion, even though typhoons chased Mongolian troops away, Kamakura Bakufu was in financial trouble because of the cost of war. Many Samurai who fought during the Mongolian Invasion did not receive any rewards nor got paid for the expense they incurred themselves. They were also in trouble financially. All these problems piled up, and people resented the Kamakura Bakufu.

Emperor Go-daigo did not want to stay as just a filler emperor. He decided to remain as an emperor himself and decided to attack the Kamakura Bakufu. For some reason, the Kamakura Bakufu found out about the plan. Emperor Go-daigo somehow managed to avoid being accused as an instigator. After this happened, the Kamakura Bakufu appointed another heir for the next emperor. But Go-daigo insisted on remaining as an emperor. He planned another attack one more time. This time, he had carefully planned and allied with prominent, powerful temples in Yamato (Nara today) since the Kamakura Bakufu did not control them. Refer, 15| The Revival of Yamato Den（大和伝復活）and 49| Part 2 of — 15 The Revival of Yamato Den (大和伝復活) .

This time again, the rebellion plot came to light. Go-daigo sneaked out of Kyoto and fought against the Kamakura army. Go-daigo’s army had fewer soldiers than the Kamakura army, but several groups opposing the Kamakura Bakufu rose from various places throughout Japan. Eventually, Go-daigo was captured and sent to Oki Island (the same place where Emperor Go-toba was sent).

Even after sending Emperor Go-daigo to Oki island, the Kamakura Bakufu still had to fight against other uprising groups. One of the famous rebels was Kusunoki Masashige (楠正成). Go-daigo’s son was also actively fighting against the Kamakura Bakufu and managing to ally with more groups.

More and more people wanted to overthrow the Kamakura Bakufu. Even Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏), one of the Kamakura Bakufu’s top men who fought against Emperor Go-daigo, betrayed the Kamakura, and changed sides, and became the emperor’s ally. In the meantime, Go-daigo escaped from Oki Island. More and more uprisings against the Kamakura Bakufu emerged from everywhere. Eventually, the main political center called Rokuhara Tandai (六波羅探題) of the Kamakura Bakufu fell. Nitta Yoshisada (新田義貞)*, who was another uprising group attacked Kamakura and won. The Kamakura Bakufu fell in 1333.

Emperor Go-Daigo started a new political system called Kenmu no Shinsei (建武の新政). This new system was a disaster. He made a great effort to make things right, and changed the old political system drastically. But this political reform created a big commotion. It was not good for anybody, and nobody would gain anything. Ashikaga Takauji (one of the prominent people of merit) and his men did not receive any high-ranking jobs. His new reform was very idealistic and too far advanced for the time. It was too disadvantageous for the noblemen. His new policy only invited chaos and corruption.

Now Ashikaga Takauji turned against Go-daigo and defeated him. Go-daigo left the Imperial Palace and opened a new government in Yoshino, the south of Kyoto. Therefore, it was called the Southern Dynasty. Meanwhile, Ashikaga Takauji set up a new emperor, Emperor Komyo (光明), in Kyoto, and established the North Dynasty. This is how the North and South Dynasties came about.

Two dynasties co-existed for about 60 years. Little by little, many samurai groups moved under the North Dynasty, and after Go-daigo and his several key men passed away, the South Dynasty became weakened. Eventually, the South Dynasty accepted the offer from the Ashikaga side, and the North and the South united in 1392. During all those fights between the emperor and Kamakura Bakufu, the sword style changed to broader and longer, like 3, 4, or 5 feet long. Later, most of the Nanboku-cho (the North and South Dynasties) style long swords were shortened.

53 Ashikaga Takauji

Kibamusha (騎馬武者) This portrait was once believed to be Ashikaga Takauji, but now some claim otherwise. “Public Domain” owned by Kyoto National Museum

*Nitta Yoshisada (新田義貞)

When Minamoto no Yoritomo opened the Kamakura Bakufu, he chose the Kamakura area as the center of the Bakufu because mountains surrounded Kamakura on three sides, and one side faced the ocean. That means it was hard to be attacked and easy to protect themselves. And they made seven narrow, steep roads through mountains called Kiri Toshi (切り通し) connecting with several major cities. Those seven roads were the only ways to go out and to come into Kamakura.

When Nitta Yoshisada tried to attack Kamakura, he first tried to attack through the land road but failed. So, he approached the town from the ocean side, but the cliff sticks far out to the ocean, making it impossible for them to pass. The legend says that when Nitta Yoshisada came to the area called Inamura Gasaki (稲村ヶ崎), he threw his golden sword into the ocean and prayed. Then the tide went out, and all the soldiers could go around the cliff on foot. They charged into Kamakura, and the Kamakura Bakufu fell. There are several different views on the story. Some scholars say that is not true, some say it happened, but the date was wrong, some say unusual ebb tide occurred that day, and so on.

Today, Inamura Gasaki, a part of the Shonan (湘南), is one of the favorite dating spots for young people in the evening. The evening scene of Inamura Gasaki is beautiful. The sunset from Inamura Gasaki toward Enoshima (江の島；a small island with a shrine on the hilltop) is gorgeous. My parents’ house used to be above the cliff in the vicinity called Kamakura-yama, overlooking the ocean.

53 Inamura gasaki

Inamura Gasaki Photo is “Creative Commons” CC 表示-継承 3.0 File: Inamuragasaki tottanbu.jpg Public domain

April 7, 2018June 6, 2021 Yurie Endo 遠藤由利江 21 |Muromachi Period, Uncategorized

20|Muromachi Period History (室町時代歴史) 　　　

　 The red circle iabove ndicate the time we discuss in this section

The Muromachi period began after Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏) and several other prominent leaders ended the Nanboku-cho period. (discussed in 17|Nanboku-cho Period History (1333-1393).

The grandson of Ashikaga Takauji, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利義満：often called Shogun Yoshimitsu), built a new beautiful palace at Muromachi (室町) area in Kyoto. The palace became the center of the government called the Muromachi Bakufu (室町幕府: Muromachi Government). This is the beginning of the Muromachi period. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu built the famous “Kinkaku-ji Temple* (Golden Pavilion)” in Kyoto as his second house.

Kinkaku-ji Temple* (金閣寺: Golden Pavillion) ————- Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利義満) built Kinkaku-Ji Temple in 1397. Later, it became Rinzai-shu (臨済宗) school Buddhist temple, but it was initially built as the second house for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as well as a state guesthouse. Today, it is designated as a world heritage site. This temple was burnt down by an arsonist in 1950 but was rebuilt in 1955. The novelist Mishima Yukio wrote the novel “Kinkaku-ji” related to the Golden Pavillion and the arsonist. The famous quote in the book is, “The Ho-oh (A mythic golden bird, a Chinese version phoenix) on the roof of the Kinkaku-ji Temple is stationary, but it flies through the time eternally.”

In the Muromachi period, the emperor’s power became declined. The Shogun (将軍) held all the political power. Little by little, several groups of Samurai who were officially appointed as a Shugo Daimyo (守護大名: high-ranking officials) started to gain political and economic power by holding the critical positions in the Muromachi Bakufu. They also owned a large land. A couple of powerful Shugo Daimyo were the Hosokawa (細川) family and the Yamana (山名) family.

The Ashikaga family made a great effort to make the Muromachi Bakufu sound and powerful through politics. The beginning of the Muromachi period was peaceful and prosperous. Yet by the time Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利義政) became the 8^th Shogun, the Muromachi Bakufu was corrupted very severely. Shogun Yoshimasa did not pay much attention to his job, governing the country as a shogun. Instead, he was chasing women (his mother had to scold him for that), spent a large amount of money on building the Silver Pavilion called “Ginkaku-ji Temple (銀閣寺),“ and retreated himself there. Shogun Yoshimasa did not have an heir. Therefore, his brother, Yoshimi (義視), was named to the next Shogun.

However, later, Yoshimasa’s wife Hino Tomiko (日野富子)* had a son, Yoshihisa (義尚). Now, brother Yoshimi (義視) allied with a family of a high-ranking official, the Hosokawa’s (細川) while the son, Yoshihisa, tied with another powerful family, the Yamana’s (山名), and several other smaller groups of Samurai allied with either side and the war broke out. This war is called Onin-no-Ran (応仁の乱) in 1467. It spread out all over the country and continued for 11years.

Hino Tomiko (日野富子)*——————The wife of Shogun Yoshimasa. She took advantage of her political privileges to make a large amount of money by investing in the rice commodity market to control rice prices and sold with a high profit. Then she loans the money to the high ranking officials at a high-interest. The corruption reached an uncontrollable level.

As a result of Onin-no-Ran, beautiful Kyoto was burnt down to ashes. The authority of the Muromachi Bakufu only reached the vicinity of the small surrounding area of Kyoto. Onin-no-Ran caused the next period called the Sengoku period (戦国時代), that is the Warring States period. During the Sengoku period, Japan was divided into 30 or so small independent countries and fought each other until Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Iyeyasu united Japan as one country.

57 Kinkakuji trip 2019

The photo was taken in May 2019, a family trip to Kyoto

March 3, 2018May 21, 2021 Yurie Endo 遠藤由利江 18 Nanboku(Yoshino) Cho--North and South dynasty, Uncategorized

17| Nanboku-cho Period History 1333-1392(南北朝歴史）

0-timeline - size 24 Nanboku-cho

The red circle above indicates the time we discuss in this section.

After Jokyu-no-Ran (Chapter 10 Jokyu-no-Ran ), the power of the Imperial Court declined significantly. The successor, the Hojo clan with a dominant power during the Kamakura period, also began to have financial difficulty and started to lose control over the regional lords. One of the reasons was the cost incurred by the Mongol invasion. The Kamakura Bakufu (government) could not reward well to the Samurai who worked hard during the war. As a result, they were very dissatisfied with the Bakufu. Seeing this as a chance, Emperor Go-Daigo attempted to attack the Kamakura Bakufu two times but failed both times. He was exiled to Oki island. Meantime, Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏) and several groups of anti-Kamakura Samurai gathered arm forces and succeeded in destroying the Kamakura Bakufu (1333). This war ended the Kamakura period.

Emperor Go-daigo, who had been exiled to Oki island, returned to Kyoto and attempted political reforms. This reform was called Kenmu-no-Chuko (or Kenmu-no-Shinsei, 建武の中興). His reform, however, failed to satisfy most of the ruling class. Taking advantage of this situation, Ashikaga Takauji attacked the Imperial Court in Kyoto, deposed Emperor Go-daigo, and placed a member from the other branch of the Imperial family on the throne.

Emperor Go-daigo, however, insisted upon his legitimacy, moved to Yoshino in the South of Kyoto, and established another Imperial court. Thus began the Northern and the Southern Dynasties. With much strife between these rival courts and their problems within each court, more Samurai groups began moving to the Northern Dynasty. About 60 years later, the Southern Dynasty was compelled to accept the Northern Dynasty’s proposal. Consequently, the Northern Dynasty became the legitimate imperial court. These 60 years are called Nanboku-cho or Yoshino-cho period.

During the Nanboku-cho period, Samurai demanded larger and showy yet practical swords. Soshu Den was the height of its prominence. However, the Soshu group was not the only group that made the Soshu Den style swords. Other schools and provinces of the different areas also made Soshu Den style swords.

Late Kamakura Period Swordsmiths (Early Soshu-Den time)