Ashikaga Yoshihisa

Ashikaga Yoshihisa (1465-1489) was the 9th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, known as the shogun who personally led troops into Ōmi in the turbulent period after the Ōnin War. He was born to Ashikaga Yoshimasa and Hino Tomiko, and was raised from childhood as the shogun's heir. In 1473 he succeeded his father Yoshimasa as shogun, and from then on he attempted to rebuild the authority of the shogunate.

To restore the prestige of the shogunate, which had been devastated by the Ōnin War (1467-1477), Yoshihisa carried out a personal campaign aimed at subjugating the Rokkaku clan of Ōmi (the Chōkyō–Entoku War). The unusual act of a shogun taking the field in person had a great impact on warrior society. Yoshihisa set up his headquarters at Magari in Ōmi and lived in the field for one year and five months, but he died of illness in camp in 1489. His death at the young age of 25 dashed the dream of restoring the authority of the Muromachi shogunate.

Yoshihisa studied governance and waka poetry under Ichijō Kaneyoshi, and is also known as a cultured figure who actively hosted poetry gatherings. In connection with swords, a contemporary record shows that during his campaign into Ōmi in Chōkyō 1 (1487), he had a servant carry a naginata passed down through the Ashikaga shogunal family, called Honekami, which is said to be the famous blade Honebami Tōshirō. Yoshihisa's short reign ended politically with his aims unfulfilled.