Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358–1408) was the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate and a figure who stood at the pinnacle of the warrior class, holding the greatest power in medieval Japan. In 1392 he brought about the reunification of the Northern and Southern Courts, ending a division of the imperial court that had lasted some sixty years. He also left outstanding achievements in politics, diplomacy and culture, including the construction of Kinkaku-ji (Rokuon-ji) and the start of the Japan–Ming trade.

In 1367, upon the death of his father Yoshiakira, Yoshimitsu succeeded to the headship of the house at the age of ten. In 1369 he received the appointment as Seii Taishōgun and took office as the third shogun. In his childhood he was placed under the guardianship of the kanrei Hosokawa Yoriyuki, but after coming of age he took firm control of power himself and set about bringing the shugo daimyo under control. He defeated powerful shugo such as Yamana Ujikiyo and Ōuchi Yoshihiro, cutting down the power of the shugo daimyo and raising the authority of the shogunate to the highest level in the history of the Muromachi shogunate.

In the cultural sphere, Yoshimitsu became renowned as a standard-bearer of Kitayama culture. The Kitayama-dono that he built in the Kitayama hills north of the capital (later Rokuon-ji, commonly known as Kinkaku-ji) is a symbol of Muromachi culture, in which warrior, court-noble and Zen culture fused. As a patron of noh, Yoshimitsu protected the father-and-son pair Kan'ami and Zeami, and he also has the achievement of establishing the foundations of noh that continue to the present day.

In diplomacy, Yoshimitsu sent a tribute mission to Ming in 1401 and received the title "King of Japan." This Japan–Ming trade is also called tally trade (kangō bōeki). Through official trade with Ming, large quantities of copper coins, ceramics, raw silk and other goods were imported, while from Japan swords, lacquerware, folding fans and other goods were exported. Japanese swords in particular received high esteem in Ming and were prized by Chinese literati and military men.

In the sphere of swords, blades became one of the main export items in the Japan–Ming trade that Yoshimitsu opened, and later large numbers of swords went over to Ming.

In 1394 Yoshimitsu handed the shogunate to his eldest son Yoshimochi, and in 1395, the following year, he took holy orders. He nevertheless kept real power until his last years. When he died in 1408, the court was about to confer on him an honorific title equivalent to that of Daijō Tennō (retired emperor), but Yoshimochi declined it. This anecdote shows that Yoshimitsu, as a warrior, had acquired an authority that exceeded the highest rank open to warriors and was equivalent to that of the imperial family. The legacy of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who created the golden age of Muromachi culture, still forms the core of Japanese culture today, together with the radiance of Kinkaku-ji.