Ashikaga Yoshiaki was born to Ashikaga Yoshiharu on 5 December 1537. At the time, the Ashikaga shogunate had been severely weakened; its authority was largely ignored across Japan. Regardless, various factions still fought to control the central government, as it still held some prestige despite its diminished status. Ashikaga Yoshiteru attempted to overthrow the Miyoshi who effectively controlled him, but his conspiracies led the Miyoshi and
Matsunaga Hisahide to organize a
coup d'état as well as force Yoshiteru to commit suicide. They then opted to install
Ashikaga Yoshihide as the fourteenth shogun in Kyoto, but were unable to control the capital. . In November 21 1567 he was transferred to An'yō-ji Temple in
Ichijōdani (present-day
Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture), the base of the
Asakura clan. In April 15 1568, he came of age and changed his name to Yoshiaki. There was no effective central authority in Kyoto until Ashikaga Yoshiaki was able to enlist warlord
Oda Nobunaga to support his cause. The Oda armies entered
Kyoto in 1568, re-establishing the
Muromachi shogunate under Ashikaga Yoshiaki as a puppet
shōgun. This marked the beginning of the
Azuchi–Momoyama period. Ashikaga Yoshihide, the fourteenth shōgun, was deposed without ever entering the capital. Before long, Yoshiaki became dissatisfied with Oda Nobunaga's overlordship and tried to regain state power. In 1569, Yoshiaki's Nijō residence was constructed, becoming a notable symbol of his authority.
Yoshiaki's revolt and escape In 1573, Ashikaga Yoshiaki requested the aid of another warlord,
Takeda Shingen, in overthrowing the Oda clan. Shingen led a force of about 30,000 westward and routed the army of Nobunaga's ally,
Tokugawa Ieyasu, at
Mikatagahara. Upon receiving this news, Yoshiaki himself raised an army and plunged into battle against Nobunaga, but Shingen's army never reached Kyoto. Shingen had died of illness. Unaware of this, Yoshiaki continued his fight against Nobunaga but eventually surrendered. Nobunaga spared Yoshiaki's life but decided to banish him from Kyoto. Most historians consider this the Ashikaga shogunate's end. Yoshiaki became a Buddhist monk, shaving his head and taking the name Sho-san, which he later changed to Rei-o In. However, Yoshiaki did not formally relinquish his title as shogun. Accordingly, the empty shell of the Ashikaga shogunate could be said to have continued for several more years. Despite a renewed central authority in Kyoto and Nobunaga's attempt to unify the country, the struggle for power among warring states continued. Yoshiaki acted as a rallying point for anti-Oda forces. He even raised troops himself, and sent them to fight against Nobunaga's army during the
Ishiyama Hongan-ji War. In 1576, he sought the support of the
Mōri clan, the largest
daimyō in Western Japan, and moved his base to Tomo (present-day
Fukuyama City). The approximately ten-year period that followed is sometimes referred to as the "
Tomo Shogunate (鞆幕府)". Even after Nobunaga had died in 1582, the former shogun continued his efforts to regain power. According to historian Mary Elizabeth Berry, Yoshiaki still resisted Nobunaga's
de facto successor
Toyotomi Hideyoshi by 1590. He died in 1597. ==Symbols==