Fix the mistake: Muromachi period

The Stability and Unrest of the Muromachi Shogunate

The Muromachi shogunate reached its height under Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, but it gradually became unstable after the fourth shogun, Yoshimochi. During the time of the sixth shogun, Ashikaga Yoshinori, the shogunate was greatly shaken by authoritarian rule and assassination.

Basic Knowledge

The fourth shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimochi (Yoshimitsu's son), reconsidered his father's policies and temporarily suspended trade with Ming China because he regarded paying tribute to Ming as humiliating (1411-1432). Yoshimochi's reign was relatively stable.
The sixth shogun, Ashikaga Yoshinori (Yoshimitsu's son), became a shogun after returning to secular life from being a monk. He is also known as the lottery shogun. Because he ruled autocratically and oppressed powerful provincial constables, he was called the terror of all people.
In 1428, after horse carriers in Omi Province rose up, the Shōchō Tsuchi Ikki broke out throughout the Kinai region. The rebels demanded the cancellation of debts (tokusei) and attacked sake brewers and pawnbrokers. This is important as the first full-scale popular uprising in Japanese history.
In 1438-1439, during the Eikyō War, Kamakura kubō Ashikaga Mochiuji rebelled against the shogunate. Yoshinori destroyed Mochiuji, beginning disorder in eastern Japan.
In 1441, Yoshinori was assassinated at the residence of the provincial constable Ak松 Mitsusuke (Kakitsu Incident). This shocking event, in which a shogun was killed by a vassal, greatly damaged the authority of the shogunate. Immediately afterward, the Kakitsu Tokusei Ikki also broke out in 1441.

Further Study (Background and Influence)

The Muromachi period is also called the age of uprisings. The term ikki means “uniting for one purpose”. It included not only peasant uprisings but also kuni ikki led by warriors, and Ikkō ikki, alliances of religious believers, warriors, and peasants led by the Honganji branch of Jōdo Shinshū.
During the Shōchō Tsuchi Ikki, an inscription known as the Yagyu Tokusei Inscription was carved in Nara: “From the first year of Shōchō onward, there shall be no debts in the four villages of Kambe.” It still exists and is a frequently studied historical source.
Yoshinori's assassination is one of the few cases in Japanese history in which a shogun was openly killed, along with Minamoto no Sanetomo and Oda Nobunaga. As a result, the authority of the shogunate was decisively weakened, laying the groundwork for the Ōnin War half a century later.

Points of Caution (Easily Confused)

① Do not confuse Yoshimochi (fourth shogun) and Yoshinori (sixth shogun). Yoshimitsu (third) → Yoshimochi (fourth) → Yoshikazu (fifth, short-lived) → Yoshinori (sixth).
② Distinguish the Shōchō Tsuchi Ikki (1428) from the Kakitsu Tokusei Ikki (1441). The former was the first full-scale uprising in history; the latter was the first uprising to obtain a debt-cancellation order.
③ Eikyō War = Kamakura kubō Ashikaga Mochiuji in eastern Japan versus the shogunate; Kakitsu Incident = provincial constable Ak松 Mitsusuke versus shogun Yoshinori. Both occurred during Yoshinori's time but were different events.
④ Dosō and sake brewers were high-interest lenders of the time. Dosō were pawnbrokers, while sake brewers also engaged in finance.

Practice

1. Give the name of the tsuchi ikki that occurred in 1428 and was the first full-scale uprising in Japanese history.
2. Give the name of the provincial constable who assassinated shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori in 1441.
3. Give the name of the sixth shogun who ruled autocratically and was called the “terror of all people.”