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We have seen the second and third governors-general of the Kwanto, Ujimitsu and Mitsukane, plotting to supplant the elder branch of their family in Kyoto, and we have seen how the accession of the priest, Yoshinori, had disappointed the ambition of the fourth governor-general, Mochiuji, who, if unable to become shogun himself, would fain have obtained that high office for his son, Yoshihisa.

Contrary to the advice of some of his principal retainers, he refused to proceed to extremities against the Shimazu clan, and agreed to make peace, on the basis that the clan should be left in possession of the provinces of Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga, the only further stipulation being that the then head of the house, Yoshihisa, should abdicate in favour of his younger brother, Yoshihiro.

He had been outmanoeuvered by his astute opponent, who now held complete control of the shogun, and who not only obtained an Imperial decree depriving Yoshimi of his offices, but also contrived that, early in 1469, the lady Tomi's four-year-old son, Yoshihisa, should be officially declared heir to the shogunate.

Presently, however, the shogun's consort, Tomi, gave birth to a boy, Yoshihisa, and the mother persuaded Yoshimasa to contrive that her son should supplant the sometime priest. Of necessity, the aid of Sozen was sought to accomplish this scheme, Katsumoto being already officially attached to Yoshimi.

The most puissant of these had at one time been Ryuzoji Takanobu, but his cruel methods had alienated the sympathy of many of his vassals, among them being Arima Yoshizumi, who threw off his allegiance to Takanobu and joined hands with Shimazu Yoshihisa.

He marched through Chikuzen, making friends of the local chieftains by forbearance and diplomacy, and fighting the first great battle of the campaign at Oguchi on the Sendai-gawa. The Satsuma baron's younger brother, Iehisa, after a gallant resistance, surrendered to Hideyoshi, and was employed by the latter to communicate direct with his chief, Yoshihisa.

Yoshimasa's love of poetry impelled him to publish the Kinshudan.* Above all, Yoshihisa was an earnest scholar.

Yoshimitsu 1358 1367 1395 1408 Yoshimochi 1386 1395 1423 1428 Yoshikazu 1407 1423 .... 1425 Yoshinori 1394 1428 .... 1441 Yoshikatsu 1433 1441 .... 1443 Yoshimasa 1435 1443 1474 1490 Yoshihisa 1465 1474 .... 1489 Yoshizumi 1478 1493 1508 1511 Yoshiharu 1510 1521 1545 1550 Yoshiteru 1535 1545 .... 1565 Yoshihide 1565 1565 .... 1568 Yoshiaki 1537 1568 1573 1597

The Uesugi septs, and the Hojo and the Satomi, were fighting in the Kwanto; the western provinces, the central provinces, and Kyushu were the scenes of constant conflicts, and no prospect of tranquillity presented itself. Yoshihisa determined to undertake the work of subjugating the whole country as Yoritomo had done effectually and as Takauji had done partially.

The shogun Yoshimasa was in his thirty-ninth year at the time of this abdication, and he survived for sixteen years, not the least dissipated of his life, in which he instituted costly art reunions and carried self-indulgence to its extreme. The young Yoshihisa could scarcely fail to be tainted by such an environment.