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Updated: June 14, 2025
These septs, finding themselves so powerful, became unmanageable. Then the division of the Ashikaga into the Muromachi magnates and the Kamakura chiefs brought two sets of rulers upon the same stage, and naturally intrigue and distrust were born, so that, in the end, Muromachi was shaken by Hosokawa, and Kamakura was overthrown by Uesugi.
At, or shortly after, this time, Kai and Izu and, later on, Mutsu, were put under Kamakura jurisdiction, and their peaceful and orderly condition formed a marked contrast to the general state of the rest of the empire."* *Murdoch's History of Japan. The next event of cardinal importance in this much disturbed period was the defection of Hosokawa Kiyouji, one of the shitsuji in Kyoto.
The Nikki, the Hosokawa, the Doki, and the Sasaki, all followed Takauji, but the Ishido, the Uesugi, and the Momonoi adhered to Tadayoshi. At last the situation became so strained that Tadayoshi withdrew to Echizen and from thence made his way to Kamakura.
In fact, the shogun was actually under guard of the Hosokawa troops, who, being encamped on the east and north of Muromachi, received the name of the Eastern Army; the Yamana forces, which were massed on the west and south, being distinguished as the Western Army.
In 1545, the shogun, Yoshiharu, resigned in favour of his son, Yoshiteru. Two years of quiet ensued in Kyoto, and then the old feud broke out once more. The Hosokawa, represented by Harumoto, and the Miyoshi, by Chokei, fought for supremacy. Victory rested with the Miyoshi. The Hosokawa's power was shattered, and Chokei ruled in Kyoto through his vassal, Matsunaga Hisahide.
From the outset he took care to legalize his cause by inducing the Emperor and the ex-Emperor to remove to Muromachi, where they were guarded by the Hosokawa troops, and the defections to which this must ultimately expose Sozen's ranks were supplemented by fomenting in the domains of the Yamana and their allies intrigues which necessitated a diversion of strength from the Kyoto campaign.
The first Muromachi kwanryo was Shiba Yoshimasa, and it became the ultimate custom to give the post to a member of one of three families, the Shiba, the Hosokawa, and the Hatakeyama. When swords were sheathed after the long and wasting War of the Dynasties, the Ashikaga found themselves in a strong position.
But, in 1518, he was recalled to his province by an attack from the shugo of Izumo, and by financial embarrassment resulting from his own generosity in supplying funds to the Crown and the shogun. Hosokawa Takakuni now became kwanryo, exercising his authority with a high hand.
In 1391 Yamana Ujikiyo and his kinsman Mitsuyuki took the field against Kyoto under the standard of the Southern Court. He commanded a great army, and there resulted a desperate struggle known in history as the Meitoku War, after the name of the year-period when it occurred. The Yamana leader was killed and his army completely routed. In the following year, the great Hosokawa Yoriyuki died.
In the sequel, Masanaga committed suicide, and the shogun, Yoshitane, escaped to Suwo. Hosokawa Masamoto was now master of the situation in Kyoto. It was for him to nominate a new shogun in lieu of the fugitive Yoshitane. He went to the Kwanto for a candidate. His son, Yoshizumi, was chosen by Hosokawa to rule at Muromachi, and Hosokawa himself became kwanryo.
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