Ashikaga Yoshikatsu

Who was Ashikaga Yoshikatsu?

Ashikaga Yoshikatsu was the 7th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1442 to 1443 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshikatsu was the son of 6th shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori.

Significant events which shaped the period during which Yoshikatsu was shogun:

⁕July 12, 1441: Shogun Yoshinori is murdered at the age of 48 by Akamatsu Mitsusuke; and shortly thereafter, it is determined that his 8-year-old son, Yoshikatsu, will become the new Shogun.

⁕1442: Yoshikatsu is confirmed as shogun.

⁕August 16, 1443: Shogun Yoshikatsu died at the age of 10. Fond of horse riding, he was fatally injured in a fall from a horse. He had been shogun for only three years. His 8-year-old brother, Yoshinari, was then named shogun. Several years after he became shogun, Yoshinari changed his name to Yoshimasa, and he is better known by that name.