Hosokawa Katsumoto
Hosokawa Katsumoto ( Japanese 細 川 勝 元 ; * 1430 ; † 1473 ) was one of the Kanrei , the governor of the Shogun in the Muromachi period of Japan . He is famous for his involvement in the building of the Ryōan-ji , a temple famous for its rock garden, as well as for his role in the Kriegnin war that ushered in the 130-year Sengoku period .
The conflicts with his father-in-law, Yamana Sōzen , who envied Hosokawa his power as Kanrei, were among the reasons that caused the Ōnin War to break out in 1467 . When the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa had a son, Ashikaga Yoshihisa , in 1464 , Yamana took this as an opportunity to stand up against Hosokawa again by supporting the child as the future heir to the shogunate. Hosokawa worked closely with the shogun's brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi , and supported his claim to the shogunate.
In 1467 open war broke out between Hosokawa and Yamana in the capital Kyoto . Each of the adversaries had about 80,000 men. The Shogun declared that he would brand the first person to start a war in the capital as a rebel and so both armies remained inactive for a while.
Eventually, Hosokawa started the war by attacking the home of a general from Yamana named Isshiki. In the resulting fighting, Hosokawa's army secured the eastern part of the capital, hence his army was called the "Eastern". Hosokawa also sent troops to the main roads and into Yamana's home provinces to prevent reinforcements. The so-called Ōnin war that had begun continued for years.
Although Hosokawa attacked first, he managed to convince the shogun that it was not him but Yamana who was viewed as a rebel against the shogunate. He even managed to officially serve as a general for the shogunate's attacks on Yamana, but then gave him little support.
After the Shogun had declared his son to be his heir in 1469, Hosokawa was tired of war and wanted peace, which was concluded. Both opponents died 4 years later.
source
- George Sansom: A History of Japan: 1334-1615. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1961
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hosokawa, Katsumoto |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 細 川 勝 元 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | japanese samurai |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1430 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1473 |