Ashikaga Yoshihisa

Ashikaga Yoshihisa (足利 義尚, December 11, 1465 – April 26, 1489) was the 9th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa with his wife Hino Tomiko.

Since the almost 30-year-old shogun Yoshimasa had no heir by 1464, he adopted his younger brother Ashikaga Yoshimi in order to succeed him. However, Yoshihisa was born in the next year starting a struggle for succession between brothers that erupted into the Ōnin War starting in 1467, beginning the Sengoku period of Japanese history. In the middle of hostilities, Yoshimasa retired in 1473, relinquishing the position of Seii Taishogun to Yoshihisa.

Significant events shape the period during which Yoshihisa was shogun:

• 1479 – Yoshihisa's shogunal administration begins.
• 1489 – Yoshihisa dies in camp during campaign against Sasaki Takayori; Yoshimasa resumes administration.
• 1490 – Yoshimasa dies.

After the Ōnin war, Rokkaku Takayori, daimyō of southern Ōmi Province, seized land and manors owned by nobles of the imperial court, temples, and shrines. In 1487, Yoshihisa led a campaign (Rokkaku Tobatsu) against Takayori but died unexpectedly, leaving no heir.

Yoshihisa was followed by his cousin, tenth shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane, the following year.

The years in which Yoshihisa was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

• Bunmei (1469–1487)
• Chōkyō (1487–1489)