Katsumoto Hosokawa (2/2)General of the Eastern Army during the Onin War

Yoshinari became Yoshimasa's close aide, but he lost Yoshimasa's trust after militarily intervening in Yamato without permission, while Katsumoto also continued to support Yasaburo and the anti-Yoshinari faction of Yamato kokujin, and in the 3rd year of Choroku. In 1459, Yasaburo, Seishinin Mitsunobu, Tsutsui Jun'ei, and Hashio Munenobu were pardoned. Yasaburo died in the same year, but he supported his younger brother Masanaga in the following year (1460), and the head of the family was changed from Yoshinari to Masanaga.After Yoshinari lost to Yoshino after the Battle of Takeyama Castle, in 1460 (Kansei 5). In 1464, the position of Kanrei was replaced by Masanaga.

However, the power of the Yamana clan expanded more rapidly than Katsumoto had imagined, and Katsumoto began to view Sozen's expansion as dangerous, and even in the battle for succession of the Shiba clan (Buei Riots), Sozen supported Yoshinori Shiba due to their relationship by marriage. Against Zen, Katsumoto supports Yoshitoshi Shiba, who is opposed to Yoshitaka.

Katsumoto also actively supported the issue of the revival of the Akamatsu clan, which Sozen had opposed for some time, and finally made Masanori Akamatsu (grandson of Yoshimasa, Akamatsu's younger brother) the guardian of the Kaga region, and the Akamatsu clan. was revived.

Furthermore, Katsumoto was at odds with Norihiro Ouchi, father and son Masahiro, Michiharu Kono, and others due to the issue of trade, but Sozen supported them, and this led to a conflict between Hosokawa and Yamana.

In 1462, Sozen's second son Koretoyo was appointed as the shugo of Bingo Province and Aki Province, and he had him take part in the subjugation of Yoshinari, and in 1462, he was appointed as the shugo of Yamashiro Province, which is said to be a reaction against Sozen. I am.

In the first year of the Bunsho era, a son, Yoshihisa, was born to Yoshimasa and his legal wife, Tomiko Hino, and a fight began within the Ashikaga shogunate over who would become the shogun's successor.
At this time, Yoshimasa's close aides Sadachika Ise and Maya Kiei proposed to Yoshimasa the disinheritance of his younger brother Yoshimi ASHIKAGA, who Yoshimasa had originally nominated as his successor, and the succession of Yoshinao as shogun. However, Katsumoto, who had supported Yoshimasa, opposed this, and Sozen was also bitter about Sadachika's growing power within the shogunate, so he agreed with Katsumoto and together opposed Sadachika to Yoshimasa. He appealed for the expulsion of Maya, and forcefully made this happen (Bunsho's political change).

As a result, there were no more powerful people within the shogunate, and in December, Sozen sent Yoshinari Hatakeyama, who had been exiled, to Kyoto and interceded with Yoshimasa to grant him a pardon. Furthermore, in January 1467, Sozen coerced Yoshimasa to take away the Kanrei position of Masanaga Hatakeyama, who was supported by Katsumoto, and to suspend him from service, and to appoint Yoshimasa Shiba, who was supported by Sozen, as Kanrei in his place. It was. At this point, an armed conflict between Katsumoto and Sozen became inevitable.

Onin War

The first conflict during the Onin War began when Yoshinari Hatakeyama and Masanaga Hatakeyama fought and clashed at Kamigoryo Shrine (Goryo Gassen).

In response, Sozen secured the Retired Emperor Gohanazono and Emperor Gotsuchimikado to support Yoshinari, but Katsumoto was prohibited from getting involved in the Hatakeyama family dispute by Yoshimasa's orders, so he was not involved in the Goryo Battle. Masanaga was defeated because he remained silent.

However, on May 25th, Katsumoto occupied the shogunate and installed a shogun against Sozen, who had the Emperor, and on May 26th, he challenged the Yamana clan to battle (the Battle of Kamigyo). Katsumoto was distinguished from the eastern army and Sozen from the western army, and although Katsumoto received an order to pursue and destroy Sozen from the general Yoshimasa, the war situation was even.

He also supports Masanori Akamatsu and invades Yamana territory. Gradually, the war situation progressed in the eastern army's favor, as they secured the retired emperor and emperor, which had been taken over by Sozen, but they were unable to reach a decisive victory.

In October of the 2nd year of Onin (1468), Yoshimasa reinstated Sadachika Ise, and the war situation changed, with Katsumoto supporting Yoshihisa and Sozen supporting Yoshimi. As the war spread, both armies changed their strategies to try to force their respective powerful military commanders to defect, and Yoshimi was promoted to the position of commander-in-chief of the Western army, and another shogunate was established.
Under these circumstances, in the 3rd year of Bunmei (1471), Takakage Asakura, a general of the western army, was appointed as the guardian of Echizen Province and he defected, and the following year, in the 4th year of Bunmei (1472), he tried to negotiate peace with Sozen, but it failed. .

In March 1473, his old enemy Sozen passed away, and he gained the upper hand for a short time, but he himself died on May 11th, following in his footsteps. He passed away at the age of 44. The cause of death is said to be illness, but one theory is that he was assassinated by the Yamana faction. After his death, Masamoto succeeded to the headship of the family under the guardianship of Masakuni Hosokawa, and on April 3, 1474, he made peace with Sozen's grandson, Masatoyo Yamana.

Ryoanji and Katsumoto

Ryoanji Temple, located in the famous Rakuhoku area of Kyoto, was built by Katsumoto Hosokawa.
The Ryoan-ji area, located at the foot of Mt. Kinugasa, was originally the precincts of Enyu-ji Temple, which was built in 984 and was the temple dedicated to Emperor Enyu. Enyu-ji Temple gradually declined, and at the end of the Heian period, Tokudai-ji Jennyo, a descendant of the Fujiwara Kita family, used the same place as a mountain villa.

Katsumoto Hosokawa inherited this mountain villa and built Ryoan-ji Temple on the premises in 1450. Giten Genjo (Gensho), the 8th (5th ancestor) chief priest of Myoshinji Temple, was appointed as the first chief priest. Gensho Giten invited his teacher Soshun Nippo to become the founder of the mountain, and he himself became the founder of the mountain. The precincts at the time of its founding were much larger than they are today, and it is said that the precincts extended as far as the current Keifuku Electric Railway lines.

During the Onin War, in which Katsumoto Hosokawa and others fought against Sozen Yamana, Katsumoto Hosokawa was the commander-in-chief of the eastern army, so Ryoan-ji Temple was the first to be attacked by the western army, and was burnt down in 1468. It's gone. After temporarily taking Teraki to his residence in Rakuchu, Katsumoto returned to his old location (current location), but Katsumoto died in Bunmei 5 (1473).

In 1488, Katsumoto's son, Masamoto Hosokawa, began rebuilding Ryoan-ji Temple, and it was rebuilt by Masamoto and the fourth chief priest, Zenketsu Tokuho. At the temple, Tokuho is referred to as Chuko Kaizan. In 1499, the Hojo was built, and thereafter Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and others donated temple territory.