Ashikaga Shogun of Awa ~ MAY, 2025 ~

I came to Tokushima for the first time for a relative's wedding. Awa Province is a place of desire for history buffs, but unfortunately I didn't have a chance to go there during my time as a company employee. I took the ropeway up Mt. Bizan and looked towards Awaji Island, where a small mountain with Tokushima Castle and the great river "Yoshino River" lay. I wondered why such a large river flows through Shikoku, but it is deeply related to the formation of the Japanese archipelago. The source of the river is on the Kochi Prefecture side of the famous Mt. Ishizuchi, and after entering Tokushima Prefecture and heading north for a while, the river hits the Sanuki Mountains that rose along the Median Tectonic Line and is forced to go east, flowing into the Ki-Tan Channel, similar to the Kino River on the opposite bank. It is said to be one of the three most violent rivers in Japan, and is called Shikoku Saburo, along with Bando Taro (Tone River) and Chikushi Jiro (Chikugo River).

The stone walls of Tokushima Castle are made of greenschist, a volcanic rock that has been metamorphosed by long-term pressure and heat. This same rock is also used in the stone walls of Wakayama Castle, showing that they share the same geological environment.

Awa is a minor area, but it is one of the possible locations for Yamataikoku, and is the hometown of the ancient tribe Imbe clan, with deep ties to Awa in Chiba Prefecture. Ki no Tsurayuki was appointed to Tosa via Awa, and Minamoto no Yoshitsune took part in the Battle of Yashima via Awa. There are many themes to be explored here, such as the Hosokawa clan, who were appointed as shugo during the Nanboku-cho period, the Miyoshi clan, who competed for hegemony in the Kinai region during the Sengoku period, the invasions of Hideyoshi and Chosokabe Motochika, and the Hachisuka clan during the Edo period, but due to limited time, this time I visited the hometown of the descendants of the tragic Ashikaga Shogunate.

The 8th Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who built Ginkakuji Temple, had trouble choosing a successor, which was one of the causes of the Onin War, but after the early death of his son (Yoshihisa), the position of Shogun became a puppet, influenced by the wishes of powerful feudal lords. Ashikaga Masatomo was Yoshimasa's younger brother, and was sent to Izu to subjugate the Koga Kubo Ashikaga Shigeuji, where he was called upon to be the Horikoshi Kubo, and he ended up dying in Izu. The 11th Shogun, Yoshizumi, was Masatomo's second son, and his bloodline continued to succeed the Shogun. Yoshizumi's eldest son succeeded him as the 12th Shogun, and his second son, Yoshitsuna (Yoshifuyu), built a residence in Hirashima Manor in Awa Province (present-day Nakagawa Town) and made it his base. The Hirashima Manor ruins were identified as a small mound on a narrow piece of land surrounded by rice paddies that had just been planted.

Yoshitsuna and his son Yoshihide were supported by the Hosokawa clan and the Miyoshi clan, who later came to power, and were passed around as candidates for shogun. Yoshihide was once proclaimed shogun, but was not allowed to enter Kyoto, and was defeated by Nobunaga, who supported his cousin Yoshiaki, and died. (Yoshihide was played by Ichinose Hayate in the NHK historical drama "Kirin ga Kuru.") After that, the family retreated to Awa, and in the Edo period, they were treated as guest generals of the newly entered Hachisuka clan, and were granted a small amount of land, and continued to live in Hirashima as before.

However, the Hachisuka family took away most of the 6,000 koku of land that had been granted to them since the Toyotomi era, and forced them to change their surname to Hirashima. The Hachisuka family, who served Hideyoshi in his youth and are said to have risen from banditry, probably thought it would be inconvenient for them to rule if a descendant of a prestigious Minamoto clan stood out within their land. Saikoji Temple is the family temple of the Hirashima family, and the graves of the family members from the founders Yoshihide and Yoshitsune onwards remain.

Within the grounds, there are three prominent graves lined up: those of the 10th Shogun Yoshitane, the 14th Shogun Yoshihide, and his son Yoshitsuna.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu gave the Ashikaga family, descendants of the Kamakura Kubo, land in Kiryugawa, Shimotsuke Province, and treated them well, granting them status as feudal lords, but as for the Ashikaga Shogunate, they forced the successor of the 15th Shogun, Yoshiaki, to become a monk, and largely ignored and treated the Hirashima Kubo family coldly. It is likely that they judged that the bloodline of the main Ashikaga family was a direct threat to the new government, and that the Kamakura Kubo family still had authority in the Kanto area and was worth using, but the huge difference in treatment seems unreasonable.

During the reign of the 9th lord Yoshine, the Hirashima kubo moved to Kyoto in 1805 and changed the family name back to Ashikaga. The Hachisuka family was not blessed with an heir and repeatedly adopted children, but they were adopted by Ienari, who was known as the "Ottosei（fur seal）" shogun and fathered 55 children, and one son, Narihiro, was adopted by the family at the end of the Edo period, raising the family's status. His son was Marquis Mochiaki, who became the last feudal lord. In Ryotaro Shiba's "Kaido wo yuku," there is an anecdote in which the marquis stole a tobacco from Emperor Meiji's desk during a meeting with him, and the emperor mocked him, saying, "Your ancestors can't fight." He was not related by blood to Hachisuka Koroku, the thief depicted in the Taikoki, so it's a shame.

I stopped by Jorokuji Temple (Soto sect), a famous temple restored by Awa Shugo Hosokawa Nariyuki, and was overwhelmed by its multiple buildings designated as important cultural properties, its unusual corridor-style temple buildings, its large pagodas and gravestones. However, it seems that the chief priest is not always present, and the area except for the main part of the temple grounds is deserted and covered with fallen leaves and grass, and the treasure museum was closed even on Sunday. For a country like ours that is suffering from a declining population, maintaining such cultural assets is one of the concerns in terms of both hard and soft aspects. Tokushima in particular is the starting point of the 88 sacred sites visited by pilgrims, and so even though these temples have great historical significance, they may be subordinated in terms of support.

While the historical tourist resources mentioned above are abundant and attractive, I wondered what was going on with the tourism policy that only leaves an impression of the Awa Odori dance. After eating some Tokushima ramen, I headed home.