Ashikaga Tadayoshi (1306-13 March 1352) was a general of the Ashikaga clan during the Nanboku-cho period, serving under his brother Ashikaga Takauji. He would later split with his brother after the Kanno disturbance in 1350-51, and Tadayoshi was captured and poisoned by Takauji.
Biography[]
Ashikaga Tadayoshi was the older brother of Ashikaga Takauji and the brains of the Ashikaga clan during the Nanboku-cho period, and Tadayoshi was assisted by his brother in defeating Nitta Yoshisada and recapturing Kamakura after it fell in 1335. In 1338, when the Ashikaga Shogunate was founded, Takauji gave Tadayoshi control of judicial and administrative matters, and he governed Japan in Takauji's stead due to Takauji being incapable of ruling the country. The 1350-51 Kanno disturbance saw Tadayoshi be disappointed when Ko no Moronao was appointed Deputy Shogun instead of himself, and Tadayoshi had harbored a dislike of the avid villain Moronao. In 1351, Tadayoshi rebelled and sided with the Southern Court against his brother's forces, and he occupied Kyoto after defeating his brother. However, Takauji defeated him at Sattayama, and he was confined to the Jomyoji monastery, where he was poisoned in 1352.