Yoshikage Asakura (12 October 1533 – 16 September 1573) was the daimyo of the Asakura clan from 1548 to 1573. His conflict with Nobunaga Oda led to the Battle of Anegawa in 1570 and his death at Ichijodani in 1573.
Biography[]
Yoshikage Asakura was born in Echizen Province, Japan in 1533, and he became the lord of Ichijodani Castle in 1548, succeeding his father as daimyo of the Asakura. He ensured that his province enjoyed stability after negotiating with the Ikko-Ikki, and Ichijodani became a center of culture due to the arrival of refugees. In 1570, Shogun Yoshiaki Ashikaga requested Asakura aid in driving Nobunaga Oda out of the capital of Kyoto, leading to Nobunaga launching an invasion of Echizen. The Oda forces were successful at the Siege of Kanegasaki, and Yoshikage and his ally Nagamasa Azai failed to capture Nobunaga there. In the Battle of Anegawa that same year, the Azai-Asakura army was defeated by the Oda-Tokugawa army, and, in 1573, the Oda besieged Yoshikage at his luxurious castle of Ichijodani. He was forced to commit seppuku, destroying his clan.
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