The war of the years of Onin – a civil war in medieval Japan that lasted 10 years. Its distinguishing feature is that it did not occur throughout Japan, but mainly in its capital, Kyoto.
By the middle of the 15th century, the governors of the provinces understood that the central government was weakening and emboldened, they no longer shared their power with it. Shugo strengthened their own power, they used all their power only in their own interests. As a result of such actions, a new type of feudal lords was formed – daimyo, combining power and military-economic power based on official rights.
By the middle of the 15th century, Ashikaga Yoshimasa became a shogun. He was an esthete, a connoisseur of painting, music, but not a warrior and not a skilled ruler. Yoshimasa sought to renounce power and devote himself to spiritual pleasures. Yoshimasa did not have children, and he decided to elect Yoshimi’s younger brother as his successor. Yoshimasa’s wife, Hino Tomiko, came from a family that was not intimately connected with the shogun’s family. Yoshimasa hated her family for constantly interfering in his affairs. He experienced the greatest shock when Tomiko bore him a son and stated resolutely that the shogun would go to the baby Yoshihise.
Tomiko hoped that one of the three ministers, Yamana Motiyo, would help her son become a shogun. But Yoshimi also enjoyed the support of Minister Hosokawa Katsumoto. The conflict broke out because of the rights of inheritance, and the conflicting clans of Siba and Hatakeyama joined this conflict. The rivals began to convene supporters. In 1467, two large armies (the strength of one of the armies was 250,000, but this figure was probably overestimated) moved against each other from the eastern and western regions of Kyoto.
Sources:
ONIN // Japan from A to Z. Popular illustrated encyclopedia
Mitsuo Kure Samurai. Illustrated story
