Ashikaga Tadayoshi

Ashikaga Tadayoshi (足利 直義, 1306 – March 13, 1352, Kamakura, Japan)^[1] was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period (1337–92) of Japanese history and a close associate of his elder brother Takauji, the first Muromachi shōgun. Son of Ashikaga Sadauji and Uesugi Kiyoko, daughter of Uesugi Yorishige, the same mother as Takauji, he was a pivotal figure of the chaotic transition period between the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates.^[2] Tadayoshi is today considered a military and administrative genius and the true architect of many of his elder brother's successes.^[3] In contemporary chronicles he is rarely called with his name, but is instead called either gosho (御所) or Daikyū-ji-dono (大休寺殿) from the name of his family temple.^[4][5] His posthumous name was Kozan Egen (古山慧源).^[5]