Ashikaga Yoshimasa was the 8th Ashikaga Shogun, born in 1435 (Eikyo 7). He was the second son of the sixth Yoshinori. He succeeded his elder brother Yoshikatsu at the age of nine and assumed the shogunate at fifteen, but he lacked political ability as a shogun because he had no one to assist him in the shogunate. Furthermore, the trend toward “junrokyo” led to frequent revolts, and it is said that during his sixteen years in office, the shogunate issued the Tokugawa Decree as many as thirteen times. In 1473 (Bunmei 5), at the age of 38, Yoshimasa handed over his position to his son Yoshihisa, who ran Ginkaku, a villa in the Higashiyama mountains, and built Togudo Dojinsai, where he retired to devote himself to his studies and artistic pursuits. He was widely interested in waka poetry, renga, Noh drama, tea ceremony, gardening, and calligraphy and painting. He died on January 7, 1490 (Entoku 2) at the age of 55. Died on January 7, 1490 (Entoku 2) at the age of fifty-five. The Higashiyama Gomotsu (Higashiyama treasures) were collected by Yoshinobu II (Hokyoin, Zuizan), Yoshimitsu III (Rikaenin, Tenzan), and Yoshinori VI (Fuhouin, Dozan), and were collected by Yoshimasa. In particular, it says, “The famous items of the tea ceremony were collected at this time, and their qualities are described in the “Meimono Ki” (……), namely, the Higashiyama specialties. The Dohinsai is also said to be the origin of the teahouse, and it was during the Yoshimasa period that Noami, Shuko, and others created the tools, teahouse, and tea ceremony methods used in chanoyu.
