Stories of the Japanese 01446 [Muromachi/Saigoku/Eve of the Great Rebellion] The Death of the 7th Shogun Yoshikatsu

Hatakeyama Mochikuni, who had been constantly supporting the anti-Yoshinori faction out of a grudge against Yoshinori, was visited by an uninvited guest. On March 21, Kakitsu 2 (1442), Ashikaga Yoshitaka came to him asking to be hidden. He was already dressed as a monk, likely hoping for a pardon on the grounds that he had taken the tonsure and abandoned his ambitions.
Ashikaga Yoshitaka was the new Shogun installed by Akamatsu Mitsusuke and could be called the linchpin of the rebel army. He must have expected that Mochikuni, who held a grudge against Yoshinori, would hide him, but even Mochikuni knew that hiding him would lead to being treated as part of the rebel army. It must have been a painful decision, but since it was a critical time for Mochikuni to determine whether he could become Kanrei (Shogun's deputy), he had his retainers kill him.
At this time, Kanrei Hosokawa Mochiyuki had fallen seriously ill, and secret struggles were taking place over his successor. Since the Hosokawa had been serving as Kanrei, the next in line should have been the Shiba or Hatakeyama, but the head of the Shiba family, Yoshitake (1435–1452), was only six years old. If things went according to plan, Hatakeyama Mochikuni should have been able to become Kanrei, so a scandal at this stage was strictly forbidden.
Then, on June 29, Hatakeyama Mochikuni successfully secured the position of Kanrei. With the anti-Yoshinori faction becoming the supreme power, policies that went against the Yoshinori era were implemented even more aggressively. Hosokawa Mochiyuki, who had resigned as Kanrei, passed away on August 4, and his heir, Katsumoto, was still only 13 years old. For the time being, Mochiyuki's younger brother, Hosokawa Mochikata (1403–1468), became his guardian, but the influence of the Hosokawa family was significantly diminished. Mochikuni was increasingly doing as he pleased. Note that after becoming Kanrei, Mochikuni took the tonsure and adopted the dharma name 'Tokuhon,' but in this article, I will continue to refer to him as 'Mochikuni'.
Hatakeyama Mochikuni was such a difficult person that there is an anecdote that 'he would become depressed and refuse to see anyone when the weather was cloudy.' With him taking control of the government, personnel changes shifted significantly.
For example, Ogimachi Sanjo Sanemasa, who had been a favorite of Yoshinori, had much of his territory confiscated. The Ogimachi Sanjo family, which had held the most power among the court nobles, fell into decline, and from this point on, the Uramatsu (Hino) family began to regain its power.
On November 7, the nine-year-old Ashikaga Yoshikatsu celebrated his coming-of-age ceremony and finally received the Shogunal declaration. The young new Shogun naturally lacked the ability to manage the shogunate's affairs, and Mochikuni held the real power by his side.
Eight months after becoming Shogun, on July 12, Kakitsu 3 (1443), the 7th Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, contracted dysentery. By the next day, he was in critical condition, and rumors spread that it was the vengeful spirits of Akamatsu Mitsusuke and Isshiki Yoshitsura.
Then, on July 21, Yoshikatsu passed away. He was 10 years old. It was a death that came far too soon.
On July 23, his younger brother by the same mother, Miharu (later Ashikaga Yoshimasa: 1436–1490), was informally chosen as his successor, but he did not move into the Muromachi Palace, where the curse was rumored to be, and continued to live at the Takakura Palace.
Perhaps aiming at the chaos caused by the Shogun's death, the Later Southern Court forces carried out a major incident known as the 'Kinketsu Incident'.