and wasting War of the
Dynasties, the Ashikaga found themselves in a strong position. Having
full control of the Court, they could treat as a rebel anyone
opposing them by force of arms, and their partisans were so numerous
in Kyoto and its vicinity that they could impose their will upon all.
In the east, the Kwanto was effectually ruled by a branch of their
own family, and in the north as well as in the south they were
represented by tandai, who governed stoutly and loyally. But trouble
began very soon. In Kyushu the office of tandai was held by Imagawa
Ryoshun, a man ever memorable in Japanese history as the author of
the precept that military prowess without education is worse than
useless. Ryoshun had been selected for service in Kyushu by the great
shitsuji of Muromachi, Hosokawa Yoriyuki, who saw that only by the
strongest hands could the turbulent families of the southern island
be reduced to order--the Shimazu, the Otomo, the Shoni, and the
Kikuchi. Everything went to show that Imagawa would have succeeded
had not that familiar weapon, slander, been utilized for his
overthrow. The Otomo chief persuaded Ouchi Yoshihiro to traduce
Ryoshun, and since the Ouchi sept exercised great influence in the
central provinces and had taken a prominent part in composing the War
of the Dynasties, the shogun, Yoshimitsu, could not choose but listen
to charges coming from such a source. Imagawa Ryoshun was recalled
(1396), and thenceforth Kyushu became the scene of almost perpetual
warfare which the Muromachi authorities were powerless to check.

THE OUCHI FAMILY

It was to the same Ouchi family that the Muromachi shogun owed his
first serious trouble after the close of the War of the Dynasties.
The ancestor of the family had been a Korean prince who migrated to
Japan early in the seventh century, and whose descendants, five and a
half centuries later, were admitted to the ranks of the samurai. The
outbreak of the War of the Dynasties had found the Ouchi ranged on
the Southern side, but presently they espoused the Ashikaga cause,
and distinguished themselves conspicuously against the Kikuchi in
Kyushu and, above all, in promoting the conclusion of the dynastic
struggle.

These eminent services were recognized by Ouchi Yoshihiro's
appointment to administer no less than six provinces--Nagato, Suwo,
Aki, Buzen, Kii, and Izumi. In fact he guarded the western and
eastern entrances of the Inland Sea, and held the overlordship of
w