nting in the domains of the Yamana and their
allies intrigues which necessitated a diversion of strength from the
Kyoto campaign. Curious and intricate was the attitude of the
Hosokawa towards the rival aspirants to the shogunate. Sozen's aid,
as related above, had originally been invoked and exercised in behalf
of Yoshimasa, the shogun's son by the lady Tomi.

Hence, it is not surprising to find the Yamana leader turning his
back upon the sometime bonze, Yoshimi, in October, 1469. But it is
surprising to see him openly espouse this same Yoshimi's cause two
months later. The fact was that Sozen might not choose. He had been
outmanoeuvered by his astute opponent, who now held complete control
of the shogun, and who not only obtained an Imperial decree depriving
Yoshimi of his offices, but also contrived that, early in 1469, the
lady Tomi's four-year-old son, Yoshihisa, should be officially
declared heir to the shogunate. In this matter, Katsumoto's
volte-face had been nearly as signal as Sozen's, for the former was
Yoshimi's champion at the beginning. Henceforth the war assumed the
character of a struggle for the succession to the shogunate. The
crude diplomacy of the Yamana leader was unable to devise any
effective reply to the spectacular pageant of two sovereigns, a
shogun, and a duly-elected heir to the shogunate all marshalled on
the Hosokawa side. Nothing better was conceived than a revival of the
Southern dynasty, which had ceased to be an active factor
seventy-eight years previously. But this farce did little service to
the cause of the Yamana. By degrees the hostile forces withdrew from
the capital, of which the western half (called Saikyo) alone remained
intact, and the strategy of the hostile leaders became concerned
chiefly about preserving their own commissariat or depriving the
enemy of his.

In 1472, a new feature was introduced: Hatakeyama joined the Eastern
Army by order of the shogun, Yoshimasa. This was not merely a great
accession of numerical strength, it also opened the road to the north
where the Hatakeyama estates lay, and thus the Eastern Army found a
solution of the problem which dominated the situation at Kyoto--the
problem of provisions. The scale of success now swung in the
direction of Hosokawa and his allies. But still no crushing victory
was won, and meanwhile the war had continued seven years, with
immense loss of life and treasure. There is evidence that alike
Katsumoto and Sozen were