Ashikaga Yoshitane, also known as Ashikaga Yoshiki, was the 10th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate who headed the shogunate first from 1490 to 1493 and then again from 1508 to 1521 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshitane was the son of Ashikaga Yoshimi and grandson of the sixth shōgun Ashikaga Yoshinori. In his early life, he was named Yoshiki, and then Yoshitada — including the period of when he is first installed as shōgun; however, he changed his name to Yoshitane in 1501 in a period when he was temporarily exiled, and it is by this name that he is generally known today. The 9th shōgunAshikaga Yoshihisa died in 1489 on a battlefield of southern Ōmi Province. Yoshihisa left no heir; and Yoshitane became Sei-i Taishōgun a year later.
In 1493, Yoshitane lost in a power struggle against Hosokawa Masamoto and was formally replaced by the eleventh shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshizumi. In 1508, with the support of Ōuchi Yoshioki, Yoshitane regained the position of Sei-i Taishōgun from Yoshizumi. Eventually, after a further power struggle with the Hosokawa clan and Hosokawa Takakuni, Yoshitane was forced to withdraw to Awaji Island. He died in Awa province, on the island of Shikoku. Hosokawa Takakuni arranged for the replacement of Yoshitane with the twelfth shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshiharu.
Shōgun Yoshitane adopted the son of Yoshizumi who was his cousin, Ashikaga Yoshitsuna and he designated Yoshitsuna as his heir and as his anticipated successor as shogun. However, when Yoshitane died prematurely, he was not succeeded by who he had chosen; rather, his father's newly designated heir was accepted by the shogunate as shōgun Yoshizumi. In other words, after the death of his son, shōgun Yoshimasa adopted the son of his brother, Yoshimi. After the death of his adopted son, Yoshimasa adopted the son of another brother, Masatomo. Shogun Yoshimasa was succeeded by shōgun Yoshihisa, then by shōgun Yoshitane, and then by shōgun Yoshizumi. Yoshizumi's progeny would become shōguns in due course. Eventually, the great-grandson of Yoshitane would be installed as a puppetshōgun for a brief period, but external power struggles would unseat him, and the Ashikaga dynasty of shōguns would end.
