@article{oai:nichibun.repo.nii.ac.jp:00006027,
 author = {SATHER, Jeremy A.},
 journal = {Japan review : Journal of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies},
 month = {Dec},
 note = {This essay examines the dissonance between contemporary accounts of Imagawa Ryōshun’s activities and the later Tokugawa period image of him as exemplar of warrior values. A critical of contemporary sources reveals that his is an altogether different image: that of rebel. While Ryōshun sacrificed twenty-five years of his life attempting to subjugate the island of Kyushu for the Ashikaga, things turned sour when his enemies slandered him to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who summarily dismissed him from the post of Kyushu tandai.  Yoshimitsu’s absolutism brought him into conflict with other powerful warlords like Ōuchi Yoshihiro and Ashikaga Mitsukane, both of whom in the end plotted rebellion. While Ryōshun disavowed any participation in the plot, it is reasonably clear that he did participate, if only tacitly, and even mustered troops before surrendering and ending his life in political exile. In order to justify his betrayal, he seems to have relied on ideas from Mencius to suggest that Yoshimitsu was an immoral ruler whose profligacy demanded reign change. Mencius gave him the opportunity to argue that the Ashikaga family was worthy of rule but that Yoshimitsu was not. In other words, Ryōshun remained loyal to the Ashikaga house, not the individual ruling it, a position more in line with Tokugawa ideas on loyalty than his own. His stance on reign change, however, was dangerous for the Tokugawa, who were concerned with maintaining control of the warrior class. Accordingly, Ryōshun’s betrayal was forgotten or ignored, leaving the image of paragon to posterity.},
 pages = {47--66},
 title = {Rebel with a Cause: The (Im)Morality of Imagawa Ryōshun},
 volume = {28},
 year = {2015}
}