Ashikaga Yoshimasa
The "Ōnin War": This conflict began as a controversy over who should follow Ashikaga Yoshimasa as shōgun after his retirement – whether it would be his brother (Yoshimi) or his son (Yoshihisa); but this succession dispute was merely a pretext for rival groups of "daimyōs" to fight in a struggle for military supremacy. In the end, there was no clearcut winner. The complex array of factional armies simply fought themselves into exhaustion.