Asakura clan
Yoshikage was born at the Asakura clan castle in Echizen Province, Ichijōdani Castle, in the present-day Kidanouchi district of Fukui, Fukui Prefecture. His father was Asakura Takakage (1493–1548) and his mother is presumed to be the daughter of Takeda Motomitsu. The Asakura had displaced the Shiba clan as the shugo military commanders of part of Echizen in 1471. Yoshikage succeeded his father as head of the Asakura clan and castle lord of Ichijōdani Castle in 1548. He proved to be adept at political and diplomatic management, markedly demonstrated by the Asakura negotiations with the Ikkō-ikki in Echizen. As a result of the negotiations and effective governance by Yoshikage, Echizen enjoyed a period of relative domestic stability compared to the rest of Sengoku period Japan. Consequently, Echizen became a site for refugees fleeing the violence in the Kansai region. Ichijōdani became a center of culture modeled on the capital at Kyōto.