While the period between 1450 and 1455 experienced disturbances in Kamakura between Kantō kubō Ashikaga Shigeuji and his Uesugi Kanrei.

[5][6] By 1464, Yoshimasa had no heir, so he adopted his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, in order to avoid any conflicts which might arise at the end of his shogunate.

Yoshimasa's wife, Hino Tomiko, attempted to get Yamana Sōzen to support the infant's claim to the shogunate.

[7] By 1467 the simmering dispute had evolved, encouraging a split amongst the powerful shugo daimyōs and clan factions.

A number of developments affect the unfolding battles of the war such as the moment Yoshimi joins Yamana Sōzen in 1468;[5] Yoshihisa appointed heir to shogunate in 1469; Asakura Takakage [ja] appointed shugo of Echizen Province in 1471 and when Yamana Sōzen and Hosokawa Katsumoto both die in 1473.

He relinquished the position of Sei-i Taishōgun to his young son, who became the ninth shōgun Ashikaga Yoshihisa; but effectively, Yoshimasa continued to hold the reins of power.

With the leaders of the two warring factions dead and with the ostensible succession dispute resolved, the rationale for continuing to fight faded away.

When shōgun Yoshihisa died prematurely, Yoshimasa reassumed the power and responsibility he had wanted to lay aside.

In the future, power struggles from outside the clan would also lead to a brief period in which the great-grandson of Yoshitane would be installed as a puppet leader of the Ashikaga shogunate.