[1] He was the eldest son of the 12th shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshiharu, and his mother was a daughter of Konoe Hisamichi (later called 慶寿院, Keijuin).

Finally, in 1565, Matsunaga Hisahide invaded Kyoto, which led to a tragic turn of events as Yoshiteru decided to take his own life.

Lacking resources, Yoshiteru nevertheless saw opportunities to assign his kanji "輝" on various samurai such as Mōri Terumoto to become something close to a godfather.

Oda Nobunaga and Uesugi Kenshin were among the many daimyō and samurai who travelled to Kyoto to pay their respects to the shōgun.

According to Father Fróis, the shōgun's squire, Odachidono, "fought so valiantly and with such intrepid spirit that all the rebels started to shout out that he should not be killed, but that he should be taken alive.

Nonetheless, seeing his master die, and believing it a great dishonour to survive him, the youth threw away his sword, and pulling out his dagger, he cut open his throat and then his belly.

[6] His governance was highly credited but to have been killed in spite of his efforts completely destroyed what little recognition and authority Yoshiteru built up.

This tachi style samurai sword was created Sanjô Munechika and was named for its crescent moon shape (mikazuki).