He was not acknowledged by his natural father, Takauji ASHIKAGA, and when he was a child, he entered the Buddhist priesthood, becoming an ascetic monk at the Tosho-ji Temple (Kamakura City) (Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture) in Sagami Province.
実父である足利尊氏に認知されず、幼少時は相模国鎌倉の東勝寺(鎌倉市)（神奈川県鎌倉市）において喝食となる。