As he was infant and had no political capability, the real power was held by Mochiyuki HOSOKAWA, who was the kanrei (shogunal deputy), and after Mochiyuki's death, Mochitoyo YAMANA or Shigeko HINO, who was Yoshikatsu's real mother, seized the real power and they subjugated Mitsusuke AKAMATSU, who caused the Kakitsu War, and suppressed the tokusei ikki (an uprising demanding debt cancellations) of Kakitsu.
幼年のために政治能力が無いため、管領の細川持之が実権を掌握し、持之の死後は山名持豊や生母の日野重子らが実権を握って、嘉吉の乱を起こした赤松満祐の討伐、嘉吉の徳政一揆などを平定した。