Ashikaga

Ashikaga, Japanese family that occupied the office of shogun from 1338 to 1568, known as the Muromachi period because the shogun's palace was in the Muromachi district of Kyoto. The Ashikaga were descended from the Minamoto family which established Japan's first shogunate in 1185. The line's founder, Takauji Ashikaga, rebelled in 1333 against the last Hojo shogun in favour of Emperor Go-Daigo. Following a power struggle under Go-Daigo's new regime he rebelled again, set up a rival emperor from the alternative northern branch of the imperial family at Kyoto in 1336, and had himself appointed shogun. Civil war continued until 1392, when one of Go-Daigo's successors renounced his claim to the throne. The Ashikaga then tried to reunify the country, but were unable ever to fully control the daimyo. Yoshimitsu (reigned 1369-1395) was the most effective Ashikaga shogun, playing off the leading daimyo, but under Yoshinori (reigned 1429-1441), the Ashikaga lost control of the eastern Kantō region. Ashikaga Yoshimasa (reigned 1449-1474) was unable to stop the devastating Onin War (1467-1477) between the great daimyo, and after he abdicated in 1474 to devote himself to the arts, a succession dispute hastened the family's decline. The Ashikaga shoguns became puppets of the contending daimyo in the bitter fighting of the 16th century, the so-called Epoch of Warring States. The Ashikaga shogunate was finally brought down by the warlord Nobunaga Oda, who first installed then (1573) toppled the last Ashikaga shogun, Yoshiaki (reigned 1568-1588). Despite their uneven political record, the Ashikaga shoguns, especially Yoshimitsu and Yoshinori, were great patrons of the arts, responsible for the brilliant Muromachi culture and for such masterpieces as Kyoto's Golden Pavilion.