Ashikaga (family)

Ashikaga (family), Japanese family that occupied the office of shogun (great general) from 1338 to 1573. Though nominally answering to the emperor, the shogun actually ruled Japan. This era is known as the Muromachi period, after the Muromachi district of Kyōto which housed the Ashikaga residence.

In 1335 the first Ashikaga shogun, Takauji, rebelled against Emperor Go-Daigo and forced him to flee to the city of Yoshino (in present-day Nara Prefecture), where Go-Daigo established a rival southern imperial court. Takauji then installed a puppet emperor in Kyōto, sparking a civil war between the supporters of the two courts. The war lasted until 1392, when Emperor Go-Komatsu reunified the courts.

The Ashikaga family then tried to unify the country once again under their influence, but were unable to fully control powerful regional warlords, the daimyo. As Ashikaga power waned, wars among the daimyo became widespread. Finally, in 1573, the daimyo Oda Nobunaga gained enough strength to take Kyōto and drive out Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last Muromachi shogun. Yoshiaki formally resigned in 1588, ending the Muromachi period.