Ashikaga shogunate: Difference between revisions

| native_name = {{nihongo|足利幕府||Ashikaga bakufu}}

| conventional_long_name = Ashikaga Shogunateshogunate

| image_flagflag =

| flag flag_type =

| flag_typeimage_coat = Ashikaga_mon.svg

| symbol_typesymbol_type_article = ''[[Mon (emblem)| = Mon]]'' of the [[Ashikaga clan]]shogunate

| title_leaderleader1 = [[Emperor of JapanKōgon|EmperorKōgon]]

| deputy1deputy2 = [[Ashikaga TakaujiYoshiaki]]

The {{nihongo|'''Ashikaga shogunate'''|足利幕府|Ashikaga bakufu|extra=1336–1573}}, also known as the {{nihongo|'''Muromachi shogunate'''|室町幕府|Muromachi bakufu}}, was the [[feudal]] [[military government]] of [[Japan]] during the [[Muromachi period]] from 1336 to 1573.<ref name="nussbaum669">Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA669&dq= "''Muromachi-jidai''"] in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669.</ref>

The Ashikaga shogunate was established when [[Ashikaga Takauji]] was appointed ''[[Shōgun]]'' after overthrowing the [[Kenmu Restoration]] shortly after havingit had overthrown the [[Kamakura shogunate]] in support of [[Emperor Go-Daigo]].{{sfn|Roth|2002|p=878}} The [[Ashikaga clan]] governed Japan from the Imperial capital of [[Heian-kyō]] ([[Kyoto]]) as ''[[de facto]]'' [[military dictator]]s along with the ''[[daimyō]]'' lords of the ''[[samurai]]'' class.{{sfn|Roth|2002|p=53}} The Ashikaga shogunate began the [[Nanboku-chō period]] between the Pro-Ashikaga [[Northern Court]] in Kyoto and the Pro-Go-Daigo [[Southern Court]] in [[Yoshino District, Nara|Yoshino]] until the South conceded to the North in 1392. The Ashikaga shogunate collapsed upon outbreak of the [[Ōnin War]] in 1467, entering a state of constant [[civil war]] known as the [[Sengoku period]], and was finally dissolved when ''Shōgun'' [[Ashikaga Yoshiaki]] was overthrown by [[Oda Nobunaga]] in 1573.

=== North and South Court ===

After Ashikaga Takauji established himself as the ''Shōgun'', a dispute arose with Emperor Go-Daigo on the subject of how to govern the country. That dispute led Takauji to cause Prince Yutahito, the second son of [[Emperor Go-Fushimi]], to be installed as [[Emperor Kōmyō]] while Go-Daigō fled Kyoto. Japan was subsequently divided between two Imperial courts: the [[Northern Court]] located in Kyoto, in favor of Kōmyō under Ashikaga influence,; and the [[Southern Court]] located in [[Yoshino District, Nara|Yoshino]], in favor of Go-Daigō. The Northern and Southern courts engaged in an ideological struggle for power that continued for 56 years, until the Southern Court gave up during the reign of ''Shōgun'' [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]] in 1392.

On the other hand, the Imperial court was no longer a credible threat to military rule. The failure of the [[Kenmu Restoration]] had rendered the court weak and subservient, a situation that Ashikaga Takauji reinforced by establishing his court within close proximity ofto the Emperor atin Kyoto. The authority of the local ''daimyō'' greatly expanded from itsthat of Kamakura times. In addition to military and policing responsibilities, the shogunate-appointed shugos''shugo'' now absorbed the justicejudicial, economicaleconomic, and taxation powers of the local Imperial governors, while the government holdings in each province were rapidly absorbed into the personal holdings of the ''daimyō'' or their vassals. The loss of both political clout and an economic base deprived the Imperial court of much of its power, which were then assumed by the Ashikaga ''shōgun''. This situation reached its peak under the rule of the third ''shōgun'', Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

After Yoshimitsu however, the structural weakness of the Ashikaga shogunate werewas exposed by numerous succession troubles and early deaths. This became dramatically more acute after the [[Ōnin War]], after which the shogunate itself became reduced to little more than a local political force in Kyoto.

[[ImageFile:MuromachiBakufuMarkerMuromachi-bakufu-ato sekihi.jpg|thumb|Marker for the site of the Flower Palace, Kyoto]]

# [[Ashikaga Yoshitane]], r. 1490–1493, 1508–1521{{sfn|Roth|2002|p=57}}<ref>{{harvnb|Ackroyd|1982|p=385|loc=n104n. 104}}; excerpt, "Some apparent contradictions exist in various versions of the pedigree owing to adoptions and name-changes. Yoshitsuna (sometimes also read Yoshikore) changed his name and was adopted by Yoshitane. Some pedigrees show Yoshitsuna as Yoshizumi's son, and Yoshifuyu as Yoshizumi's son."</ref>