Ashikaga Shogunate

The Ashikaga shogunate, also known as the Muromachi shogunate, was the feudal military government of Japan from 1336 to 1573, during the Muromachi period. Established when Ashikaga Takauji became Shōgun after overthrowing the Kenmu Restoration, the Ashikaga clan governed Japan from the Imperial capital of Heian-kyō (Kyoto). The shogunate began the Nanboku-chō period, which ended in 1392. It focused on arts and trade rather than military expansion, leading to its weakening. The outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467 initiated the Sengoku period of civil war, and the shogunate was finally dissolved in 1573 when Ashikaga Yoshiaki was overthrown by Oda Nobunaga.