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Muromachi shogunate system

Type Object Region Japan Time 1336–1573

The Muromachi shogunate (1336–1573) was the warrior government established by the Ashikaga clan in Kyoto, characterized by a hierarchical domination …

Timeline

  1. 1336–1392Kyoto · KyotoAshikaga Takauji established the Muromachi shogunate in Kyoto, instituting the offices of shogun, kanrei, and tandai, and dividing provincial rule among shugo daimyo; his long standoff with the Southern Court produced the dual Northern and Southern Courts system, and the dual structure of warrior government coexisting with the imperial court took initial shape.
  2. 1381–1390Muromachi, Kyoto · KyotoIn the 1380s the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu reorganized relations between the kanrei and the shugo; after dismissing the powerful Hosokawa Yoriyoshi (1379), he appointed the likes of Shiba Yoshishige as kanrei to check the great daimyo, and prepared the kango trade with Ming China (formally sending envoys from 1401); shogunal authority reached its early-Muromachi peak amid the chaotic age.
  3. 1467–1573Kyoto and surrounding provinces · JapanAfter the Onin War broke out in 1467, the shugo daimyo fought one another, shogunal authority existed in name only, and the Hosokawa-Yamana rivalry escalated into nationwide civil war; the Muromachi system gradually disintegrated on the eve of the Warring States period, ending only in 1573 when Ashikaga Yoshiaki was expelled by Oda Nobunaga.

Sources