"Between 1336 and 1573, the Ashikaga Shogunate ruled Japan. However, it was not a strong central governing force, and in fact, the Ashikaga Bakufu witnessed the rise of powerful daimyo all around the country. These regional lords reigned over their domains with very little interference or influence from the shogun in Kyoto.
The first century of Ashikaga rule is distinguished by a flowering of culture and the arts, including Noh drama, as well as the popularization of Zen Buddhism. By the later Ashikaga period, Japan had descended into the chaos of the Sengoku period, with different daimyo battling one another for territory and power in a century-long civil war.
The roots of Ashikaga power go back even before the Kamakura period (1185 – 1334), which preceded the Ashikaga shogunate. During the Kamakura era, Japan was ruled by a branch of the ancient Taira clan, which lost the Genpei War (1180 – 1185) to the Minamoto clan, but managed to seize power anyway. The Ashikaga, in turn, were a branch of the Minamoto clan. In 1336, Ashikaga Takauji overthrew the Kamakura shogunate, in effect defeating the Taira once more and returning the Minamoto to power…."
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