Ashikaga shogunate
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Ashikaga shogunate 足利幕府 (Ashikaga bakufu) | |||||||||||
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1336–1573 | |||||||||||
Mon of the Ashikaga clan
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Capital | feudal military dictatorship | ||||||||||
Emperor | |||||||||||
• 1332–1334 | Kōgon | ||||||||||
• 1557–1586 | Ōgimachi | ||||||||||
Shōgun | |||||||||||
• 1338–1358 | Ashikaga Takauji | ||||||||||
• 1568–1573 | Ashikaga Yoshiaki | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
• Established | 11 August 1336 | ||||||||||
• Surrender of Emperor Go-Kameyama | 15 October 1392 | ||||||||||
• Ōnin War | 1467–1477 | ||||||||||
• Oda Nobunaga captures Heian-kyo | 18 October 1568 | ||||||||||
• Ashikaga shogunate abolished | 2 September 1573 | ||||||||||
Currency | Mon | ||||||||||
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Part of a series on the |
History of Japan |
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The Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府, Ashikaga bakufu), also known as the Muromachi shogunate (室町幕府, Muromachi bakufu), was the
The Ashikaga shogunate was established when
The Ashikaga shogunate's alternative name Muromachi and the Muromachi period are derived from the Muromachi district of Kyoto, where the third Shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, established his residence nicknamed the "Flower Palace" (花の御所, Hana no Gosho) on Muromachi Street in 1379.[1]
Background and early period
From 1180 to 1185, the
In 1333, the
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, 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.
Government structure
The Ashikaga shogunate was the weakest of the three Japanese military governments. Unlike its predecessor, the
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 to the Emperor in Kyoto. The authority of the local daimyō greatly expanded from that of Kamakura times. In addition to military and policing responsibilities, the shogunate-appointed shugos now absorbed the judicial, economic, 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 was 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.
Foreign relations
The Ashikaga shogunate's foreign relations policy choices were played out in evolving contacts with
Fall of the shogunate
Bloody succession crises amongst the warrior families which led to a decline in the authority of the bakufu until it almost vanished by 1441 at the death of Ashikaga Yoshinori.[8] The lack of government control was especially acute when the daimyō feuded among themselves in the pursuit of power during the Ōnin War (1467–1477), until it erupted into open warfare in the late Muromachi period, also known as the Sengoku period.
When the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru was assassinated in 1565, an ambitious daimyō, Oda Nobunaga, seized the opportunity and installed Yoshiteru's brother Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th Ashikaga shōgun and Nobunaga's puppet. However Yoshiaki was not entirely subservient to Nobunaga: he continued to strike bargains amongst the monasteries to gain favor, and mediated between powerful clans such as the Otomo and Mori.[8] The Ashikaga shogunate was finally destroyed in 1573 when Nobunaga drove Yoshiaki out of Kyoto. Initially, Yoshiaki fled to Shikoku. Afterwards, he sought and received protection from the Mōri clan in western Japan.
The Ashikaga family survived the 16th century, and a branch of it became the daimyō family of the Kitsuregawa domain.[a][citation needed]
Palace remains
The shogunal residence, also known as the "Flower Palace", was in Kyoto on the block now bounded by Karasuma Street (to the east), Imadegawa Street (to the south), Muromachi Street (to the west, giving the name), and Kamidachiuri Street (to the north). The location is commemorated by a stone marker at the southwest corner, and the Kanbai-kan (寒梅館, Winter Plum Hall) of Dōshisha University contains relics and excavations of the area.
List of Ashikaga shōgun
- Ashikaga Takauji, ruled 1338–1357[9]
- Ashikaga Yoshiakira, r. 1359–1368[9]
- Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, r. 1368–1394[10]
- Ashikaga Yoshimochi, r. 1395–1423[10]
- Ashikaga Yoshikazu, r. 1423–1425[10]
- Responsibilities of government undertook by Ashikaga Yoshimochi, (1425–1428)[11]
- Ashikaga Yoshinori, r. 1428–1441[10]
- Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, r. 1442–1443[10]
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa, r. 1449–1473[10][12]
- Ashikaga Yoshihisa, r. 1474–1489[10]
- Ashikaga Yoshitane, r. 1490–1493, 1508–1521[13][14]
- Ashikaga Yoshizumi, r. 1494–1508[13]
- Ashikaga Yoshiharu, r. 1521–1546[9]
- Ashikaga Yoshiteru, r. 1546–1565[13]
- Ashikaga Yoshihide, r. 1568[10]
- Ashikaga Yoshiaki, r. 1568–1573[9]
See also
Notes
- ^ With the end of the Kitsuregawa line following the death of Ashikaga Atsuuji in 1983, the current de facto head of the family is Ashikaga Yoshihiro, of the Hirashima Kubō line.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Muromachi-jidai" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 669.
- ^ Roth 2002, p. 878.
- ^ Roth 2002, p. 53.
- ^ von Klaproth 1834, p. 320.
- ^ Kang 1997, p. 275.
- ^ Ackroyd 1982, p. 329.
- ^ von Klaproth 1834, pp. 322–324.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8047-0525-7.
- ^ a b c d Roth 2002, p. 55.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Roth 2002, p. 56.
- ^ Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron, p. 330.
- ^ Ackroyd 1982, p. 298; n.b., shōgun Yoshimasa was succeeded by shōgun Yoshihisa (Yoshimasa's natural son), then by Shogun Yoshitane (Yoshimasa's first adopted son), and then by Shogun Yoshizumi (Yoshimasa's second adopted son)
- ^ a b c Roth 2002, p. 57.
- ^ Ackroyd 1982, p. 385, n. 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."
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-7022-1485-1.
- Kang, Etsuko Hae-Jin (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: From the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-17370-8.
- ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
- von Klaproth, Julius (1834). Nipon o daï itsi ran: ou Annales des empereurs du Japon. Oriental Translation Fund.
External links
- Ashikaga Bakufu from Washington State University website
- Kyoto City Web