The was a prominent Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 clan

Japanese clans

This is a list of Japanese clans. The ancient clans mentioned in the Nihonshoki and Kojiki lost their political power before the Heian period. Instead of gozoku, new aristocracies, Kuge families emerged in the period...

 which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1336 to 1573.

The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan

Minamoto clan

was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were demoted into the ranks of the nobility. The practice was most prevalent during the Heian Period , although its last occurrence was during the Sengoku Era. The Taira were another such offshoot of...

, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga

Ashikaga, Tochigi

is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Ashikaga is located north of Tokyo.As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 153,766, with a household number of 59,219, and a density of 864.73 persons per km²...

 in Shimotsuke province

Shimotsuke Province

is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...

 (modern-day Tochigi prefecture

Tochigi Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...

).

For about a century the clan was divided in two rival branches, the Kantō Ashikaga

Kanto kubo

was a title equivalent to shogun assumed by Ashikaga Motouji after his nomination to Kantō kanrei, or deputy shogun for the Kamakura-fu, in 1349. Motouji transferred his original title to the Uesugi family, which had previously held the hereditary title of , and would thereafter provide the Kantō...

, who ruled from Kamakura

Kamakura, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...

, and the Kyōto Ashikaga, rulers of Japan. The rivalry ended with the defeat of the first in 1439. The clan had many notable branch clans, including the Hosokawa

Hosokawa clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from Emperor Seiwa and a branch of the Minamoto clan, by the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga shogunate's administration. In the Edo period, the Hosokawa clan was one of the largest landholding daimyo families in Japan...

, Imagawa

Imagawa clan

The was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Emperor Seiwa . It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan.-Origins:Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in the 13th century at Imagawa and took its name.Imagawa Norikuni received from his cousin the...

, Hatakeyama

Hatakeyama clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan. Originally a branch of the Taira clan and descended from Taira no Takamochi, they fell victim of political intrigue in 1205, when Hatakeyama Shigeyasu, first, and his father Shigetada later were killed in battle by Hōjō forces in Kamakura...

 (after 1205), Kira

Kira clan

The Kira clan was a Japanese clan, descended from Emperor Seiwa , and was a cadet branch of the Ashikaga family from the Minamoto clan .Ashikaga Mitsuuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji was the first to take the name of Kira....

, Shiba

Shiba clan

The was a Japanese clan claiming descent from the Minamoto clan of the Heian era that held influence and territory in the provinces of Echizen province and Owari province to which they were governors during the Sengoku era. However, they were unable to make a transition to Sengoku-daimyo and lost...

, and Hachisuka

Hachisuka clan

The ' are descendants of Emperor Seiwa and are a branch of the Ashikaga clan and the Shiba clan .Ashikaga Ieuji , son of Ashikaga Yasuuji was the first who adopted the name of Shiba...

 clans. After the head family of the Minamoto clan died out during the early Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

, the Ashikaga came to style themselves as the head of the Minamoto, coopting the prestige which came with that name.

Another Ashikaga clan, not related by blood, and derived instead from the Fujiwara clan, also existed.

Clan Heads

1. Ashikaga Yoshiyasu

Minamoto no Yoshiyasu

Minamoto no Yoshiyasu was son of Yoshikuni and ancestor of Ashikaga branch family of the Minamoto. Yoshiyasu was a samurai and participated at Hōgen Rebellion in Kyoto with forces loyal to Emperor Go-Shirakawa to fight against ex-Emperor Sutoku's forces.-External links:*...

2. Ashikaga Yoshikane

Ashikaga Yoshikane

was a Japanese samurai military commander, feudal lord in the late Heian and early Kamakura period of Japan's history. He played an active part in the Jishō-Juei War and the later military campaign as a closely related person of the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, and made Ashikaga...

3. Ashikaga Yoshiuji

4. Ashikaga Yasuuji


5. Ashikaga Yoriuji

6. Ashikaga Ietoki

7. Ashikaga Sadauji

8. Ashikaga Takauji

Ashikaga Takauji

was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...

Shoguns

1. Ashikaga Takauji

2. Ashikaga Yoshiakira

Ashikaga Yoshiakira

was the 2nd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1358 to 1367 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshiakira was the son of the founder and first shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Takauji....

3. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

was the 3rd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who ruled from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was the son of the second shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira....

4. Ashikaga Yoshimochi

Ashikaga Yoshimochi

was the 4th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1394 to 1423 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimochi was the son of the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu....

5. Ashikaga Yoshikazu

Ashikaga Yoshikazu

was the 5th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1423 to 1425 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshikazu was the son of the fourth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi....

6. Ashikaga Yoshinori

Ashikaga Yoshinori

was the 6th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1429 to 1441 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshinori was the son of the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.-Shogunal succession:...

7. Ashikaga Yoshikatsu

Ashikaga Yoshikatsu

was the 7th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1442 to 1443 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshikatsu was the son of 6th shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori.Significant events which shaped the period during which Yoshikatsu was shogun:...

8. Ashikaga Yoshimasa

Ashikaga Yoshimasa

was the 8th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimasa was the son of the sixth shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori....

9. Ashikaga Yoshihisa

Ashikaga Yoshihisa

was the 9th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1473 to 1489 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshihisa was the son of the eighth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa....

10. Ashikaga Yoshitane

Ashikaga Yoshitane

, also known as Ashikaga Yoshiki , was the 10th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who headed the shogunate first from 1490 to 1493 and then again from 1508 to 1521 during the Muromachi period of Japan....

11. Ashikaga Yoshizumi

Ashikaga Yoshizumi

was the 11th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1494 to 1508 during the Muromachi period of Japan. He was the son of Ashikaga Masatomo and grandson of the sixth shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori. Yoshizumi was first called Yoshitō , then Yoshitaka.Yoshizumi was adopted by the 8th shogun...

12. Ashikaga Yoshiharu

Ashikaga Yoshiharu

was the 12th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who held the reins of supreme power from 1521 through 1546 during the late Muromachi period of Japan...

13. Ashikaga Yoshiteru

Ashikaga Yoshiteru

, also known as Yoshifushi or Yoshifuji, was the 13th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1546 to 1565 during the late Muromachi period of Japan. He was the eldest son of the 12th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiharu; and his mother was a daughter of Konoe Taneie...

14. Ashikaga Yoshihide

Ashikaga Yoshihide

was the 14th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who held nominal power for a few months in 1568 during the Muromachi period of Japan. When he became shogun, he changed his name to Yoshinaga, but he is more conventionally recognized today by the name Yoshihide....

15 Ashikaga Yoshiaki

Ashikaga Yoshiaki

was the 15th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan who reigned from 1568 to 1573. His father, Ashikaga Yoshiharu was the twelfth shogun, and his brother, Ashikaga Yoshiteru was the thirteenth shogun....

Notable

• Ashikaga Chachamaru
• Ashikaga Masatomo
• Ashikaga Mitsukane
  Ashikaga Mitsukane
  was a Nanboku-chō period warrior, and the Kamakura-fu's third Kantō Kubō, . Being the eldest son, he succeeded his father Ujimitsu in 1398 at the age of 21 when he died during an epidemic.. Like him, Mitsukane aspired more or less openly to the shogunate and, like him and his successors, failed to...
  
  
• Ashikaga Mochiuji
  Ashikaga Mochiuji
  Ashikaga Mochiuji was the Kamakura-fu's fourth Kantō kubō during the Sengoku period in Japan. During his long and troubled rule the relationship between the west and the east of the country reached an all-time low. Kamakura was finally attacked by shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori and retaken by force...
  
  
• Ashikaga Motouji
  Ashikaga Motouji
  -See also:* Kamakura, Kanagawa - The Muromachi and Edo periods* The article Nanboku-chō period...
  
  
• Ashikaga Satouji
  Ashikaga Satouji
  was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who served as lord of the Kitsuregawa domain . A direct descendant of the Ashikaga shoguns, Satouji had 5000 income and was a Tokugawa retainer, but had the de facto status of a daimyo of 100,000 koku-level income. Satouji became a in the Meiji era;...
  
  
• Ashikaga Shigeuji
  Ashikaga Shigeuji
  was a Muromachi period warrior and the Kamakura-fu's fifth and last Kantō Kubō . Fourth son of fourth Kubō Ashikaga Mochiuji, he succeeded his father only in 1449, a full decade after his death by seppuku. His childhood name was...
  
  
• Ashikaga Tadafuyu
• Ashikaga Tadayoshi
  Ashikaga Tadayoshi
  was a general of the Northern and Southern Courts period of Japanese history and a close associate of his elder brother Takauji, the first Muromachi shogun. Son of Ashikaga Sadauji and of a daughter of Uesugi Yorishige, the same mother as Takauji, he was a pivotal figure of the chaotic transition...
  
  
• Ashikaga Ujimitsu
  Ashikaga Ujimitsu
  was a Nanboku-chō period warrior and the Kamakura-fu's second Kantō Kubō, or Shogun Deputy. Son of first Kantō Kubō Ashikaga Motouji, he succeeded his father in 1367 at the age of nine when this last suddenly died during an epidemic. It was during his reign that the Kanto Kubō title became common...
  
  
• Ashikaga Yoshimi
  Ashikaga Yoshimi
  was the brother of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, and a rival for the succession in a dispute that would lead to the Ōnin War.Yoshimi was the abbot of a Jōdo monastery when he was first approached by Hosokawa Katsumoto, who wished to support his bid to become Shogun. He originally sought to stick to...