Knowra Muromachi period Muromachi period A period of Japanese history, usually dated 1336–1573, when the Ashikaga shogunate ruled from Kyoto’s Muromachi district. It encompassed the Northern and Southern Courts, the rise of powerful regional lords, and the Onin War.
Ashikaga shogunate : A military government led by the Ashikaga family that ruled Japan from Kyoto from 1336 to 1573. Its shoguns governed during the period, though their control over provincial lords varied.
Kamakura shogunate : Japan’s first long-lasting military government, based in Kamakura and ruled by the Minamoto and later regents. Its collapse created the opening for a new military government.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu : The third Ashikaga shogun, who strengthened the shogunate and reunited the Northern and Southern Courts in 1392. His reign marked the high point of Ashikaga political authority.
Noh : A classical Japanese musical drama combining masked performance, dance, chant, and instrumental music. Ashikaga patronage helped establish Noh as an elite performance tradition.
Sengoku period : A period of civil war and political fragmentation in Japan, conventionally dated from the mid-fifteenth to late sixteenth century. The weakening of Ashikaga rule fed the conflicts that followed.
Muromachi bakufu : The central military administration of the Ashikaga shogunate, based in Kyoto’s Muromachi district. Its institutions formed the period’s political center.
Genko War : The 1331–1333 conflict in which Emperor Go-Daigo and his allies overthrew the Kamakura shogunate. Its victory briefly restored imperial rule before the Ashikaga seized power.
Ashikaga Yoshimasa : The eighth Ashikaga shogun, whose reign saw the Onin War and the weakening of central rule. His succession crisis helped ignite the war that transformed the period.
Japanese ink wash painting : A Japanese painting tradition that uses ink washes and brushwork to depict landscapes and other subjects. Zen institutions and shogunal patrons supported its flourishing in this era.
Azuchi–Momoyama period : A period of Japanese reunification under powerful warlords, usually dated from 1568 to 1600. Its unification campaigns brought the Ashikaga shogunate’s era to a close.
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