Ashikaga Motouji Background . In the first weeks of 1336 , two years after the fall of Kamakura , the first of the Ashikaga shoguns Ashikaga Takauji left the city for Kyoto in pursuit of Nitta Yoshisada . He left behind his 4 - year - old son Yoshiakira as his representative in the trust of three guardians : Hosokawa Kiyouji , Uesugi Noriaki , and Shiba Ienaga . This action however formally divided the country in two , giving the east and the west two separate administrations with similar authority and powers . In 1349 Takauji called Yoshiakira to Kyoto to take his brother Tadayoshi ' s place , replacing him in Kamakura with another of his sons , Motouji , to whom he gave the title of " Kantō kanrei " , or " Kantō deputy " . Because the " kanrei " was the son of the shogun , ruled Kantō and controlled the military forces there , the area was usually called Kamakura Bakufu or Kamakura Shogunate , and Motouji shogun or Kamakura / Kantō Gosho , an equivalent title . When later the habit of calling " kubō " the shogun spread from Kyoto to the Kantō , the ruler of Kamakura came to be called " Kamakura kubō " . The " kanrei " title was passed on to the Uesugi hereditary " shitsuji " . However , the first time the " Kanto Kubō " title appears in writing is in a 1382 entry of the , after Motouji ' s death . Career . In 1349 Takauji sent Motouji to the Kantō to replace Yoshiakira , solidify his power and protect his interests there . Motouji and all the Kantō Kubō that followed him resided in the Ashikaga clan ' s family mansion in today ' s Jōmyōji neighborhood in the east of Kamakura . At the location now stands a black memorial stele , whose inscription reads : " After Minamoto no Yoritomo founded his shogunate , Ashikaga Yoshikane made this place his residence . His descendants also resided here for well over 200 years thereafter . After Ashikaga Takauji became shogun and moved to Kyoto , his son and second shogun Yoshiakira decided to also live there . Yoshiakira ' s younger brother Motouji then became " Kantō kanrei " and commanded his army from here . This became a tradition for all of the Ashikaga that followed . They , after Kyoto ' s fashion , gave themselves the title " kubō " . In 1455 " kubō " Ashikaga Shigeuji , after clashing with Uesugi Noritada , moved to Ibaraki ' s Shimōsa province and the residence was demolished . Erected in March 1918 by the Kamakurachō Seinendan Location : Jōmyōji 4 - 2 - 25 , near Nijinohashi Bridge . Since Motouji was then just a child , real power was in the hands of two " shitsuji " Uesugi Noriaki and Kō no Morofuyu , men Takauji trusted . However , the following year Uesugi , together with Takauji ' s brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi , defected and allied himself with Emperor Go - Daigo of the Southern Court , a sworn enemy of the Ashikaga , and left Kamakura for Kōzuke province . Kō remained faithful to Motouji , but was killed in battle by Uesugi at Kai . Takauji responded running to Kamakura , defeating his brother ' s forces , and taking him prisoner . Tadayoshi died later , probably of poisoning . In 1352 Nitta Yoshioki and Yoshimune ( both sons of Nitta Yoshisada ) took Kamakura , and Motouji had to escape . Once again , Takauji had to come to his son ' s succor to restore order . The situation having stabilized , Takauji returned to Kyoto , leaving Hatakeyama Kunikiyo as the new " shitsuji " . After Takauji ' s death , Nitta Yoshioki meant to attack Kamakura again , but Motouji had him caught and drowned in a river in 1358 . With the Kantō finally peaceful , Motouji sent troops commanded by Hatakeyama Kunikiyo to help his brother Yoshiakira attack Yoshino Province , where Go - Daigo had installed his court , but was betrayed by Kunikiyo , who disobeyed orders and instead went to attack Nitta Yoshinaga . He personally defeated Kunikiyo , then reconciled himself with Uesugi Noriaki in 1364 and reinstated him to his former post . Because Noriaki had sided with Ashikaga Tadayoshi during the Kannō Disturbance , this act is believed to have done much to pacify the Kantō . Motouji died during an epidemic in 1367 at the age of 28 while firmly in power . He is buried at the family temple of Zuisen - ji .