The History of~Japan (Part 3: The Other Shoguns)

Japan; the mystical land of "The Rising Sun". Behind the facade of the Megalopolis that is Tokyo, lies a land stained in blood of some of the world's mightiest warriors; the Samurai. A land that has a history of military rulers that at times ruled with an iron hand.

This is Part 3 of this 9-part wiki page series about the history of Japan. In this page we'll cover on how the Ashikaga Shogunate replaced the Kamakura Shogunate., and how it escalates into the Sengoku Jidai.

## The Other Shoguns

Takauji Ashikaga has helped overthrown the Kamakura Shogunate in 1333, but all was not well in Japanese politics.

Takauji argued with Emperor Go-Daigo over becoming Japan's next shogun after helping him overthrow the Kamakura Shogunate.

That is when Takauji would take matters into his own hands. In 1338, Takauji would lead an army to invade Kyoto, and even made another Emperor; Komyo (though he was somewhat of a puppet to Takauji) to compete with Go-Daigo. Komyo bestowed Takauji the title of Shogun, thus creating the Ashikaga Shogunate. Knowing of this, Go-Daigo would establish an imperial court of his own in the province of Yoshino which split the imperial court apart (North and South). Over the course of a few decades, the newly created Ashikaga Shogunate would have 2 challenges, the first was trying to get all of the Samurai lords to remain loyal to the Shogunate, and to also deal with the Southern imperial Court created by Go-Daigo. This would create a mini civil war.

But it would be a taste of things to come.

in 1368, the next in line to the Ashikaga Shogunate; Yoshimitsu would do what he can to try to reunite not just Japan, but also the imperial court, and during his reign, Yoshimitsu would be influential in doing what he has promised, the imperial court had reunited, albeit under the watchful eye of the Ashikaga.

The Ashikaga in some ways were a lot like the Kamakura before it, in this case it allowed the samurai lords to rule over their own domains. But by the late 1300s and into the 1400s, these samurai lords would begin to style themselves as having absolute rule over their domains, beginning the usage of the title "Daimyo"

### Ashikaga loses prestige

By the mid 15th century, the Ashikaga Shogunate was beginning to lose its prestige as it was facing competition from other samurai clans; the "Hosokawa", and the "Yamana". Things got worse for the Ashikaga by 1464 when the current shogun failed to produce a male heir, and then asked his brother to give up his life as a monk so he can become the next shogun, by 1465 the shogun had an heir, which created more problems, 2 years later the 2 clans at war with the Ashikaga than began active fighting in a nationwide conflict known as the "Onin War".

Though this war would last for 10 years (and cost the lives of over a quarter of a million samurai) this lit a long smoldering fuse which would explode into what is known as the Sengoku Jidai (Japan's civil war) or "Warring States Period". A conflict that would be fought for over a century , and the pinnacle period for the Samurai.

That is when we will leave off this part. In the next part (click here) We will cover the Sengoku Jidai's most important battles, the first Europeans in Japan and how another shogunate unified Japan and end the conflicts. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.