Muromachi Period (1333-1573)

The Muromachi Period was the second shogunate of Japan. It began with a three-year period called the Kenmu Restoration, in which Emperor Go-Daigo, who had just overthrown the Kamakura Shogunate, set himself up as Emperor. As many samurai were displeased by the restoration, Ashikaga Takauji, one of Go-Daigo's supporters, deposed him and set himself up as shogun. The Ashikaga Shogunate was nowhere near as stable as the Kamakura Shogunate, however. The first fifty years were marked by nearly civil war between the Go-Daigo's Southern Imperial Court in Yoshino and the Northern Imperial Court in Kyoto, under Ashikaga's control. In addition, the Ashikaga Shogunate increased the power of the samurai constables, creating the class of daimyo, or feudal lords. This would lead to the massive civil war of the Sengoku Period in 1467.

The Muromachi Period is formally recognized to end when Oda Nobunaga overthrew the Ashikaga Shogun in 1573.

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