Muromachi period (redirected from Ashikaga period)

Muromachi period

In Japanese history, period of military government (bakufu, or shogunate) from the 14th to the 16th century. The bakufu was established in 1338 by the samurai (warrior) Ashikaga Takauji. Although the bakufu lasted in name until 1573, when the last of the Ashikaga shoguns was deposed, the Ashikaga in fact lost control of Japan during the Onin War (1467–77). The Muromachi period was, despite considerable turbulence and unrest, a time of great cultural growth, during which Zen Buddhism, no theatre and other literary forms, and sumi-e (Chinese-style ink painting) flourished. See also Ashikaga family; daimyo; Kano school.