Ashikaga shogunate

Rulers of Japan (1336-1573). A branch of the Minamoto family, they controlled the emperor and government of Japan from Kyoto. The Ashikaga took power after the Kamakura shogunate was overthrown and the emperor Go-Daigo tried to restore direct imperial rule. After the Onin War power passed to the daimyo (provincial feudal warlords). By 1500 Japan had broken up into over 400 effectively independent states.