Muromachi Period

From the mid-Kamakura Period, the Kamakura shogunate forced two imperial lines, the Daikakuji line and the Jimyoin line, to alternate the throne.
But both believed their own line was the legitimate one, and resentment toward the shogunate grew.

Emperor Go-Daigo, from the Daikakuji line, wanted his descendants to inherit the throne. He eventually raised an army and overthrew the Kamakura shogunate.
Although he succeeded, the warrior Ashikaga Takauji, unhappy with Go-Daigo’s court-centered rule, rebelled. Go-Daigo was defeated at the Battle of Minatogawa.
Ashikaga Takauji installed Emperor Komyo of the Jimyoin line and founded the Muromachi shogunate, marking the start of the Muromachi Period.

After losing the Battle of Minatogawa, Emperor Go-Daigo fled to Yoshino. Still unwilling to give up, he claimed legitimacy and established a court there.
The early Muromachi Period, when two courts existed at the same time, Kyoto’s Northern Court centered on Emperor Komyo and Yoshino’s Southern Court centered on Go-Daigo, is called the Nanboku-cho period.

During this era, the shogunate also split internally due to conflict between Ashikaga Takauji and his younger brother, Ashikaga Tadayoshi, forming rival factions.

With both the court and shogunate divided, the lord-vassal bonds that had tied the shogunate to warrior bands began to collapse.
Warrior groups shifted into organizations focused on securing their own lands, and alliances became unstable, with enemies and allies constantly changing.

To govern increasingly disorderly regions, the shogunate dispatched powerful warriors as provincial governors known as shugo.
As the shugo’s authority expanded, they grew into the “shugo daimyo.”

As order returned and the shogunate strengthened, both the Southern and Northern Courts weakened.
The Nanboku-cho period ended when the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, unified the two courts.

To secure the Ashikaga family’s position, Yoshimitsu began campaigns against shugo daimyo who had grown too powerful.
At 36, he handed the title of shogun to his son, Ashikaga Yoshimochi, yet continued to hold real power.
He rose to the highest court rank, Daijo-daijin (Chancellor of the Realm), and even became a monk to extend his influence into Buddhist circles, gaining extraordinary power across multiple spheres.
He also launched Japan-Ming trade and earned enormous profits.

Yoshimitsu shaped culture as well: he helped the Kitayama Culture flourish, exemplified by Kinkaku-ji, and supported Kan’ami and Zeami, contributing to the development of sarugaku, the forerunner of Noh.

The eighth shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, had no heir.
He adopted his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, to make him the next shogun, but Yoshimasa’s wife, Hino Tomiko, then gave birth to a son.

Yoshimasa announced he would switch the successor to his son, Ashikaga Yoshihisa.
Yoshimi opposed this and clashed with Yoshimasa and Yoshihisa.
As the Ashikaga succession crisis deepened, power struggles among the shugo daimyo became entangled as well.

Eventually, it escalated into the Onin War: the Eastern Army led by Yoshimi and Hosokawa Katsumoto, and the Western Army led by Yoshihisa and Yamana Sozen.
Shugo daimyo from across Japan joined one side or the other, and the conflict dragged on for 11 years.

The war ended after the deaths of Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sozen, and reconciliation between Yoshimi and Yoshihisa.
After 11 years of fighting, Kyoto was left in ruins, and the authority of both the Muromachi shogunate and the shugo daimyo collapsed.
In their place, powerful local warriors rose in influence.

After the Onin War, farmers frustrated with the Muromachi shogunate and the shugo daimyo launched tsuchi ikki (peasant uprisings), demanding lighter taxes and debt cancellation.
Over time, both the scale and demands grew, developing into kuni ikki (provincial uprisings) that seized control from the shugo daimyo.
In the Yamashiro Province Ikki, the Hatakeyama clan was driven out, and a self-governing rule by warriors and farmers was established.

As uprisings succeeded, the old system, in which shugo daimyo appointed by the shogunate governed provinces, collapsed.
An era began in which those who could gather troops and wealth held power, a harsh world of survival of the fittest.

The Sengoku Period begins as Sengoku daimyo who gained power through gekokujo, shugo daimyo building strength in their regions, and religious forces all compete, with wars fought over territory.

Many Sengoku daimyo battled for land, and among them, Oda Nobunaga rose to prominence.

As Imagawa Yoshimoto, a daimyo of Suruga (now Shizuoka), advanced toward Kyoto, Nobunaga’s lands were attacked and the Battle of Okehazama broke out.
Nobunaga’s forces numbered only 4,000, but through a careful plan targeting Yoshimoto, they defeated the Imagawa army of 25,000.
The victory at Okehazama made Nobunaga’s name echo across Japan.

While Sengoku daimyo fought constantly, the Muromachi shogunate was left without a shogun after the reigning shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, was killed.
Yoshiteru’s younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, sought support from daimyo across the country to restore the shogunate.

The warlord who answered that call was Oda Nobunaga.
Nobunaga, aiming to unify Japan, saw control of Kyoto as essential, and his interests aligned with Yoshiaki’s.
Under the banner of restoring the shogunate, Nobunaga expanded his power westward.

Many Sengoku daimyo were stronger than Nobunaga, especially Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin, often called the mightiest of the era.
However, their long rivalry remained unresolved, leaving little room to turn their full strength against Nobunaga.

As Nobunaga continued to expand, he entered Kyoto with Ashikaga Yoshiaki.
Yoshiaki became the 15th shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, and Nobunaga gained the shogunate as a political backing.
But Yoshiaki, who sought a restored shogunate, and Nobunaga, who sought national unification, gradually fell into conflict over their different goals.

Yoshiaki formed an alliance with various daimyo and Buddhist forces (such as Enryaku-ji and Hongan-ji) to create a coalition against Nobunaga, but it failed.
After repeated attempts, Yoshiaki was ultimately exiled by Nobunaga, and the Muromachi shogunate came to an end.

Kitayama Culture flourished around Kitayama-dono, the villa of the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
Blending aristocratic residential style with samurai dignity and Zen calm, Kitayama-dono became a defining symbol of the era’s aesthetics.
It later became known as Kinkaku-ji, and you can still see it today.

Suiboku-ga (ink wash painting), known for diluted ink, gradation, and soft shading, developed within Kitayama Culture, building on landscape painting introduced to Japan in the Kamakura Period.
Kitayama Culture also saw further growth of Noh and Kyogen, driven by performers such as Kan’ami and Zeami.

Higashiyama Culture developed around Higashiyama Sanso, the retirement villa built by the eighth shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa.
Based on Kitayama Culture’s blend of aristocratic, samurai, and Zen influences, Higashiyama Culture deepened Zen characteristics.
Higashiyama Sanso reflected Zen ideals of beauty in simplicity, along with Japanese aesthetics such as wabi (quiet, rustic refinement) and yugen (subtle, profound depth). It was later renamed Ginkaku-ji in the Edo Period and remains visible in Japan today.

Suiboku-ga advanced further under Sesshu, who studied painting techniques in China and refined ink wash painting into a distinctly Japanese style.
His best-known works include “Shiki Sansui-zu,” “Shuto Sansui-zu,” and “Amanohashidate-zu,” all designated National Treasures.

In addition, tea master Murata Juko introduced wabi-cha, a tea practice centered on wabi ideals.
The foundations of Japan’s tea ceremony were formed during Higashiyama Culture.
Dry landscape gardens known as karesansui, expressing the feel of mountains and water through stone placement and subtle terrain, were also created around this time.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, achieved the major feat of reunifying the imperial court, once divided between the Southern and Northern Courts.
It’s said that when the young Yoshimitsu saw a beautiful view on the road back to Kyoto, he told his retainers, “This scenery is beautiful, let’s take it home!” and “You carry it back!”
A bold line that left his retainers speechless, and somehow fitting for a man who would go on to achieve so much.

Kinkaku-ji, Yoshimitsu’s villa-turned-temple, is famous for its brilliant gold leaf.
But surprisingly, the first floor isn’t covered in gold leaf.
Why not?

The first floor is built in shinden-zukuri, the same residential style used by court nobles.
The second floor reflects samurai architecture, and the third follows the Zen Buddhist butsu-den style.
In other words, the idea goes that leaving the first floor ungilded was Yoshimitsu’s quiet message: he looked down on the court nobles and Heian aristocracy.

Shiyoku, the practice of opening temple baths to the poor, spread to ordinary people during the Muromachi Period.
As the custom became more common, private baths were still something only wealthy households had.

Homes with baths began inviting guests to bathe, then serving tea, sake, and food afterward, a custom known as furo furumai (bath hospitality).
It seems the simple joy of eating and drinking after a good bath hasn’t changed since the Muromachi Period.

A temple that traces its origins to Kitayama-dono, the residence of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate.
It was named Rokuon-ji after Yoshimitsu’s Buddhist name and serves as an off-site sub-temple of Shokoku-ji (a detached temple complex created from a retirement villa built away from the main temple).

A temple that originated as Higashiyama-dono, the mountain villa built by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate.
Along with Kinkaku-ji, it is an off-site sub-temple of Shokoku-ji (a detached temple complex created from a retirement villa built away from the main temple).
After Yoshimasa’s death, it was named Jisho-ji after his Buddhist name.

Joei-ji Sesshu Garden is said to have been created in the mid-Muromachi Period, when Ouchi Masahiro ordered Sesshu to build it as a villa garden. Located north of the main hall of Joei-ji, it is a stroll-style pond garden that makes the most of its deep terrain, enclosed by mountains on three sides. Inspired by Mount Fuji and China’s “Three Sacred Mountains and Five Great Mountains,” the design features a shinjike (heart-shaped pond), a dry waterfall, upright stones, and striking rock arrangements beyond a broad karesansui landscape. It is designated a National Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty as a leading Japanese garden that embodies the Zen worldview.