Ashikaga shogunate (1338-1573)

The Ashikaga shogunate (bakufu) is named after the surname of the fifteen shoguns who exercised authority from 1338 until 1573. Also known as the Muromachi bakufu, after the street in Kyoto where some shoguns resided, this regime was largely based in the capital of Japan. Unlike the earlier Kamakura shogunate (1185-1333), which was a judicial regime located in eastern Japan, the Ashikaga shogunate was located in Kyoto, and was amalgamated with the imperial court. The Ashikaga strove not to amass land, but rather to give it away, and through largesse secure support. Perhaps their greatest gift, and a cause of most of the ensuing decentralization, was the 1351 promulgation of the hanzei, whereby half of a province's revenue was used for military supplies, and they had to rule or overawe these shugo in order to govern effectively.