• Northern and Southern Courts Nanbokuchō 南北 足利尊氏
• Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義満 (1305-1358)
• Kusunoki Masashige 楠木正成 (1294-1336)
• kanrei 管領
• shugo守護
• shugo-dai 守護代
• Ming 明

Destruction of the Kamakura Shogunate

• Rise of emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339)
  • becomes emperor in 1318 as adult
  • asserts greater authority over imperial house
  • revives attempts to investigate illegal shōen
  • violates succession agreement
    • a long-standing dispute over succession to the Imperial line (beginning in 1270s)
    • the problem had been solved by alternating between son's in two rival lines
• in 1331 the Hōjō sent Go-Daigo into internal exile on Oki
• BUT in 1333 emperor Go-Daigo returns from exile
  • he issues a call to arms
  • powerful warrior and shugo families join the opposition and in 1333/5 Kamakura itself falls to Nitta Yoshisada
  • major supporter is Ashikaga Takauji
• Hōjō are defeated

Kemmu Restoration (1334-1336)

• Go-Daigo envisions a return to Nara-era imperial authority
  • one example: appoints his son Morinaga as shōgun, despite Ashikaga Takauji's specific request for this title
• Takauji and Go-Daigo manage an uneasy co-existance for about one year
  • BUT by 1335 Takauji is moving against warriors like the Nitta, who he thinks will side with Go-Daigo
• Fighting begins in 1336
  • Takauji takes Kyoto, but is driven out and south to Kyushu
  • assembles stronger forces by promising land to powerful shugo
  • retakes Kyoto in fall 1336
  • installs prince from rival line as emperor
  • in 1338 gets title of shōgun

Muromachi shogunate

• lasted on paper from 1338 until 1573 -- name derives from section of Kyoto
• fundamental weaker than Kamakura shogunate
  • Ashikaga Takauji is unquestionably a traitor
  • Ashikaga legitimacy is composite and syncretic
    • they claim various court titles
    • they form alliances among powerful shugo families
      • kanrei (deputy shogun)
      • shugo-yoriai: council of shugo
      • shugodai as part of need to weaken shugo
    • but they also pay homage to the Chinese court -- the Ashikaga aceept title of King of Japan from Ming emperor -- importance is for trade
  • the master of this is Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義満 (1358-1408) -- the third Ashikaga shogun and grandson of Takauji
  • Convinces Southern Court to relent -- emperor returns to Kyoto 1392 - ends Northern and Southern Courts era (1337 -1392)
  • Uses allies to crush rebellions of Ōuchi and Yamana
  • Quietly accepts Ming investiture (1401)  - huge profits and monopolized the import of copper currency
  • Retires as shogun in 1394 to become prime minister 太政大臣  —　does he have still more ambitious plans
  • Kitayama culture
• Rise of shugo power
  • greater autonomy during Nanbokuchō
  • hanzei (cf. Lu 1: 158-159)
  • command of jitō
  • powerful families:
    • Hosokawa
    • Takeda
    • Rokkaku
    • Nitta