The samurai during the Muromachi Period
- This period is also known as the Ashikaga period.
- Towards the end of the Kamakura Shogunate, some clans was resentful that they did not get any benefits after bravely fighting against the Mongols. They wanted to put emperor Go-Daigo back into power.
- This attempt failed and the Ashikaga clan started ruling Japan.
- Go-daigo supporters did not give up and fought against the Ashikaga shogunate that represented the North. This conflict, Nanbokucho war, lasted for 60 years: the longest war in Japan’s history.
The Onin war by Utagawa Yoshitora (1852)
- This is the era when the influential samurai settled in as a noble class in Kyoto.
- They engaged in many new kinds of arts and traditions including tea ceremony, ikebana, poetry, Noh performance, calligraphy, and sumi e.
- During this period Kinkauji, ginkakuji and Ryoanji in addition to a number of zen gardens were built in Kyoto.
- Tachi (longer swords with the curve close to the tip) were replaced by katana (shorter swords with the curve in the center) In the Muromachi era.
- This period ended when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in 1573 and started ruling Japan. The next 30 years are called the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
