Ashikaga clan

The nihongo|Ashikaga clan|足利氏|Ashikaga-shi was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1336 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in Shimotsuke province (modern-day Tochigi prefecture).

The Ashikaga had many notable branch clans, including the Hosokawa, Imagawa, Hatakeyama (after 1205), Kira, Shiba, and Hachisuka clans. After the head family of the Minamoto clan died out during the early Kamakura period, the Ashikaga came to style themselves as the head of the Minamoto, coopting the prestige which came with that name.

Another Ashikaga clan, not related by blood, and derived instead from the Fujiwara clan, also existed.

Clan Heads

#Ashikaga Yoshiyasu
#Ashikaga Yoshikane
#Ashikaga Yoshiyasu
#Ashikaga Yoshiuji
#Ashikaga Yasuuji
#Ashikaga Yoriuji
#Ashikaga Ietoki
#Ashikaga Sadauji
#Ashikaga Takauji

Other Ashikaga of note

*Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
*Ashikaga Yoshimasa
*Ashikaga Satouji

ee also

* [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%B3%E5%88%A9%E6%B0%8F_%28%E8%97%A4%E5%8E%9F%E6%B0%8F%29 Ashikaga, Fujiwara line (in Japanese)]