Editing Ashikaga shogunate (section)

== Government structure ==
[[File:Instituciones del shogunato Ashikaga obj a trazo.svg|thumb|right|Structure of the bakufu]]

The Ashikaga shogunate was the weakest of the three Japanese military governments. Unlike its predecessor, the [[Kamakura shogunate]], or its successor, the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], when Ashikaga Takauji established his government he had little personal territory with which to support his rule. The Ashikaga shogunate was thus heavily reliant on the prestige and personal authority of its ''shōgun''. The centralized master-vassal system used in the Kamakura system was replaced with the highly de-centralized ''[[daimyō]]s'' (local lord) system, and because of the lack of direct territories, the military power of the ''shōgun'' depended heavily on the loyalty of the ''daimyō''.

On the other hand, the Imperial court was no longer a credible threat to military rule. The failure of the [[Kenmu Restoration]] had rendered the court weak and subservient, a situation that Ashikaga Takauji reinforced by establishing his court within close proximity to the Emperor in Kyoto. The authority of the local ''daimyō'' greatly expanded from that of Kamakura times. In addition to military and policing responsibilities, the shogunate-appointed ''shugo'' now absorbed the judicial, economic, and taxation powers of the local Imperial governors, while the government holdings in each province were rapidly absorbed into the personal holdings of the ''daimyō'' or their vassals. The loss of both political clout and an economic base deprived the Imperial court of much of its power, which were then assumed by the Ashikaga ''shōgun''. This situation reached its peak under the rule of the third ''shōgun'', Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

After Yoshimitsu however, the structural weakness of the Ashikaga shogunate was exposed by numerous succession troubles and early deaths. This became dramatically more acute after the [[Ōnin War]], after which the shogunate itself became reduced to little more than a local political force in Kyoto.

===Foreign relations===
The Ashikaga shogunate's foreign relations policy choices were played out in evolving contacts with [[Joseon]] on the [[Korean Peninsula]]{{sfn|von Klaproth|1834|p=320}}{{sfn|Kang|1997|p=275}} and with imperial China.{{sfn|Ackroyd|1982|p=329}}{{sfn|von Klaproth|1834|pp=322–324}}