3. The Muromachi (Ashikaga) Epoch.— As the Ashikaga family placed the site of their Shogunal government in Kioto at Muromachi, that period is known as the Muromachi Age. The 3d Shogun, Yoshimitsu asserted his author ity by destroying such powerful generals as Ouchi Yoshihiro and Yamana Ujikiyo, who had become insolent by reason of their rich estates. He was also notorious for his love of arbitrary rule and luxury, well exemplified in his sump tuous villa, Kinkaku-ji, at Kioto.
When Takauji laid his seat in Kioto, he at the same time sent his second son, Motouji, the uncle of Yoshimitsu, to Kamakura to be gov ernor there; but his descendantsgrowing in power became ambitious, and were finally over thrown. With the fall of the governor at Kamakura, the whole of the Kwanto district was thrown into disturbance.
In the time of Yoshimasa, the 8th Shogun of the Ashikaga line, the disastrous war of Onin broke out (1467 A.D.), occasioned by a succession of troubles in the family of the Sho gun and his followers. Hosokawa Katsumoto led one party, and Yamana Sozen the other, and Kioto was the field of, battle for 11 years and was miserably reduced to a state of desola tion and ruin. Palaces and temples were burned to the ground with irreparable loss of treasures and documents.
After the war, territorial nobles returned to their castles and would not listen to the central government. This age of constant contest, ex tending from the end of the 15th century to that of the 16th, is denominated the °Period of Military Emergency." Hojo Soun was the most typical hero who attained a position of eminence by the sheer force of sword. In the mean -while, Uyesugi in Echigo, Takeda in Kai, lima gawa in Suruga, Otomo and Shimazu in Kyu shu, Mori in Chugokuf were exercising their respective dictatorships at their own sweet will, until the country was once more united under Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
During a century of continuous military dis turbances, literature and the arts made notable progress, for learning was conscientiously culti vated by priests of the Zen sect and poetry still continued to be the favorite pastime of court nobles and even of soldiers. In this age, the "Utai" (a dramatic romanza) made a marked development, together with the "No" dance, and nursery tales became a rich branch of literature. The Shogun Yoshimasa retired from the bustle of the disordered society to the picturesque temple Ginkaku-ji at Higashiyama in the vicinity of Kioto, where he lived indulging in various amusements and especially in the "Cha-no-Ye (tea ceremonial), and by his refined love of ancient caligraphs, pictures and curios gave a fresh impetus to this brilliant period of Jap anese art, which is commonly called the Hi gashiyama Period." Ko-hogen Motonbu, one
of the greatest masters of Japanese painting, initiated a new style, uniting the showy native school with simple but high artistic taste of the Sung and Yuan dynasties of China, and became the founder of the Kano School.
While the peaceful intercourse between Ja pan and China was maintained by the Shogunate the people of the littoral districts of Kyushu,• Chugoku and Shikoku, after the repulse of the Mongolian invasion, made frequent raids into China and Korea, which reached a climax in the age of the Military Emergency. In China the name of "Wake ("Japanese raid") was given to these pirates and they were greatly dreaded. For the introduction of the gun by the Portu &nese in 1543 A.D., the propagation of Chris tianity by Xavier, etc., the dispatch of ambas sadors to the Roman Pope by various mag nates of Kyushu. See FOREIGN RELATIONS. . 4. Oda and Toyotomi Period.— In this state of the local autonomy, Oda Nobunaga greatly distinguished himself and was charged by the 106th emperor, Ogimachi, with the pacification of the city of Kioto. As the guardian of the Shogun Yoshiaki, he entered Kioto, where he repaired the Imperial Palace, restored the poor nobles and established order. In 1573 A.D. the Ashikaga Shogunate terminated with the expulsion of Yoshiaki by Nobunaga. He subjugated the Takeda clan of the province of Kai, and was about to start on a campaign against the Mori clan of Chugoku, when he was suddenly attacked and killed by a vassal (1582 A.D.).
Upon Nobunaga's death, Toyotomi Hide yoshi, his tried vassal, afterward Taiko, per haps one of the most renowned participators in Japanese history, took his place. He subdued all the important territorial nobles in nine years and the restoration of domestic tranquillity was at last established (1590 A.D.). When the Em peror Goyozei paid a visit to his newly con structed mansion in Kioto, Hideyoshi settled the Civil List, allotted land property to court nobles, and exacted from all generals an oath that they should reverence the sovereign, and they should not show any disobedience to the "Kwanbaku," which position he held.