Muromachi Period in Japan: History and Important Places Today

The history of Japan spans thousands upon thousands of years — and perhaps none were as bloody and turbulent in medieval Japan as the Muromachi period. Characterized by feuding leaders, rebellions in the countryside, and general unrest within the country, the Muromachi period spanned from roughly the 1330s to the mid-1500s.

Important leaders of the era included Emperor Go-Daigo, Ashikaha Yoshimitsu, and Hosokawa Katsumoto. After the fall of the Kamakura Bakufu, military men struggled to accept the Muromachi period’s reversion to imperial rule over themselves and aristocracy. What followed was a tumultuous exchange of power for two centuries of history.

Keep reading to learn more about the interesting Muromachi period — including how it came to start, the most significant events, and important sites still tourable today.

History of the Muromachi Period

As the Kamakura period took its name from the city of Kamakura, Muromachi took its name from the street Muromachi-dori in Kyoto where the first bakufu based itself. Some name the period the Nanbokucho-Muromachi period to include several kerfuffles and disputes that happened before the official “start” of the period.

Politics

When Emperor Go-Daigo amassed an army to cripple the Hojo clan and the Kamakura Bakufu, he did so with the express intent of bringing power back to Kyoto and ridding Japan of its century-long “split rule.” With the help of Nitta Yoshisada (remember this name — it comes back later!), power fell out of the hands of the Hojo regents in the 1330s and back into Imperial control in Kyoto. The government established itself in the Muromachi district of Kyoto.

Emperor Go-Daigo consolidated power under his rule in an idealistic view that took only three years to unravel completely. Under his Kenmu Restoration, he wanted to rule every class — including samurai — under the same laws. At this point, warriors had a century of living under their own code of ethics, so they bristled at this change. Similarly, Emperor Go-Daigo refused to name a shogun, as he wanted to retain all the power. During this time, he attempted to maintain order of the country’s assets by permitting land only by Imperial decree. That meant thousands of people flooded Kyoto to keep the land that they may (or may not) currently own.

Officials forced Emperor Go-Daigo into exile twice after his short and poorly run reign, but he wouldn’t lose his control and established a court in Yoshino. Ashikaga Takauji, a warrior sent to Muromachi by the few Kamakura faithful left, did not want to take up the mantle of a shogun but found he could delegate duties to another. Komyo became the first Ashikaga Shogunate and dual courts reigned for a time.

​​Ashikaga Shogunate

Despite two rulers in Japan, the Ashikaga Shogunate remains characterized by minimal control in central regions and general lawlessness in outer provinces. Ironically, the shoguns of the Ashikaga Shogunate used their power to establish several new articles to Japan’s law codes, including the theory of renza, or the punishing of a criminal’s family for the crimes of the perpetrator.

Yoshimitsu Ashikaga unified the Northern and Southern courts of Japan in 1392, but his sudden death spelled trouble for the shogunate. His successor, Yoshimochi, repealed some of the policies that had begun at the end of Yoshimitsu’s reign. His reign, however, was also short-lived. Both he and his son, who was shogun in 1423, died young. The sixth shogun, then, was picked by lots. Yoshimitsu’s pious son, Gien, had joined the priesthood several years earlier. However, when his lot was chosen, he returned to become the secular shogun Yoshinori Ashikaha. Yoshinori came into the shogunate to massive backlash from the most influential families, which he worked hard to crush. Hated for his “reign of terror,” Yoshinori failed to get much of anything done and a member of the powerful Akamatsu family assassinated him.

After Yoshinori, several different young boys held the title of shogun with real power resting in the hands of powerful daimyo, or the regional feudal lords, until the Onin War, which effectively destroyed Kyoto and ended without a victor.

Religion

Buddhism, specifically the Zen sect, rose to its peak in the Muromachi period of Japan. Along with that came the Shinto belief system, which used both Confucian and Buddhist cannons to inform and evolve its own philosophy. With such similar belief systems, Buddhism began to absorb Shintoism in the middle of the period.

Zen Buddhism grew in popularity particularly because of the warrior class. This growth fractured into different schools as well, like the Rinzai who believed meditation was the best way to achieve self-actualization and understanding yourself.

Culture

As the turn of the century approached and Japan entered the 1400s, international trade flourished. The Ming Dynasty accepted the shogun as the “king of Japan” and facilitated the trade of materials like silk, bronze coins, and porcelain from their side while receiving swords, copper, and timber.

Despite violent upheaval on the political and military side, the two-century-long Muromachi period gave rise to great beauty. Hobbies and artistic traditional practices of the Japanese Tea Ceremony, Noh theater, and flower arranging rose in popularity at this time to help the Japanese escape the destructive nature of their reality. Because the Zen sect of Buddhism reached its peak around this time, it had a great influence on painting — bearing the suiboku styling of painting.

Significant Events During the Muromachi Period

Dozens of rebellions, power shifts, and influential precedents characterize the Muromachi period, but perhaps none more so than the Onin War and the rise of warlord Oda Nobunaga.

As mentioned above, the Onin War came to pass when the many regional warlords and samurai of Japan gathered their forces and marched on Kyoto to seize power. The civil war dragged on for 10 long years in hopes that one group would win out and choose the new shogun. It began with the rivalry between the Hosokawa and Yamana families — but almost every influential family in Japan played some role in the Onin War before it ended. Today, historians regard the war as a useless conflict. As the shogun already had very little power, the war essentially destroyed the office — as well as the Imperial capital of Kyoto — without finding a victor. It ushered in yet another long period of warlord reign over small pockets of land with no leader able to truly gain dominance.

The period after the Onin War that ushered in the end of the Muromachi period is known as the Sengoku period. Littered with rivalries, lies, and political backstabbing, it spelled disaster for both the warriors and common people of the time.

The End of an Era

When the warring clans were fighting, Oda Nobunaga was consistently conquering land. He expanded his territories between the 1550s and the 1560s, finally overthrowing the Ashikaga Shogunate in the 1570s. Several decades before, he’d made the acting shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, his puppet but exiled him for good in 1573. The period morphed into the short-lived Azuchi-Momoyama period before the infamous Edo period of Japan began. The Muromachi period was also the second-to-last period of medieval Japan.

Important Muromachi Period Sights To See Today in Japan

Much of the Muromachi period stayed in the past — except for a few iconic temples and the birthplace of the Japanese tea ceremony.

Kinkakuji Temple

Located in Kyoto, the Kinkakuji Temple (also known as the Golden Pavilion) is a zen temple built amid the strife of the Muromachi period. Gold leaf completely covers top two floors of the three-floor temple.

Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu retired to Kinkakuji Temple when it was known as Rokunoji. After his death, historians interpreted his will to make it a Zen temple for the Rinzai sect. Today, it is the only building left from Yoshimitsu’s retirement village. However, today’s temple is not built with original materials from medieval Japan. Unfortunately, the temple burnt down numerous times — twice which happened amid the Onin War — and as recently as 1950.

Visiting the Kinkakuji Temple today remains a sight to behold, as each floor of the temple echoes a different type of architectural style. Though you can’t walk through the pavilion, you can peer through the usually open sliding doors to see the different architectural styles from the tourist viewing section across the pond. The first floor, inspired by the Heian period, uses the Shinden style with natural wood for pillars and white-washed plaster walls. The second floor, the first of two covered in gold leaf, reflects the Bukke style of the samurai. The third floor is extensively gilded and built in the style of a Chinese Zen hall.

Visiting

While on the grounds, you’ll have the opportunity to walk past the temple, the residential grounds, and the gardens — which kept Yoshimitsu’s original design. Legend has it that the Anmintaku Pond on the grounds never dries up, and many throw in a coin for good luck.

It costs about 500 yen (just over $3 USD) to visit and has a few indirect subway lines that get you half of the way to the temple. You will have to take a bus or taxi from the subway station to get to Kinkakuji.

Ginkakuji Temple

Inspired by the Golden Pavilion his grandfather built, shogun Ashikaga Toshimasa built his retirement villa amid the eastern mountains of Kyoto in 1492.

While Ginkakuji isn’t covered in silver the way Kinkakuji is covered in gold leaf, it became a hub of art and culture almost immediately — thanks to Yoshimasa’s obsession with art. Historians debate the naming of the temple; some claim it’s a nod to the century-long pause between the construction of Ginkakuji and Kinkakuji. Others claim the temple’s exterior used to be black lacquer that shone and shimmered in the moonlight, giving it a silvery appearance.

You cannot walk inside the temple but a tour guide or self-guided tour follows a path around the Silver Pavilion, adjacent buildings like Togudo Hall, a moss garden, and a Zen garden. The Zen garden, also known as the Sea of Silver Sand, has a unique sand cone named the Moon Viewing Platform. Togudo Hall, while not open to tourists to walk through, has 4.5 tatami mats inside, making it one of the oldest existing examples of Shoin architecture.

Similar to Kinkakuji, visiting the Ginkakuji Temple costs 500 yen, or around $3 USD. Ginkakuji is more accessible to tourists (and locals) than Kinkakuji. You can either ride the bus from Kyoto Station from buses number five and 17, or you can walk along the Philosopher’s Path from Nanzenji. The walk takes anywhere between 30 to 45 minutes.

Myoki-an Tai-an

Lovers of Japanese tea ceremonies cannot miss the Tai-an corner of the Myoki-an Temple.

Built between 1492 and 1501, Myoki-an became a branch temple of the Tofukuji school of Rinzai Buddhism during the Muromachi period. Inside, historians consider Tai-an to be the only still-existing tea room established by Sen no Rikyu, the father of the legendary Japanese tea ceremony. It also remains the origin of the Sukiya-zukuri style which influenced future tea room designs with a small entrance and exit for customers. Finally, the Tai-an is also unique because it’s only two tatami mats long while the standard at the time (as seen in the Ginkakuji Temple architecture) was four and a half tatami mats.

To arrive at Myoki, you can take the train or a car. If you take the train, get off at the Oyamazaki station on the Hankyu Kyoto line. After five minutes of walking, you’ll see the entrance to the temple. Cars can pull off of the Meishin Expressway to find Myoki — but the temple has no parking.

Myoki is only open in the mornings on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and you must make reservations at least a month in advance. It costs 1000 yen ($6.72 USD) to visit. The temple does not allow high school students and younger to tour.

Hosomi Museum

In 2023, the Hosomi Museum in Kyoto celebrates 25 years of delighting tourists and locals with exquisite exhibits that chronicle the varied history of Japan. Specifically, the Hosomi Museum is based on the Hosomi Art Foundation and fuses traditional and modern designs for a unique appearance.

Presently, the museum hosts two exhibits that feature art from the ancient to middle periods — including the Muromachi period. The first exhibit is a diverse collection of ancient to middle-period art. The mediums and sculptures include haniwa, tomb figurines, Buddhist sculptures, and ceremonial tools. The collection’s owner, Hosomi Kokoan, had a special place in their heart for religious art and collected as much as they could from ancient periods in Japan’s history. The second exhibit features dozens of different types of decorative art including sake bottles, tea bowls, utensils, and room accessories.

Not only do these exhibits feature pieces of Muromachi art; the museum has an extensive collection of original Muromachi emaki, or narrative handscrolls. These scrolls, whose closest Western likeness would be an illustrated storybook, told tales of wars, legends, poems, and more. Emaki is as old as the Nara period, or the eighth century, and can reach as long as 40 feet.

Turbulent, Rebellious, and Fierce

Marked by the warrior class and familicide, the Muromachi period in Japan was the first to shift power from emperors to military leaders known as shoguns. After Yoritomo’s death, the fight for supremacy bopped around to other rulers until the Muromachi Bakufu retained most of Japan’s land. Power remained delicately in the hands of the Hojo regents until waning so much, that the imperial power of emperor Go-Diago overthrew them and ushered in a new era: Muromachi.