The Asakura claimed descent from the [[Kusakabe clan]], descendants of the [[Emperor Temmu]]. They settled in [[Tajima province]] during the [[Heian Period]] and took the name Asakura. Later, the family moved to [[Echizen province]] and served the [[Shiba clan]] [[Shugo]], which [[Asakura Toshikage]] usurped on the dawn of the Sengoku Period. The Asakura were powerful in the Hokuriku region until their downfall at the hands of [[Oda Nobunaga]] in [[1573]], after which surviving members became vassals of first the [[Oda clan (Owari)|Oda]], then [[Toyotomi clan|Toyotomi]]. The Asakura are well-known in part for their [[Toshikage Jushichikajo]] (c.[[1480]]) - the house code of Asakura Toshikage.
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The Asakura claimed descent from the [[Kusakabe clan]], descendants of the [[Emperor Temmu]]. They settled in [[Tajima province]] during the [[Heian Period]] and took the name Asakura. Later, the family moved to [[Echizen province]] and served the [[Shiba clan]] [[Shugo]], which [[Asakura Toshikage]] usurped on the dawn of the Sengoku Period. The Asakura were powerful in the [[Hokuriku]] region until their downfall at the hands of [[Oda Nobunaga]] in [[1573]], after which surviving members became vassals of first the [[Oda clan (Owari)|Oda]], then [[Toyotomi clan|Toyotomi]]. The Asakura are well-known in part for their [[Toshikage Jushichikajo]] (c.[[1480]]) - the house code of Asakura Toshikage.
In the [[Muromachi period]], the Asakura were one of a number of families which were particularly involved in the trend of collecting ''[[karamono]]'' (ceramics and other Chinese objects) and patronizing [[tea ceremony|tea masters]]. The Asakura sponsored the production of copies of [[Soami|Sôami's]] "Manual" to the [[Ashikaga shogunate|shogunal]] collections, and much Chinese ceramics have been found in archaeological excavations at the site of the Asakura mansion at [[Ichijodani castle|Ichijôdani]].<ref>Morgan Pitelka, ''Spectacular Accumulation'', University of Hawaii Press (2016), 24.</ref>