The Asakura claimed descent from the Kusakabe, 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 and served the Shiba 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, then Toyotomi. The Asakura are well-known in part for their Toshikage Jushichikajo (c.1480) - the house code of Asakura Toshikage.