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Few figures in Japanese history are as controversial as Ashikaga Takauji, a man whose actions brought down the [[Hojo clan|Hojo]] Shikken, made the dream of Imperial restoration a reality and then tore down that dream in a war that would leave the Court divided and the country in the hands of a new warrior government.

Few figures in Japanese history are as controversial as Ashikaga Takauji, a man whose actions brought down the [[Hojo clan|Hojo]] Shikken, made the dream of Imperial restoration a reality and then tore down that dream in a war that would leave the Court divided and the country in the hands of a new warrior government.

In [[1331]], as [[Go-Daigo]] was preparing to throw off the yoke of Kamakura rule, Takauji was a powerful landholder in the Kanto region. His clan, the [Ashikaga clan|Ashikaga]], was of Seiwa Genji stock, the same branch of the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] family that had produced [[Minamoto Yoritomo|Yoritomo]]. [[Minamoto Yoriyasu]] (? – [[1157]]), grandson of [[Minamoto Yoshiie]], had settled in [[Shimotsuke province|Shimotsuke]] and taken the name of his holding: Ashikaga-no-sho. Yoshiyasu's son [[Ashikaga Yoshikane]] (? – [[1199]]) had joined Minamoto Yoritomo in [[1180]] and served him in the [[Gempei War]]. Yoshikane also happened to be married to a daughter of [[Hojo Tokimasa]], and so the Ashikaga thrived in the years following Yoritomo's death in [[1199]]. In fact, five of the next seven generations of Ashikaga leaders would marry Hojo ladies, to include Takauji (Takauji, however, was not of Hojo blood-his mother had happened to be of the [[Uesugi clan|Uesugi]] house). By [[1331]] the Ashikaga had grown and branched out, with Ashikaga lines to be found in [[Mutsu province|Mutsu]], Shimotsuke, [[Kozuke province|Kozuke]], [[Sagami province|Sagami]], [[Mikawa province|Mikawa]], [[Mimasaka province|Mimasaka]], and the Kinai region, under such later familiar names as [[Imagawa clan|Imagawa]], [[Hosokawa clan|Hosokawa]], [[Hatakeyama clan|Hatakeyama]], and [[Shiba clan|Shiba]].

In [[1331]], as [[Emperor Go-Daigo]] was preparing to throw off the yoke of Kamakura rule, Takauji was a powerful landholder in the Kanto region. His clan, the [Ashikaga clan|Ashikaga]], was of Seiwa Genji stock, the same branch of the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] family that had produced [[Minamoto Yoritomo|Yoritomo]]. [[Minamoto Yoriyasu]] (? – [[1157]]), grandson of [[Minamoto Yoshiie]], had settled in [[Shimotsuke province|Shimotsuke]] and taken the name of his holding: Ashikaga-no-sho. Yoshiyasu's son [[Ashikaga Yoshikane]] (? – [[1199]]) had joined Minamoto Yoritomo in [[1180]] and served him in the [[Gempei War]]. Yoshikane also happened to be married to a daughter of [[Hojo Tokimasa]], and so the Ashikaga thrived in the years following Yoritomo's death in [[1199]]. In fact, five of the next seven generations of Ashikaga leaders would marry Hojo ladies, to include Takauji (Takauji, however, was not of Hojo blood-his mother had happened to be of the [[Uesugi clan|Uesugi]] house). By [[1331]] the Ashikaga had grown and branched out, with Ashikaga lines to be found in [[Mutsu province|Mutsu]], Shimotsuke, [[Kozuke province|Kozuke]], [[Sagami province|Sagami]], [[Mikawa province|Mikawa]], [[Mimasaka province|Mimasaka]], and the Kinai region, under such later familiar names as [[Imagawa clan|Imagawa]], [[Hosokawa clan|Hosokawa]], [[Hatakeyama clan|Hatakeyama]], and [[Shiba clan|Shiba]].

Respected by the Hojo, Takauji was among those men quickly dispatched east after the news of Go-Daigo's rebellion reached Kamakura. In October Takauji joined in the Bakufu's assault on Kasagi, which led to the apprehension of Go-Daigo.

Respected by the Hojo, Takauji was among those men quickly dispatched east after the news of Go-Daigo's rebellion reached Kamakura. In October Takauji joined in the Bakufu's assault on Kasagi, which led to the apprehension of Go-Daigo.