The was a branch family of the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese Fujiwara clan of court nobles

Kuge

The was a Japanese aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto until the rise of the Shogunate in the 12th century at which point it was eclipsed by the daimyo...

, more specifically Fujiwara no Hidesato

Fujiwara no Hidesato

was a kuge of tenth century Heian Japan. He is famous for his military exploits and courage, and is regarded the common ancestor of the Ōshū branch of the Fujiwara clan, the Yūki, Oyama, and Shimokōbe families....

 of the Northern Fujiwara

Northern Fujiwara

The Northern Fujiwara were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region of Japan from the 12th to the 13th centuries as if it were their own realm. They succeeded the semi-independent Emishi families of the 11th century who were gradually brought down by the Minamoto clan loyal to the...

 branch. The clan was a powerful force in the Kantō region

Kanto region

The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....

 during the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 (794-1185). It bore no direct relation to the samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 Ashikaga clan

Ashikaga clan

The ' was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1336 to 1573.The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in Shimotsuke province .For about a century the clan was...

 which ruled Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate

Ashikaga shogunate

The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...

 from 1333 to 1587 and which was descended from the Minamoto clan

Minamoto clan

was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were demoted into the ranks of the nobility. The practice was most prevalent during the Heian Period , although its last occurrence was during the Sengoku Era. The Taira were another such offshoot of...

.

History

The clan was based in the city of Ashikaga

Ashikaga, Tochigi

is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Ashikaga is located north of Tokyo.As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 153,766, with a household number of 59,219, and a density of 864.73 persons per km²...

, in Shimotsuke province

Shimotsuke Province

is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...

, over which Fujiwara no Hidesato was Imperial Governor (kami). Ashikaga no Nariyuki was the first to take the Ashikaga name, after the city.

In 1161, the position of jitō

Jito

were medieval land stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura and Muromachi Shogunates. Appointed by the shogun, jitō managed manors including national holdings governed by the provincial governor ....

(manor lord) of Ashikaga

Ashikaga, Tochigi

is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Ashikaga is located north of Tokyo.As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 153,766, with a household number of 59,219, and a density of 864.73 persons per km²...

 city in Shimotsuke province

Shimotsuke Province

is an old province of Japan in the area of Tochigi Prefecture in the Kanto region. It was sometimes called or .The ancient capital of the province was near the city of Tochigi, but in feudal times the main center of the province was near the modern capital, Utsunomiya.-History:Different parts of...

 came to be disputed between the Koyama clan, descendants of Fujiwara no Hidesato, and Utsunomiya Ietsuna, a member of the Shiroi Utsunomiya clan, also descended from the Fujiwara, whose son Toshitsuna controlled several thousand hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s of land in that area. The dispute eventually ended in Hidesato's descendants being granted the post of shugo

Shugo

was a title, commonly translated as "Governor," given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan...

(shogunal governor) in the northern Kantō. The area soon came to be in dispute once again, between the Minamoto-descended Ashikaga clan (who took their name from the same city) and the Nitta clan, but this dispute ended when both clans, along with the Utsunomiya, joined Minamoto no Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199.-Early life and exile :Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, heir of the Minamoto clan, and his official wife, a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, who was a member of the...

 in the Genpei War

Genpei War

The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late-Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192....

 (1180-1185) against the Taira clan

Taira clan

The was a major Japanese clan of samurai in historical Japan.In reference to Japanese history, along with Minamoto, Taira was a hereditary clan name bestowed by the emperors of the Heian Period to certain ex-members of the imperial family when they became subjects...

.

Following the Genpei War, Yoritomo established the Kamakura shogunate

Kamakura shogunate

The Kamakura shogunate was a military dictatorship in Japan headed by the shoguns from 1185 to 1333. It was based in Kamakura. The Kamakura period draws its name from the capital of the shogunate...

, and the descendants of Ashikaga no Nariyuki, now known as the Sano, Ōgo, and Asonuma families, came to serve as direct vassals (gokenin

Gokenin

A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods. In exchange for protection and the right to become shugo or jitō , in times of peace a gokenin had the duty to protect the imperial court and Kamakura, in case of war had to fight with his forces under the...

) to the shogun.