The Muromachi shogunate (1338 to 1573, when the last shogun was expelled from Kyoto) was also called the Ashikaga shogunate, but takes its usual name from the area in Kyoto where the Ashikaga shoguns had their headquarters after 1378. Although the Ashikaga removed the few remaining powers of the imperial court, they were unable to assert effective control over provincial samurai. Thus the period was one of accelerating decentralization with the shoguns no more powerful than their vassals on whose goodwill the shoguns increasingly relied. The dependence of the shogun on his retainers was demonstrated during the Onin War (1467-77) which left the shogun in control of little more than Kyoto city. Culturally, the Ashikaga were famous for their patronage of the arts and some of the most impressive Japanese art derives from this period.
