The Time (1185-1568)
The Muromachi Shogunate: The decline of a powerful authority in Kyoto led to the rise of a powerful lord: Minamoto Yoritomo. He declared himself shogun and formally inaugurated Japan's feudal system, the shogunate (bakufu), in 1185. Minamoto set his capitol at Kamukura. The former imperial court remaoned in Kyoto, but only as powerless anachronisms.
The system worked for a while. However, all the Kamukura members were alleged decendants of Minamoto, which dispersed by 1333, when Emporer Go-Daigo attempted to take the kingdom back. This triggered an overthorw in the Kamukura shogunate.
A traitorous general, Ashikaga Takauji, established a new line, the Ashikaga shogunate, returning the capitol to Kyoto. It never ruled the whole country as the Kamukura regime did, though. In 1467 a power struggle broke out at Kyoto, and rebellion continued to erode the Ashikaga until 1578, when they fell. Called the Muromachi shogunate because the shogun's palace was in the Muromachi district of Kyoto. This is the stage of the Hakkenden.
Persons of Feudal Japan
Terms of Feudal Japan
The System of Feudalism in Ancient Japan
Maps of the Kanto and Surrounding Areas
All this info came from the wonderful Encarta 96 Encyclopedia