Few figures in Japanese history are as controversial as Ashikaga Takauji, a man whose actions brought down the Hojo Shikken, made the dream of Imperial restoration a reality and then tore down that dream in a war

SHOGUN 2 TOTAL WAR GROUP 将軍2
The Ashikaga clan
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, was of Seiwa Genji stock, the same branch of the Minamoto family that had produced Yoritomo. Minamoto Yoriyasu (? – 1157), grandson of Minamoto Yoshiie, had settled in 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 house). By 1331 the Ashikaga had grown and branched out, with Ashikaga lines to be found in Mutsu, Shimotsuke, Kozuke, Sagami, Mikawa, Mimasaka, and the Kinai region, under such later familiar names as Imagawa, Hosokawa, Hatakeyama, and 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.

In Spring 1333 Go-Daigo escaped exile on Oki Island and returned to the mainland, buoyed by the activities of Kusunoki Masashige, who presently holding off Bakufu troops at Chihaya fort, on Mt. Kongo. Determined to end this attempt at Imperial restoration once and for all, the Hojo Shikken, Takatoki ordered two powerful armies to join in the war. One of these hosts was under the control of Ashikaga Takauji, which departed from Kamakura, the other being led by a certain Nagaoshi Takaie. Loyalist samurai of the Akamatsu clan ambushed Nagaoshi's force and Nagaoshi himself was killed. This reverse left Takauji the most powerful Bakufu commander now operating in the field. Gathering up allies as he moved, Takauji arrived in Tamba, a province controlled by Takauji's relatives the Uesugi, at the beginning of June. At this point, Takauji probably could have added his men to those already pressing the loyalists and ended Go-Daigo's rebellion. Instead, Takauji declared for the Imperial cause and in mid-June attacked Kyoto.

In all probability, Takauji had planned on changing sides as soon as he received his orders to march west, in part due to perceived slights by the Hojo. His army was largely composed of warriors whose chiefs had familial ties to the Ashikaga and his decision to march straight to Tamba first was no doubt significant. The reasons Takauji had for rebellion ranged from personal ambition to a growing dislike of the Hojo: he came from a family with stronger blood then the Hojo and resented being treated like a vassal.