Towards the end of the Kamakura Shogunate, some clans was resentful that they did not get any benefits after bravely fighting against the Mongols. They wanted to put emperor Go-Daigo back into power.
This attempt failed and the Ashikaga clan started ruling Japan.
Go-daigo supporters did not give up and fought against the Ashikaga shogunate that represented the North. This conflict, Nanbokucho war, lasted for 60 years: the longest war in Japan’s history.
The Onin war by Utagawa Yoshitora (1852).
This is the era when the influential samurai settled in as a noble class in Kyoto.
They engaged in many new kinds of arts and traditions including tea ceremony, ikebana, poetry, Noh performance, calligraphy, and sumi e.
During this period Kinkauji, ginkakuji and Ryoanji in addition to a number of zen gardens were built in Kyoto.
Tachi (longer swords with the curve close to the tip) were replaced by katana (shorter swords with the curve in the center) In the Muromachi era.
This period ended when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in 1573 and started ruling Japan. The next 30 years are called the Azuchi-Momoyama period.