The Ashikaga family produced a great many branch families from the end of the Heian period through the Kamakura period. These branch families can be broadly divided into two groups according to their character. One group comprised families such as the Kira, the Shiba, and the Momonoi, who became independent gokenin serving the Kamakura shogunate in the same way as the main family but possessing different territories. The other group comprised families such as the Nikki who remained under the protection of the main house, from whom they received their lands, and were in effect little better than vassals. In this way, relationships of the Ashikaga family developed during the Kamakura period had a lot of influence in various fields in the subsequent Nanbokucho period.

国史
第五〇巻記念号