Ashikaga Takauji

That's the name of the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. (The name is pronounced Taka-u-ji, with emphasis on the U and all A sounds pronounced "ah".) A Shogun, which literally means "military commander", was a hereditary military governor in Japan and the de facto ruler of the country, despite officially being appointed by the emperor (Tenno, 天皇, "heavenly sovereign"), and a shogunate is a dynasty. The Ashikaga shogunate is also known as the Muromachi period of Japan, which followed the Kenmu Restoration.

Takauji's rule began in 1338 and ended with his death in 1358; he was a descendent of Emperor Seiwa, the 56th emperor of Japan. According to famous Zen master and intellectual Muso Soseki, Takauji had three qualities: First, he kept his cool in battle and was not afraid of death; second, he was merciful and tolerant, and third, he was very generous with those below him. It seems that Ashikaga Takauji was rarely called by name in contemporary chronicles, but referred to as "great shogun" (Ō-gosho, 大御所).

However, the man's reputation is not quite so clear-cut, for he based his shogunate on betrayal. Japan was in restless times, the Emperor Go-Daigo having been exiled from the imperial capital, and Takauji was sent by the Kamakura shogunate to quell the unrests in Kyoto as they reached the level of a civil war. Disillusioned with the Kamakura shogunate, Takauji joined forces with the banished emperor and began fighting against the shogunate. With the downfall of the shogunate, Emperor Go-Daiyo became the de facto ruler of Japan, beginning the Kenmu restoration. This was an attempt to bring the Imperial House back into power, thus restoring a civilian government after almost a century and a half of military rule, but the restoration failed rapidly. The samurai clans were unhappy with the reestablished imperial court, and Takauji switched his support from the emperor to the rebels, allying himself with several clans and seizing Kyoto with his forces. After Emperor Go-Daigo fled, Takauji installed Emperor Komyo on the throne and was soon named Shogun.

This had the result that there were two emperors at once - Emperor Go-Daigo in the Southern Court, and Emperor Komyo in the Northern Court. This came about because after fleeing Kyoto, a very weakened Go-Daigo agreed to a cease-fire and handed over the Imperial Regalia to Ashikaga. Once he was safely esconced in Yoshino, Go-Daigo loudly claimed that the Imperial Regalia Ashikaga had used to enthrone Komyo were in fact forgeries, meaning that Komyo wasn't in fact the legitimate successor to the throne. The Southern Court is considered the legitimate sovereignty, but later Japanese sovereigns were descended from the Northern Court, which is also known as the "Ashikaga Pretenders". (The current Japanese imperial family is descended from the Northern Court.)

Takauji himself is one of the most controversial figures of Japanese history, often seen either as a great soldier and a charismatic leader or a traitor, opportunist, and villain. You can read a thorough and extremely interesting account of the battles, political situations and people the man found himself surrounded by here, and while his shogunate was one of the weakest in Japanese history, Takauji is considered one of Japan's greatest samurai figures.

Also, his name is AWESOME, and the entire reason why I started reading up on him to begin with.