This week's episode is brought to you by Wink.

Now, I hesitate to reveal this to you all, but I am a distinctly unclassy person.

Wine in particular has always mystified me.

But thanks to the fine folks at Wink, I no longer have to be such a de-classé fellow.

They will curate fine wines for you based on your responses to a simple questionnaire and

ship them right to your doorstop at fantastic prices.

Now I can pretend to be a far classier person than I actually am and impress all my friends

with my sophisticated wine tastes, and you can too.

Wink is offering listeners for the podcast a $22 discount.

Just use offer code History of Japan.

That's one word, History of Japan at checkout,

or use the link at my website, isaacmyer.net.

Check it out, have a bottle, and crack it open while you listen.

We can be classy folks together.

Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast, Episode 276, The House of Cards, Part 4. We left off our narrative of the history of the Muromachi period with the assassination of

Ashkaga Yoshinori in 1441 at the hands of one of his Shugo lords.

That Shugo was eventually killed in retaliation himself, of course, but the very fact that

the Shogun had been murdered by one of his nominally loyal subjects was, well, troubling

to say the least, in terms of the long-term prospects of the

Ashkaga government.

Nor did his successors do much to inspire confidence.

The reins of power were promptly handed over to Yoshinori's eldest son, Yoshikatsu,

...