The island nation of Nihon had been, for a few hundred years now, ruled over by the Ashikaga Shogunate, a military government that bypassed the Emperor’s divine authority entirely. With the breakdown of communications due to the War In Heaven, however, it became impossible for the shogunate to govern. In 1454, a local lord, Noritada Uesugi, was killed by a member of the shogun’s family, Shigeuji Ashikaga. Other local lords leapt to the defense of one man or the other, often drawing their battle lines based on pre-existing alliances. When all was said and done, the fighting engulfed the entire country, and many minor clans started scrambling to take the throne of the Shogunate. The Warring States Period had begun in earnest.