The Muromachi period (also known as the Muromachi era, the Ashikaga era, or the Ashikaga period) is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573.

The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (Muromachi bakufu or Ashikaga bakufu), which is officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu Restoration (1333–36) of imperial rule was brought to a close.

The period ends in 1573 when the fifteenth and last shogun of this line, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, is driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga.From a cultural perspective, the period can be divided into the Kitayama and Higashiyama periods (later fifteenth – early sixteenth).The early years from 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period are known as the Nanboku-chō or Northern and Southern Court period.

This period is marked by the continued resistance of the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo, the emperor behind the Kenmu Restoration.

The years from 1465 to the end of the Muromachi period are also known as the Sengoku period or Warring States period.