Ashikaga

City, Tochigi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is located on the Watarase River. Ashikaga Takauji, who established the Ashikaga shogunate in the 14th century, was born there. Ashikaga was a post town on the Nikko Highway during the Tokugawa era (1603 - 1867). It was a dyeing and weaving centre for several centuries, and after the national railway was opened in 1867 it flourished as a textile