Which 1573 event ended the Ashikaga shogunate’s effective control of Japan?

Oda Nobunaga’s expulsion of Ashikaga Yoshiaki from Kyoto in 1573 ended the Ashikaga shogunate’s effective control of Japan.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki became shogun in 1568 with support from Oda Nobunaga, but the alliance deteriorated. Yoshiaki gathered support from several rivals, while Nobunaga sought to control Kyoto and the shogun’s political network. In 1573, Nobunaga forced Yoshiaki out of the capital and removed him from power.

The Ashikaga family continued to exist, but Yoshiaki’s expulsion marked the practical end of the Muromachi shogunate. Japan then entered a period of intensified conflict among regional warlords. Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu later became the three major unifiers associated with the transition toward centralized rule.

This event differs from the Honnō-ji Incident of 1582, which ended Nobunaga’s life rather than the Ashikaga shogunate.