Ashina Clan

The Ashina clan (蘆名氏), a Japanese clan of the Sengoku period, is descended from the Taira clan through the Miura clan. The kanji characters 芦名 and 葦名 are also sometimes used.

The name comes from the area named "Ashina" in Yokosuka City, modern Kanagawa Prefecture.

The clan has two branches, Sagami-Ashina (相模蘆名氏?) and Aizu-Ashina (会津蘆名氏). The first one is founded when the third son of Yoshitsugu Miura adopts the name "Ashina".

The second is descended from Yoshitsuru Sawara, the seventh son of Yoshiaki Miura. However, this genealogy is not unanimously accepted by the specialists.

During the Muromachi period, the clan claimed the position of shugo of the Aizu domain. In 1589, the clan was severely defeated by Date Masamune at the battle of Suriagehara, a defeat which led to the disappearance of the clan.

The Ashina play an important role in Fūtarō Yamada's novel Yagyu Ninpocho where, following their defeat by Masamune, they disappear only to reappear years later as ninjas in the service of the daimyo of the Aizu domain.

The clan has absolutely nothing to do with the Ashina tribe which was the name that the Chinese gave to the Köktürks, the ancestors of the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia.

The Ashina clan is represented in the video game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice released on March 22, 2019.