With the fall of the Kamakura government, a new feudal government was established at Muromachi in Kyoto in 1336. The shogun led an extravagant life, building villas like the Golden and Silver Pavilions and the rock garden at Ryoanji Temple, which are still major attractions today. It was a time also of newfound cultural pursuits, with Noh drama, the tea ceremony, flower arranging and landscape gardening becoming the rage of the privileged class. In the provinces, however, trouble brewed as feudal lords vied for power, eventually erupting into civil wars that consumed the nation for more than a century. Mighty castles mushroomed throughout the land, built by feudal lords not only for defense but as a symbol of military strength and power.
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