Final answer:
The Ōnin War, lasting from 1467 to 1477, was a destructive civil war during Japan's Muromachi period, leading to the fracturing of the country into warring states before the eventual unification under the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Ōnin War was a significant conflict that lasted from 1467 to 1477 during the Muromachi period in Japan. It marked a time of great turmoil and the onset of the Sengoku, or Warring States, period that eventually led to the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The war erupted due to a dispute over the shogunal succession and quickly evolved into a wider struggle for power among various daimyo, or feudal lords, fragmenting the country and setting the stage for a century of conflict.
Preceding the Ōnin War, the power struggles between the Taira and the Minamoto clans resulted in the Genpei War which gave rise to the Kamakura period, and subsequently, the ascendancy of the Minamoto clan marked by the Battle of Dannoura. The Muromachi period was followed by the Momoyama period, characterized by a transition towards grandiose art and intense daimyo rivalry, as vividly depicted in the opulent Momoyama paintings of castles, which were symbols of territorial control and might.
The Edo period brought stability to Japan after Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory at the Battle of Sekigahara. This period also marked an isolated Japan, known as sakoku, with strict foreign trade regulations and limited outside contact, a stark contrast to the prior centuries of internal conflict and regular engagement with foreign nations.