The Hosokawa clan was one family within the Ashikaga clan and, during the battles with the Southern Court, was ordered by the Ashikaga Shogunate to support the Northern Court; in Kanno Disturbance, which was an internal struggle within the Ashikaga clan, the Hosokawas sided with Takauji ASHIKAGA, the seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians").
足利氏の一門である細川氏は、南朝(日本)との戦いでは北朝を擁する足利幕府に従い、足利家の内紛である観応の擾乱では征夷大将軍足利尊氏に属する。