Kusunoki Masashige was, without exaggeration, a genius of guerrilla warfare. If not for this talented commander, Emperor Go-Daigo would likely have failed not only to ascend the throne, but even to put up any real resistance against the powerful Hojo clan.
Very little is known about his life before 1331; he was probably one of the akuto—“lawless men,” as semi-bandit samurai gangs terrorizing villages and small towns in the late 13th century were called. When the emperor summoned him, Masashige had no army, no money, and no public support. Nevertheless, this was when he began his brilliant military career—by defending the fortress of Akasaka. This wooden fort surrounded by a palisade became the first serious obstacle for the Hojo shogunate’s army: several thousand samurai from the eastern provinces surrounded only 200 of Masashige’s men and launched an assault.
The defenders showered them with arrows and forced them to retreat. When the Hojo samurai paused to rest, 300 cavalrymen from an ambush unit suddenly attacked and drove them away from the fortress walls. The next day brought another assault, but as soon as the attackers climbed onto the fence, it collapsed under them—the wall had been built as a decoy in advance by Masashige.
Realizing that direct attacks were too costly, the Hojo forces decided to starve the defenders out, especially since Masashige had only a few days’ worth of supplies left. But something unexpected happened: right before the astonished besiegers, the fortress burst into flames. The defenders themselves set it on fire and slipped away into the night, spreading rumors of Masashige’s death. The bakufu believed he had died for half a year, until spring 1332, when he suddenly reappeared—under the walls of the very same fortress.
This time he seized it through trickery: his men disguised themselves as food carriers, were allowed inside, then drew their weapons and opened the gates. Winning over the commander, Masashige gathered 700 men and launched a swift raid across two central provinces, attracting new samurai. After assembling a force of 2,000 soldiers, he crushed a government army of 5,000 near the Tennōji temple, using one of the oldest tactics—luring the enemy into an ambush with a small cavalry detachment.
In the fall of 1332, Masashige fortified himself in the Chihaya fortress on Mount Kongo. Though similar in size to Akasaka, it had a key advantage—water sources and large food reserves. The bakufu brought in the best samurai from the Kanto region to besiege it. For three months the fierce siege continued: Masashige repelled several assaults, burned a huge siege ladder thrown across a narrow ravine, and launched a desperate night sortie, killing many enemies.
The siege of Chihaya was the final blow to the Hojo’s power—its besieging army soon scattered. As soon as he emerged from the siege, Masashige gathered 7,000 men and escorted the emperor, returned from exile, back to the capital.
In 1335 Ashikaga Takauji revolted against the emperor and seized Kyoto. Masashige, fighting with smaller forces, won a victory but then pretended to retreat, again spreading rumors of his death. Takauji’s army split up to pursue the “fugitives” and was defeated in parts. When Takauji returned half a year later, the experienced commander was once again summoned to court.
True to his guerrilla methods, Masashige advised the emperor to take refuge in the Enryakuji temple, allow the Ashikaga army into the capital, and then trap it there by cutting off supplies. But the courtiers insisted to Go-Daigo that “though the bandits’ army is large and strong, the imperial forces have the help of heaven and will drive the enemy away.” At this, Masashige exclaimed bitterly, “If things have come to this, what is there left to argue or advise!” He left the court and began preparing for death.
In the Battle of Minatogawa he fought to the end but, surrounded, committed seppuku. Despite the fact that his image was heavily used in militarist propaganda from 1868 until the end of World War II, Kusunoki Masashige remains, perhaps, one of the most admirable figures in Japanese history.
See also
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Takeda Nobuyoshi
Takeda Nobuyoshi (1128–1186 or later) was a prominent Japanese samurai lord of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods and the founder of the Takeda clan.
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Tokugawa Iemochi
Tokugawa Iemochi (1846–1866) was the fourteenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1858 until his death. His reign came during the turbulent final years of the shogunate, when Japan faced growing Western pressure and serious internal political conflict.
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Tokugawa Ienari
Tokugawa Ienari (1773–1841) was the eleventh shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and ruled from 1787 to 1837, making him the longest-serving Tokugawa shōgun. He was a great-grandson of the eighth shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune.
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Matsudaira Nobuyasu
Matsudaira Nobuyasu was only twenty years old when his father ordered him to commit seppuku. The reason was not a defeat in battle, but a crisis inside the Tokugawa family that had become too dangerous to ignore.
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Yamagata Masakage
Masakage was one of Takeda Shingen’s most loyal and capable commanders. He was included in the famous list of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen” and also belonged to the inner circle of four especially trusted warlords known as the Shitennō.
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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyū Munenori began his service under Tokugawa Ieyasu while his father, Yagyū Muneyoshi, was still at his side. In 1600, Munenori took part in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. As early as 1601, he was appointed a kenjutsu instructor to Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasu’s son, who later became the second shogun of the Tokugawa clan.
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Yagyu Muneyoshi
A samurai from Yamato Province, he was born into a family that had been defeated in its struggle against the Tsutsui clan. Muneyoshi first took part in battle at the age of sixteen. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was forced to enter the service of the Tsutsui house and later served Miyoshi Tōkei. He subsequently came under the command of Matsunaga Hisahide and in time became a vassal first of Oda and later of Toyotomi.
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Endo Naozune
Naozune served under Azai Nagamasa and was one of the clan’s leading vassals, renowned for his bravery and determination. He accompanied Nagamasa during his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga and at that time asked for permission to kill Nobunaga, fearing him as an extremely dangerous man; however, Nagamasa did not grant this request.
