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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Tachibana Dosetsu
Tachibana Dōsetsu is the name by which Hetsugi Akitsura is more widely known; the name of this lineage is also found read as Hekki or Bekki. For a long period, Akitsura served the Ōtomo clan, the daimyō of Bungo Province, and took part in wars against the Ōuchi family, the principal enemies of the Ōtomo in northwestern Kyushu. In the 1560s, Akitsura seized the castle of the Tachibana clan, which had rebelled against the Ōtomo, and thereafter adopted the surname Tachibana. Around the same time, he took Buddhist vows and assumed the name Dōsetsu, which means “Snowy Road.”
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Taira no Masakado
Taira no Masakado embodied the quintessential samurai of his era—self-assured, harsh, and unyielding. In his youth, he served in the palace guard and repeatedly proved his bravery while suppressing unrest. Thanks to these achievements, Masakado sought the post of chief of the capital’s military-police office (the kebiishi-chō), but he was rejected: by that time, nearly all court positions—now little more than privileged sinecures—were controlled by members of the powerful Fujiwara clan.
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Sakakibara Yasumasa
Yasumasa was the second son of Sakakibara Nagamasa and was born in Ueno in Mikawa Province. From a young age, he began serving Tokugawa Ieyasu and eventually rose to the position of one of his most trusted generals. His wife was the daughter of Osuga Yasutaka. Ieyasu first noticed the young Yasumasa during the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa in 1564. Thanks to his demonstrated abilities, Yasumasa was granted the privilege of using the character “yasu”—the second character of Ieyasu’s own name—in his own. Although he was the second child in his family, he became his father’s heir, though the exact reasons for this remain unknown.
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Sakai Tadatsugu
Tadatsugu was one of the most renowned generals serving Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Ieyasu broke ties with the Imagawa clan, Tadatsugu—an ardent supporter of this decision—was granted command of Yoshida Castle in 1565, which controlled the coastal road from Tōtomi to Mikawa. During the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, he held the right flank of the Tokugawa forces even when the troops sent by Oda fled under the assault of the Takeda army. In the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, he personally requested permission to carry out a night attack on the Takeda camp, which he executed brilliantly together with Kanamori Nagachika.
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Ryuzoji Takanobu
Takanobu was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Takaie and the great-grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane. His father was killed by a man named Baba Yoritiku in 1544. At a young age, Takanobu took Buddhist vows and received the monastic name Engetsu. However, around the age of eighteen, he returned to secular life, and in 1548, after the death of Ryūzōji Tanehide, he became the head of both branches of the Ryūzōji family.
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Ouchi Yoshihiro
Ōuchi Yoshihiro was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, who headed the Ōuchi clan in the western part of Honshu. In 1363, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu confirmed the Ōuchi family in the position of shugo of Suō and Nagato Provinces. In his youth, Yoshihiro assisted his father in strengthening the influence of the Northern Court on the island of Kyushu — they served under Imagawa Ryōsun, who had been tasked with subjugating the nine provinces of Kyushu.
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Ouchi Yoshioki
Ouchi Yoshioki, the ruler of the provinces of Suo, Nagato, and Iwami, was one of the most capable military commanders and politicians of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The son of Ouchi Masahiro, he governed from his residence in Yamaguchi in the province of Suo. In 1499, Yoshioki gave refuge to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane, who had been driven out of Kyoto by Hosokawa Masamoto. Shogun Yoshizumi, Masamoto’s protégé, ordered the lords of Kyushu to unite their forces against Yoshioki; however, they did not dare to do so, fearing the power of a man who by that time controlled six provinces. Having gathered a substantial army, Yoshioki marched from his native Suo toward Kyoto in order to restore Shogun Yoshitane to power.
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Otomo Sorin
Ōtomo Yoshishige came from a noble lineage, being the eldest son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki, the ruler of Funai Province. The roots of the Ōtomo family traced back to Fujiwara Hidesato, the adopted son of Nakahara Chikayoshi. Fujiwara served Minamoto Yoritomo during the Genpei War and took part in battles in Mutsu Province in 1189. In 1193, he was appointed shugo of Buzen and Bungo Provinces, after which he adopted a new surname—Ōtomo.
