The Kusunoki clan

A local lord who was active from the end of the Kamakura period to the Nanboku-cho civil war, mainly based in Akasaka Village (Minamikawachi County, Osaka Prefecture) at the foot of Mount Kongo in Kawachi. His name is also written as "Kusunoki." He had close ties with Kanshin-ji Temple and Kongo-ji Temple, and participated in Emperor Godaigo's plan to overthrow the shogunate through Monkan. He controlled important transportation hubs such as Shinkai-no-sho, Ureshi-sho, and Tamagushi-sho in Kawachi Province, and established branch clans such as the Wada (also called Mikita), Hashimoto, and Jinguji in various parts of Kawachi and Izumi. They held the mining rights for cinnabar (a raw material for mercury) produced in the Akasaka area, and accumulated wealth by selling it to Nara, Kyoto, and other places. They were connected to local lords in Kawachi, Izumi, Settsu, and even the Kamishima clan of Iga through marriage and commercial activities, and had a wide area of ​​western Kinai as their sphere of activity. Although they were just a local lord in Kawachi, they used the division of labor and distribution routes as a medium to quickly obtain extremely accurate information and use it as a guide for their actions, and they were almost always active as a powerful group of warriors on the side of the Southern Court.

[Kazuhiko Sato]

"The Northern and Southern Courts" by Nakamura Naokatsu (1922, Oyorikaku)" ▽ "A Study of the Kusunoki Clan" by Fujita Seiichi (1933, Sekizenkan)" ▽ "The Southern and Northern Courts" by Hayashiya Tatsusaburo (1957, Sogensha)" ▽ "The Turmoil of the Northern and Southern Courts" by Sato Shinichi (1965, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" ▽ "The Southern and Northern Courts Civil War" by Sato Kazuhiko (Japanese History 11, 1974, Shogakukan)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鎌倉末期から南北朝内乱期にかけて河内(かわち)金剛(こんごう)山の麓(ふもと)赤坂(あかさか)村（大阪府南河内郡）を中心に蟠踞(ばんきょ)し活躍した土豪。「楠」とも書く。観心(かんしん)寺、金剛寺などと深い関係をもち、文観(もんかん)を媒介として、後醍醐(ごだいご)天皇の討幕計画に参加。河内国新開荘(しんかいのしょう)、宇礼志(うれし)荘、玉櫛(たまぐし)荘など交通の要衝の地を支配下に置き、河内、和泉(いずみ)の各地に、和田(にぎた、あるいは、みきた)氏、橋本氏、神宮寺(じんぐうじ)氏などの支族を扶植させた。赤坂一帯に産する辰砂(しんしゃ)（水銀の原料）の採掘権をもち、それを奈良、京都などに売りさばいて富を蓄積した。河内、和泉、摂津、さらには伊賀の上島(かみしま)氏などの各地土豪層と、婚姻関係や商業活動を通じて結び付き、畿内(きない)西部の広範な地域を行動半径としていた。河内の一土豪でありながら、分業・流通ルートを媒介として、きわめて正確な情報を迅速に把握して行動の指針となし、ほぼ一貫して南朝方の有力武士団として活躍した。

［佐藤和彦］

『中村直勝著『南北朝』（1922・大鎧閣）』▽『藤田精一著『楠氏研究』（1933・積善館）』▽『林屋辰三郎著『南北朝』（1957・創元社）』▽『佐藤進一著『南北朝の動乱』（1965・中央公論社）』▽『佐藤和彦著『南北朝内乱』（『日本の歴史11』1974・小学館）』

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