Masanori Kusunoki

Japanese: 楠木正儀 - くすのき・まさのり

Years of birth: unknown. Third son of Kusunoki Masashige, a military commander during the Northern and Southern Courts period. In 1348, his elder brothers Masayuki and Masatoki were defeated in the Battle of Shijonawate in Kawachi Province (Osaka) and committed suicide. As the head of the Kusunoki clan, he governed the three provinces of Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi, and played a central role in the military power of the Southern Court. He fought against the Ashikaga side many times, aiming to recover Kyoto. In February of the leap year of 1352, after the Shohei unification, he entered Yamashiro Hachiman and defeated the army of Ashikaga Yoshiakira at Shichijo Omiya, recovering Kyoto, but the following month he was attacked by Yoshiakira's army, and the Southern Court army was forced to retreat to Tojo in Kawachi. The following year, he organized his forces and invaded Kyoto together with Ishido Yorifusa, but was defeated by Yoshiakira's army. In 1357, he was appointed Left Horse Chief by the Southern Court and became a key figure in the Southern Court, but he was attacked by Kawachi Shugo Hatakeyama Kunikiyo and others on the side of the shogunate, and left Akasaka (Chihaya, Minamikawachi County, Osaka Prefecture), the home of the Kusunoki clan. After this, Masanori worked on peace with the Northern Court on the Southern Court side, but was unsuccessful, and with the accession of Emperor Chokei (son of Emperor Gomurakami), a proponent of war, he surrendered to the shogunate through Hosokawa Yoriyuki in January 1369. After his surrender, Masanori was appointed Nakatsukasa Daiyu by the Northern Court and held important positions, but as Hosokawa Yoriyuki's status within the shogunate declined, his position also deteriorated, and finally, in the intercalary January of 1382, Masanori returned to the Southern Court. It is said that he was appointed as a councilor in the Southern Court, but his whereabouts after that are unknown, and it is only known that he died six or seven years after returning to the Southern Court.

(Masaaki Komori)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
南北朝期の武将,楠木正成の3男。貞和4/正平3(1348)年兄正行,正時が河内国(大阪)四条畷の戦で敗れ,自害したあと,楠木氏の棟梁として摂津,河内,和泉3国を司り,南朝方軍事力の中心として活動した。足利方としばしば戦い京都回復を目ざした。正平一統のあとの文和1/正平7(1352)年閏2月,山城八幡に入り七条大宮で足利義詮軍を敗走させ京都を回復するが,翌月には義詮軍の攻撃にあい,南朝軍は河内東条に退去を余儀なくされた。翌年,軍勢を整えて石塔頼房と共に京都に攻め入ったが義詮軍のため敗北した。延文2/正平12(1357)年には南朝より左馬頭に任じられ,南朝の重鎮となったが,幕府方の河内守護畠山国清らの攻撃を受け,楠木氏本貫の地・赤坂(大阪府南河内郡千早)を退去した。こののち正儀は南朝方として北朝との和平工作を進めたがうまくいかず,主戦論者の長慶天皇(後村上天皇の子)の即位などで,応安2/正平24(1369)年1月,細川頼之を通じ幕府方に投降した。投降後の正儀は,北朝より中務大輔に任じられ,重きをなしたが,幕府内での細川頼之の地位が低下するにつれ立場も悪化,ついに永徳2/弘和2(1382)年閏1月正儀は南朝に帰参した。南朝では参議に任じられたといわれているが,それ以降の消息は不明であり,帰参後6,7年で没したと伝えられるのみである。<参考文献>高柳光寿『足利尊氏』,小川信『細川頼之』

(小森正明)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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