Kusunoki Masanori

Kusunoki Masanori (楠木 正儀, 1333 – 1390) was a samurai who fought for the Southern Court in Japan's Nanboku-chō Wars, and is famed for his skills as a leader and military strategist, though he later sought a diplomatic solution and was regarded a traitor by many of his comrades. He was the brother of Kusunoki Masatsura and Kusunoki Masatoki, and son of Kusunoki Masashige.

Kusunoki Masanori 楠木 正儀
In Meiyo Sanjūroggassen by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Born	1333
Died	1390 (aged 56–57)
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	samurai

Military career

Alongside his brother Masatsura,

Following the death of his brothers at the 1348

In 1369, after taking Kyoto and being forced out for the fourth time, Masanori gave up, and sought a diplomatic solution; however, despite the looming defeat of the Southern Court, his allies behaved in the negotiations as though they had the upper hand, and the shogunate (the Northern Court) was suing for peace. As a result, the shogunate representatives quickly grew impatient and nonplussed, and rejected the negotiations outright. Considered a traitor by his family and Southern Court sympathizers at Court, Masanori continued along his path nevertheless, weary of battle and uncaring as to the opinions of those who had not laid their own lives on the line in battle year after year.[1]^: 108

Peace agreements were reached soon afterwards, largely as a result of the mutual respect garnered by Masanori and Hosokawa Yoriyuki, a shogunate official, for one another. Though this peace would prove temporary and unstable, it marked the end of Masanori's time as a strategist and general.

Surviving documents in the Tannowa collection reveal that Kusunoki Masanori was left-handed.

References

• Tannowa Collection: The Kyoto Princeton Project