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

Kusunoki Masatsura

, along with his father Masashige and brother Masanori, was a supporter of the Southern Imperial Court during Japan's Nanbokucho Wars.Masatsura was one of the primary military leaders who revived the Southern Court in the 1340s...

 and son of Kusunoki Masashige

Kusunoki Masashige

was a 14th century samurai who fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in his attempt to wrest rulership of Japan away from the Kamakura shogunate and is remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty.-Tactician:...

.

Alongside his brother Masatsura, Nitta Yoshisada

Nitta Yoshisada

was the head of the Nitta family in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period, capturing Kamakura from the Hōjō clan in 1333....

 and a number of other great generals, he battled the Ashikaga forces in Kamakura, and a number of other occasions, including the defense of Kyoto; he also headed for a time the loyalist base at Tōjō

Tojo, Hyogo

was a town located in Katō District, Hyōgo, Japan.On March 20, 2006 Tōjō was merged with the towns of Takino and Yashiro, all from Katō District, to form the new city of Katō....

 in Kawachi province

Kawachi Province

was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province...

.

Following the death of his brother at the 1348 battle of Shijōnawate, Masanori continued to oppose the armies of the Northern Court

Northern Court (Japan)

The , also known as the "Ashikaga Pretenders" or "Northern Pretenders", were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392...

, Ashikaga clan

Ashikaga clan

The ' was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1336 to 1573.The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga in Shimotsuke province .For about a century the clan was...

 pretenders to the throne. In 1353, as Yamana Tokiuji, a recent convert to the loyalist cause, approached the capital, Masanori led a force to seize certain neighboring areas such as Tennōji

Tennoji-ku, Osaka

is one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan. It is named after the Shitennō-ji , which is located in the ward.-General information:...

 and Yahata, while other forces mobilized in other directions. In July of that year, he pressed north from Yahata, towards Kyoto, burning towns as he went, while Yamana approached from Nishiyama to the west of the city. Though they managed to seize the capital, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira

Ashikaga Yoshiakira

was the 2nd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1358 to 1367 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshiakira was the son of the founder and first shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Ashikaga Takauji....

 escaped, and the loyalists were driven from the city the following month. Regrouping and continuing the war, Masanori fought Yoshiakira again two years later, at Kaminami, just west of Yamazaki, where both sides suffered heavy losses, and Masanori and Yamana were eventually forced to retreat.

Several years later, Masanori defended the fortress at Akasaka

Chihayaakasaka, Osaka

is a village located in Minamikawachi District, Osaka, Japan.As of 2009, the village has an estimated population of 6,131 and a population density of 164 persons per km². The total area is 37.38 km²....

, his father's birthplace, but ultimately withdrew; the fact that he was not pursued, and that the Northern Court army did not engage in further actions in the nearby areas immediately afterwards is noted as strange by George Bailey Sansom

George Bailey Sansom

Sir George Bailey Sansom was a historian of pre-modern Japan particularly noted for his historical surveys and attention to Japanese society....

, but he offers no explanation.

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.

Peace agreements were reached soon afterwards, largely as a result of the mutual respect garnered by Masanori and Hosokawa Yoriyuki

Hosokawa Yoriyuki

was a samurai of the Hosokawa clan, and prominent government minister under the Ashikaga shogunate, serving as Kyoto Kanrei from 1367 to 1379. The first to hold this post, he solidified the power of the shogunate, as well as elements of its administrative organization...

, 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.