Kusunoki Masashige

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Statue of Kusunoki Masahige near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
Statue of Masashige Kusunoki

Kusunoki Masashige ( Japanese 楠木 正 成 ; * 1294 in Akasaka, Kawachi Province (today: Chihaya-Akasaka , Osaka Prefecture ); † July 5, 1336 on the Minato River ) was a Japanese samurai who worked for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War fought. During the nationalistically exaggerated Meiji and Taishō period in the 19th and early 20th centuries, he was stylized as a national hero who sacrifices himself in a hopeless situation for the emperor.

Life

Portrait of Kusunoki Masashige. Drawn by Kanō Sanraku

Kusunoki Masashige was educated in a Buddhist monastery and owned a castle on Mount Congo. He was a scion of the once powerful Tachibana clan . Since he was not a vassal of the ruling Shogun , he immediately joined the Emperor Go-Daigo when the latter fought against the Shogunate ( Genkō War ).

Go-Daigo was captured during the rebellion and banished to the Oki Islands , which are 80 kilometers off the coast of Honshū . Kusunoki was then militarily locked in his castle. He ordered his people to dig a hole where all soldiers who had fallen so far would be burned. Kusunoki and his followers disguised themselves and were able to flee from the warriors of Bakufu in smaller groups . However, Bakufu troops believed the cremated bodies were Kusunoki and his fighters.

However, Kusunoki Masashige and his people began raiding small Bakufu groups. High rewards were offered on Kusunoki's head and the head of Prince Morinaga (son of Emperor Go-Daigo).

The greatest battle took place in 1333. According to tradition, about 100,000 men tried to take the fortress Chihaya, where Kusunoki and 2000 warriors were. Kusunoki used his fortress to repel attacks by the Bakufu for several weeks with traps, felled trees and protective walls. During this time, Kusunoki's warriors built several human-like clay figures that they set up one night. They put them in front of the fortress and behind it the best archers. The Bakufu were deceived by this ruse and lost over 300 warriors. Kusunoki held the fortress for about 10 weeks, while Go-Daigo was able to leave the island by boat.

The Bakufu sent Ashikaga Takauji west with a large army. However, he switched to Go-Daigo. On June 19, 1333 they entered Kyoto and defeated the Bakufu there. The military government now had to give up the siege of the Chihaya fortress. So Go-Daigo was reinstated as emperor and gave his son, Prince Morinaga, the title of Shogun .

Go-Daigo did not care enough about his samurai, especially Takauji, in the reign that followed. This no longer followed the orders of Go-Daigo and appointed himself Shogun. In 1336 he defeated an army sent by the emperor, but was later routed by Kusunoki. Takauji fled and began to build a new army, with which he again moved against the emperor in May 1336. On July 5, 1336, the decisive battle at Minatogawa took place . 35,000 Ashikaga fighters faced around 17,000 Go Daigo warriors. The imperial army was divided into two parts. One part suddenly withdrew, so that Kusunoki was on his own. Attacked from two sides, Kusunoki's men tried desperately to defend themselves until that evening the army was almost completely wiped out and Kusunoki was badly wounded.

After the battle, Kusunoki Masashige and his brother Masasue retired to a farm. They performed seppuku there . His legendary last words are said to be Shichisei Hokoku! (七 生 報國; "If only I had seven lives that I could give for my emperor !"). In his honor, the Nanko-San Temple was built on the spot where he died.

The story of Ashikaga Takauji, Emperor Go-Daigo, Nitta Yoshisada and Kusunoki Masashige from the Genko Rebellion to the establishment of the Northern and Southern Imperial Courts are detailed in the forty-volume epic Taiheiki .

legacy

In Kobe , the Minatogawa shrine was dedicated to him. He is also featured on the Japanese Wound Medal.

During the nationalistically exaggerated Meiji and Taishō period he was stylized as a national hero who - loyal to the emperor - sacrifices himself in a hopeless situation for him ( jibakutei ). In 1944/1945 he therefore became the “patron saint” of the Kamikaze pilots.

In the mobile game Rise of Kingdoms he is an unlockable commander.

literature

  • Hermann Bohner : About the Japanese national hero. Osaka 1955. Full text
  • Till Weber: Kusunoki Masahige - Japan strange hero. In: OAG Notes. Full text (PDF; 2.8 MB)
  • Further information : Josef Roggendorf, Koike Kenji [ ex. ]: Kusunoki Masahige. Excerpt from the Taiheki. In: Monumenta Nipponica , Vol. 4 (1941, Jan.), No. 1, pp. 133-165. [The Taiheiki always cum grano sali .]
  • Ivan Morris: Samurai or On the Dignity of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1999.

Web links

Commons : Kusunoki Masashige  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. cf. e.g. Jonathan Clements: A Brief History of the Samurai. 2013.