Kusunoki Masashige

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Kusunoki Masashige Senior First Rank
楠木 正成
Portrait of Kusunoki Masashige by Kanō Sanraku, c. before 1635
Born	1294
Died	4 July 1336(1336-07-04) (aged 41–42)
Resting place	Kanshin-ji
Monuments	Hōken-tō Various statues
Other names	Dai Nankō, Hyōe-no-Jō, Saemon-no-Jō, Jō
Occupation	Samurai
Known for	Overthrowing the Kamakura shogunate, ideal samurai loyalty

Kusunoki Masashige (楠木 正成, 1294 – 4 July 1336) was a Japanese military commander and samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal loyal samurai.

Kusunoki fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and restore power in Japan to the Imperial Court. Kusunoki was a leading figure of the Kenmu Restoration in 1333, and remained loyal to the unpopular Emperor Go-Daigo after Ashikaga Takauji began to reverse the restoration in the Nanboku-chō wars three years later. Kusunoki attacked Takauji in Settsu at the command of the Emperor, an act of obedience sure to result in defeat, and died at the Battle of Minatogawa in 1336.

Kusunoki became a popular legend in Japan representing loyalty and virtue, and associated with the phrase "Would that I had seven lives to give for my country!" (七生報國; "Shichishō Hōkoku!"). Kusunoki was posthumously awarded the highest court rank in Japan, Senior First Rank (shō ichi-i), by the Meiji government in 1880, over 500 years after his death. He was highly evaluated as "Japan's three loyal retainers" along with Fujifusa Madenokoji and Taira no Shigemori.