Kojima Takanori

Kojima Takanori is held to have been a samurai of the Nanboku-chō period. He is described as a man of Bizen Province, from Oku District. His dates of birth and death are unknown.

The Taiheiki account and his historicity

Takanori's deeds appear only in the Taiheiki. It records that he followed the procession carrying Emperor Go-Daigo into exile on the Oki Islands and tried to seize him back, but failed. Some hold that he did not exist, while others accept that he did. One theory identifies him with "Kojima Hōshi," named as the author of the Taiheiki in the diary Tōin Kimitada-ki, but this identification is not settled. Dictionaries disagree on the name of his father.

The poem 「天莫空勾践」

At the imperial lodging at In no Shō in Mimasaka (present-day Tsuyama), he is said to have carved a ten-character verse on a cherry tree: 「天莫レ空二勾践一、時非レ無二范蠡一」 (Heaven, do not leave Goujian empty-handed; the age is not without a Fan Li).

Later reputation

The episode spread through national textbooks, and under imperial-state ideology he was promoted as a model of loyalty.

Commemoration

The In-no-shō Yakata Ruins (Tsuyama, Kanbe) are a national historic site. On the ruins stands Sakura Shrine, founded in 1869 (Meiji 2).