Nawa Nagahiro

Nawa Nagatoshi (birth year unknown–1336) was a powerful feudal lord of Hoki Province (present-day Tottori Prefecture) who played a decisive role in Emperor Go-Daigo's movement to overthrow the Kamakura Shogunate (the Genko Incident). He contributed to the destruction of the Kamakura Shogunate and the realization of the Kemmu Restoration, leaving his name in history as a warrior symbolizing the dawn of the Northern and Southern Courts period.

In 1332, Emperor Go-Daigo was exiled to Oki Island (Shimane Prefecture) by the Kamakura Shogunate. The following year, 1333, the Emperor escaped from the island. Nagatoshi received the imperial party at Senjo-zan (in present-day Daisen-cho, Tottori Prefecture) and, while protecting them from the pursuing shogunate forces, raised the banner of overthrowing the shogunate. This action, known as the Battle of Senjo-zan, became a turning point in Emperor Go-Daigo's overthrow movement. Nagatoshi's decision was critically important in securing a base from which the Emperor could issue an imperial decree to warriors across the country calling for the shogunate's destruction.

Subsequently, with the contributions of Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and others, the Kamakura Shogunate fell (1333), and Emperor Go-Daigo's "Kemmu Restoration" began. Nagatoshi was highly valued in this new government, receiving the rank of Governor of Hoki and further enhancing his military reputation. However, when Ashikaga Takauji rebelled due to warrior discontent with the new government, Nagatoshi continued fighting as a mainstay of the imperial (Southern Court) forces. In 1336, he fought against the Ashikaga forces that entered Kyoto following the Battle of Minatogawa in the streets of Kyoto. He fell in battle near Ichijo-Omiya in June of that year. His age at death is unknown, but he maintained his loyalty to Emperor Go-Daigo until the very end.

Nagatoshi's loyalty was highly esteemed by later generations, and in the Meiji period he was posthumously awarded the Junior First Rank. Nawa Shrine, dedicated to Nagatoshi, still stands in Daisen-cho, Tottori Prefecture, where he is reverently venerated as "the loyal retainer who defended Senjo-zan." He is often spoken of alongside Kusunoki Masashige and Nitta Yoshisada as one of the "three loyal retainers" of the Northern and Southern Courts period, and his name is remembered in sword history as one of the warriors who rode across battlefields wielding the Japanese sword.