The principal deity is Kusunoki Masatsura (1326–1348), Masashige's eldest son — known as Ko-Nankō (the Little Nankō). After Masashige died at Minatogawa pledging "seven lives for the nation," Masatsura continued fighting for the Southern Court in fulfillment of his father's dying command: "Carry on my will and serve the Southern Court." Before the Battle of Shijōnawate in 1348, he famously scratched a farewell poem on the door of Nyoirinji Temple with an arrowhead. He fell at age 24 against Ko no Moronao's forces — his death remembered as the moment his father's spirit of loyal devotion passed from one generation to the next.