Nitta Yoshisada in the context of "Kenmu Restoration"

The 1333 siege of Kamakura was a battle of the Genkō War, and marked the end of the power of the Hōjō clan, which had dominated the regency of the Kamakura shogunate for over a century. Forces loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo and led by Nitta Yoshisada entered the city from multiple directions and destroyed it; in the end, the Hōjō leaders retreated to Tōshō-ji, the Hōjō family temple, where they committed suicide with the rest of the clan.

The 1337 siege of Kanegasaki (金ヶ崎の戦い, Kanegasaki no Tatakai) was the final battle for the Nitta family in their support of the Southern Imperial Court against the Ashikaga Pretenders of the Northern Court.

Nitta Yoshisada's fortress at Kanegasaki was besieged for three months by forces in support of Ashikaga Takauji. Nitta's ally Uryū Tamotsu was forced back to the fortress of Somayama in March 1337, and Nitta Yoshisada joined him there soon afterwards, hoping to lead a counterstrike to lift the siege. This failed, and the occupants of the besieged castle, having run out of food and water, were forced to eat horseflesh to survive. In accordance with Buddhist belief, this was close to the worst disgrace one could face; eating horseflesh was believed to break one's karma, forcing them to be reborn in the next life as an animal or something worse.

The Kuromaru (黒丸), or "Black Fortress", was a fortress of the Kanrei Shiba Takatsune located in Echizen Province (present-day Nittazuka, Fukui, Fukui Prefecture) in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It was attacked twice during the Nanboku-chō Wars of the 14th century, during which it was likely both built and destroyed.

The fortress was first attacked in August 1338 by a small force under Nitta Yoshisada, numbering roughly fifty horse, in what would come to be known as the Battle of Fujishima. Hosokawa Akiuji had been ordered by Ashikaga Takauji to aid Shiba Takatsune in the defense, and encountered Nitta's force a short distance from the fortress.

Tōshō-ji (東勝寺) was the Hōjō clan's family temple (bodaiji) in Kamakura during the Kamakura period. Its founder was Taikō Gyōyū and it was constructed in 1237 by Hōjō Yasutoki in memory of his mother, who had her tomb there. According to the Taiheiki, from its foundation until the end of the Kamakura shogunate every regent (shikken) was buried there. The temple no longer exists, since it was set on fire by the Hōjō themselves when the entire family committed suicide after Nitta Yoshisada's invasion of Kamakura on July 4, 1333. Its ruins were found in the Kasaigayatsu valley in today's Ōmachi. Tōshō-ji very probably used to occupy the entire valley. Standing at the top of a narrow valley shut off at its base by the Nameri river's deep gorge and by steep hills on the other three sides, and besides offering a clear view of the only road that crossed the river, it was a fortress surely valuable to the family also from the military point of view.

At the site is a plaque that reads: