The Kutsuki were a branch of the Sasaki family hailing from Omi Province. They served as the stewards of the Kutsuki manor in that province in the Kamakura period, and the house continued through the Warring States period and into the Edo period, when some of their members became bannermen (direct vassals of the shogun) or daimyo (provincial lords). "The archives of Kutsuki family" consist of historical documents passed down in the family through the years. The Cabinet Records Bureau purchased them from the Kutsuki in 1888. Containing more than 1,060 documents, the archives were designated an important cultural property in the first year of Heisei( 1989).
This document, dated on February 28, the 10th year of Koan (1287), shows that Sasaki Yoritsuna (1242-1311) gave the Kutsuki area, Takashima County, Omi (presently Takashima City) and the Motoki area, Makabe County, Hitachi (presently Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture) to Yoshitsuna, his second son. Yoritsuna warns his son to carefully govern the estates bearing in mind that they were awarded to his grandfather and Yoritsuna himself for their distinguished services.