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 "The archives of Kutsuki family" consist of historical documents passed down in the family through the years.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).
Gonaisho of Muromachi Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshifuji (Yoshiteru) (1536-65, the 13th shogun of Muromachi Bakufu, son of Yoshiharu),dated February 12 in the 20th year of Tembun (1551), asking Sasaki Kunainodayu (Kutsuki Harutsuna) to stay loyal to hiim. It also states that Muromachi Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshifuji (Yoshiteru) has moved his headquarter to Kutsukidani (present day Takashima City). Yoshifuji often took refuge at Kutsuki during the period when he was involved in political dispute with Miyoshi Nagayoshi. Gonaisho is one of the types of Jikijo (a type of documents directly signed and issued by Shogun during the Muromachi and Edo Period). It is closer to private letter but also has a quasi-official status due to high position of the person of issue.