Due to the above, under Kokoku Shikan, he was acclaimed on one hand as a military commander who sacrificed himself to the Southern Court but was criticized on the other hand as the very person who drove loyal subject Masashige KUSUNOKI to death.
この事から義貞は皇国史観などでは南朝に殉じた武将として称えられる一方で、忠臣の楠木正成を死に追いやった張本人として厳しい評価もなされた。