赤松則村

Akamatsu Norimura (1277–1350), better known by his Buddhist name Enshin (円心), was the shrewd lord of Harima Province who made one of the most consequential strategic decisions of the medieval period: abandoning the Kamakura shogunate to support Emperor Go-Daigo's rebellion. When Go-Daigo raised the banner of revolt in 1331, Enshin was among the first powerful gokenin to defect, and his subsequent cooperation with the defecting Ashikaga Takauji in attacking the Rokuhara Tandai (the shogunate's Kyoto headquarters) in 1333 was a decisive blow in the fall of Kamakura rule. Rewarded with the governorship of Harima, Enshin proved equally adept at navigating the complex loyalties of the subsequent Nanbokucho era, switching to the Ashikaga side when Takauji rebelled against the Kenmu Restoration. His celebrated defense of Shirakawajō castle in 1336 — where a small garrison held out against superior forces long enough for Takauji to regroup after landing from Kyushu — stands as a masterpiece of attritional warfare and demonstrates the tactical skill that made him formidable despite operating in the shadow of more famous contemporaries. As lord of a region neighboring the Bizen sword-making heartland, Enshin had access to the finest blades of the era and is associated with the swords of the Bizen and Harima traditions that equipped his agile mounted forces.