He was born into the Akamatsu family, based on the Sayo estate in Harima Province. The clan was said to descend from the Murakami Genji, but at the time it was only a local warrior house of Harima. His name was Norimura; he later took Buddhist vows as Enshin, the name by which he became widely known.
Few records of his youth survive, but it is said that as a young man he met Sesson Yūbai, a Zen monk who would later train in Yuan China. Enshin remained a devoted follower of Zen throughout his life, and this connection is said to have led later to his founding a temple in Harima (accounts vary).
During the Genkō War, he is said to have marched out on the orders of the Rokuhara Tandai and once driven back the army of Kusunoki Masashige, which had advanced into Settsu. From this it is thought that Enshin first served the Rokuhara in Kyoto as a warrior of the shogunate. The wife of his brother Enkō is also said to have been Masashige's elder sister.
Receiving an order from Prince Moriyoshi, son of Emperor Go-Daigo, he raised troops at Kokenawa Castle in Harima and turned against the shogunate. The Taiheiki says Enshin, who longed to raise his house and make his name, was overjoyed. He entered Mayasan Castle in Settsu and drove off the attacking Rokuhara forces.
On the advice of his third son Sokuyū, he attacked the enemy camp at Segawa and won, then pressed on into Kyoto. Though once pushed back by the Rokuhara's great army, he held out at camps in Yawata and Yamazaki, and in time joined forces with Ashikaga Takauji and others to capture the Rokuhara Tandai.
Under the Kenmu Restoration he was named constable of Harima, but the post was soon taken from him. With the fall of his patron Prince Moriyoshi as well, Enshin deeply resented treatment that did not match his great service. He is said to have left the capital and withdrawn to his home estate of Sayo.
When Ashikaga Takauji went east to put down the Nakasendai Rebellion, Enshin sent his sons Norisuke and Sadanori with him. When Takauji then broke with Go-Daigo's government and marched on Kyoto, the Akamatsu clearly took his side, and from then on Enshin fought as a leading commander of the Ashikaga.
When Takauji was defeated in the fighting for Kyoto, the Taiheiki says Enshin urged him to flee to Kyushu, gather strength and rise again. Takauji followed this advice and went west, while Enshin, again appointed constable of Harima, took on the task of awaiting the court's pursuing army in his home province.
When Nitta Yoshisada attacked Harima with a large army, Enshin shut himself up in Shirahata Castle. The Taiheiki says he bought time by hinting at surrender, strengthened his defenses and held the enemy back for more than fifty days. Meanwhile Takauji regained his strength in Kyushu and won the Battle of Minatogawa.
The year before, his eldest son Norisuke had been named constable of Settsu, making the Akamatsu a powerful house governing both Harima and Settsu. For several years from this time, when Kanaya Tsuneuji of the court's side rose in Harima, Enshin put down the revolt with Norisuke, Sokuyū and others, strengthening his hold on his provinces.
A devout follower of Zen, Enshin is said around this time to have built Hōun-ji at Akamatsu in Harima and invited Sesson Yūbai, back from Yuan China, as its founding abbot. Though a commander who lived amid constant fighting, he sought spiritual support through ties with Zen monks, a good example of the faith of warriors in his age.
In the Kannō Disturbance he sided with Takauji, and while preparing an army against Ashikaga Tadafuyu he died suddenly at his residence on Shichijō in Kyoto. His eldest son Norisuke succeeded him, and later his third son Sokuyū took over the house, so the Akamatsu continued as powerful constable-lords supporting the Muromachi shogunate.
Emperor Go-DaigoKusunoki MasashigeNitta YoshisadaAshikaga Takauji
Musō SosekiEmperor Go-DaigoKitabatake ChikafusaKusunoki MasashigeSasaki DōyoKō no MoronaoNitta YoshisadaAshikaga Takauji
People of the Muromachi period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.