Kitabatake Akiie

was a Japanese court noble, and an important supporter of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō Wars. He also held the posts of Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North, and Governor of Mutsu Province. His father was Imperial advisor Kitabatake Chikafusa.

Biography In 1333, Akiie was ordered to accompany the six-year-old eighth son of Emperor Go-Daigo, Prince Norinaga (also read as Noriyoshi), to Mutsu, where the Prince became Governor-General of Mutsu and Dewa. These two large provinces constituted much of the north-eastern end of Honshū, the area now known as Tōhoku.

In April 1333, he was appointed to the post of Chinjufu-shōgun, or Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North. This was a position that had been held by Minamoto no Yoshiie two hundred years earlier. A number of families formed a league under his direction, supporting the Southern Court; these included the samurai families of Yūki, Date, Nambu, Soma, and Tamura. His death is described in the epic Taiheiki and in his father's Jinnō Shōtōki.