Kusunoki Masashige
By the first part of the 14th century, the Kamakura Shogunate, which had never fully recovered from successfully fending off the Mongol Invasions, was already engaging a resurgent imperial house under Go-Daigo during the Genkō War. Go-Daigo's son Prince Morinaga energetically organized an uprising against the Hōjō recruiting a number of the key martial leaders that supported the Emperor including Kusunoki Masashige. Early in 1333 Morinaga and Kusunoki, the latter being entrenched at Chihaya, were the targets of a large army sent from Kamakura to destroy the uprising. This left Kamakura relatively undefended.