was the Constable of Echizen Province

Echizen Province

was an old province of Japan, which is today the northern part of Fukui Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Etchū and Echigo Provinces.Echizen is famous for washi . A text dated AD 774 mentions the washi made in this area. Echizen-produced Washi is still the most commonly sold traditional...

 during the 14th century Nanboku-chō Wars in Japan. He acted to block the northward progress of Nitta Yoshisada

Nitta Yoshisada

was the head of the Nitta family in the early fourteenth century, and supported the Southern Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in the Nanboku-chō period, capturing Kamakura from the Hōjō clan in 1333....

, who supported the Emperor's

Emperor of Japan

The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...

 Southern Court against the Shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

's Northern Court

Northern Court (Japan)

The , also known as the "Ashikaga Pretenders" or "Northern Pretenders", were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392...

. (Shiba, in his role as Constable, served the Shogun and thus the Northern Court.)

In 1336, an ally of Nitta named Uryū Tamotsu attacked Shiba's castle, which fell soon afterwards. Two years later, Shiba was ordered by the shogun Ashikaga Takauji

Ashikaga Takauji

was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...

 to attack Uryū's fortress at Somayama. The attack failed, and Shiba was forced to fight Nitta's forces again in the defense of the Kuromaru (Black Fortress). With the aid of forces sent by Takauji and warrior monks

Sohei

were Buddhist warrior monks of feudal Japan. At certain points of history they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate....

 from Heisenji, the fortress was held, and Nitta Yoshisada mortally wounded in the battle.
Despite this great victory, Shiba was defeated once again in 1340, when the newly throned Emperor Go-Murakami

Emperor Go-Murakami

was the 97th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and a member of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō period of rival courts. He reigned from September 18, 1339 until March 29, 1368 . His personal name was...

 sent an army to attack the Kuromaru. Shiba was forced to surrender.

The same year, a number of men claiming to serve Shiba invaded an area called Kawaguchi-shō, which was controlled by the Kōfuku-ji

Kofuku-ji

is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school and is one of the eight Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.-History:...

temple. In 1363 Shiba seized the area officially, becoming essentially a daimyō (feudal lord), gaining independent power beyond what was given him by the Shogunate. The monks of Kōfuku-ji resorted to various forms of blackmail and were granted their land back. However, Shiba continued to gain power, instituting shugo-uke, a system under which the Constable would take a set amount of rice from the people of the land, paying the peoples' taxes to the Shogun and keeping the rest as a sort of commission. Of those few Constables who became lords in their own right, most if not all abused this system, earning great revenues for themselves.

As the Constables gained wealth and power, their reliance on the Shogunate, and thus their loyalty to it, deteriorated. Shiba became a powerful daimyō in his own right, and, becoming independent of the appointed role given him by the Shogunate, made control of Echizen province hereditary.