Born in 1314 as the son of Akamatsu Norimura (Enshin), the shugo (military governor) of Harima Province. He entered the Buddhist priesthood on Mt. Hiei in his youth, taking the priest name Myozen, but returned to lay life in 1331 when Emperor Go-Daigo raised his army against the Kamakura shogunate, following the imperial prince-monk Moriyoshi in campaigns through Kumano, Totsukawa, and Yoshino Castle. In 1336, when Ashikaga Takauji was driven from Kyoto and fled toward Kyushu, Norisuke and his father Enshin were tasked with holding off the pursuing forces of Go-Daigo's side in Harima to buy Takauji time to regroup; Norisuke was placed in command of the second defensive line at Kanjosan Castle. As Nitta Yoshisada broke through the main line and the surrounding satellite forts fell one after another, Norisuke held Kanjosan Castle for over fifty days, and for this feat he received a commendation letter (kanjo) from Ashikaga Takauji — the origin of the castle's name, "Kanjosan-jo" (Commendation Mountain Castle). In 1351, following the death of his elder brother — also confusingly rendered "Norisuke" in English but written with the different characters 範資 — he became the 6th head of the Akamatsu clan and shugo of Harima, later also serving as shugo of Bizen from 1355. In his later years he served the Muromachi shogunate as an administrator of Zenritsugata, assisting Kanrei Hosokawa Yoriyuki, and died at his Kyoto residence on November 29, 1371, at an age recorded as either 59 or 61.

A battle-tested commander who combined his father Enshin's valor and endurance to withstand a siege lasting over fifty days. He also proved adept at diplomacy through his ties to the Zen establishment and went on to hold key posts in the shogunate.

His stand at Kanjosan Castle is commemorated in the castle's very name, and he is remembered as the figure who helped secure the Akamatsu clan's position as shugo of Harima, Bizen, and Mimasaka, a status that endured into the Sengoku period.