Maeda clan


The Maeda clan was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan through Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Sugawara no Michizane in the eighth and ninth centuries; however, the line of descent is uncertain. The Maeda rose to prominence as daimyō of Kaga Domain under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate, which was second only to the Tokugawa clan in kokudaka.

Origins

"Maeda" is a place name in Kaitō District of western Owari Province, and was the seat of the senior branch of the Maeda clan in the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Maeda Nagatane entered into the service of Maeda Toshiie, and his descendants became hereditary retainers of the Maeda clan of Kaga Domain. This branch received the kazoku peerage title of danshaku after the Meiji restoration.
A cadet branch of the Owari Maeda were given the castle of Arako in what is now part of Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya. Maeda Toshimasa entered the service of Oda Nobuhide, who nominally ruled Owari Province from his seat at Kiyosu Castle. His son, Maeda Toshihisa also served the Oda clan, and was ordered to retire in favour of his brother, Maeda Toshiie.
Another notable member of the family was Maeda Toshimasu, commonly known as Maeda Keiji. Though he was biologically the son of Takigawa Kazumasu, he was adopted by Maeda Toshihisa, the older brother of Maeda Toshiie. He was recognized as a renowned warrior. According to legend, he broke the front line of the Mogami clan leading a group of just eight riders during a battle in which he fought for the Uesugi clan.

Sengoku and Edo period

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals under Oda Nobunaga. He began his career as a page, rising through the ranks a member of the akahoro-shū, under Nobunaga's personal command and later became an infantry captain. From his youth, he was a close confidant of Nobunaga and a friend of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After defeating the Asakura clan, he fought under Shibata Katsuie in the Hokuriku region in the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki, and participated in the 1570 Battle of Anegawa and the 1577 Battle of Tedorigawa. He was eventually granted the fief of Fuchu in Etchū Province, and in 1581 was given Noto Province, to which he added his other territories in Kaga Province to form Kaga Domain. After Nobunaga's death, he pledged fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and his territories were expanded to cover all of the three provinces of Noto, Kaga and Etchū, with a kokudaka of well over a million koku. Toshiie divided his fief among his sons. His eldest son Maeda Toshinaga participated in the Battle of Sekigahara and built Kanazawa Castle; he also was recognised as daimyō of Kaga Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate.
The Maeda clan attempted to maintain good relations with the Tokugawa clan through marriage ties, and, although a tozama clan, were permitted to use the "Matsudaira" name as an honorific patronym.
The Maeda clan continued to rule Kaga Domain from their headquarters in Kanazawa from 1583 until the Meiji restoration in 1868. Maeda Toshitsune established two cadet branches of the clan at Toyama and Daishōji. Another cadet branch of the clan was established by Maeda Toshitaka, the fifth son of Maeda Toshiie, at Nanokaichi Domain in Kōzuke Province. All of these cadet branches also continued to be ruled by the Maeda clan until the Meiji restoration. However, the Maeda clan was often beset by O-Ie Sōdō incidents, and many of the clan heads died young, or without heir. The clan did not play a prominent role in the Meiji restoration. After the start of the Meiji period, the former heads of the various branches of the Maeda clan were made peers under the kazoku peerage system.

Head Family

Owari-Arako

  1. Maeda Toshitaka
  2. Maeda Toshimasa
  3. Maeda Toshihisa
  4. Maeda Toshiie
  5. Maeda Hidetsugu

    Mino

  6. Maeda Nagatane
  7. Maeda Naotomo
  8. Maeda Naomasa
  9. Maeda Takasada
  10. Maeda Takayuki
  11. Maeda Takasuke
  12. Maeda Takamasa
  13. Maeda Takatomo
  14. Maeda Takamoto
  15. Maeda Takanaka
  16. Maeda Takanori
  17. Maeda Ko
  18. Maeda Takayuki
  19. Maeda Takaya

    Kaga

  20. Maeda Toshitaka
  21. Maeda Toshimasa
  22. Maeda Toshiie
  23. Maeda Toshinaga
  24. Maeda Toshitsune
  25. Maeda Mitsutaka
  26. Maeda Tsunanori
  27. Maeda Yoshinori
  28. Maeda Munetoki
  29. Maeda Shigehiro
  30. Maeda Shigenobu
  31. Maeda Shigemichi
  32. Maeda Harunaga
  33. Maeda Narinaga
  34. Maeda Nariyasu
  35. Maeda Yoshiyasu
  36. Maeda Toshitsugu
  37. Toshinari Maeda
  38. Toshitatsu Maeda
  39. Toshiyasu Maeda
  40. Toshinori Maeda
  41. Toshiyuki Maeda
  42. Toshiyoshi Maeda

    Toyama

  43. Maeda Toshitsugu
  44. Maeda Masatoshi
  45. Maeda Toshioki
  46. Maeda Toshitaka
  47. Maeda Toshiyuki
  48. Maeda Toshitomo
  49. Maeda Toshihisa
  50. Maeda Toshinori
  51. Maeda Toshitsuyo
  52. Maeda Toshiyasu
  53. Maeda Toshitomo
  54. Maeda Toshikata
  55. Maeda Toshiatsu
  56. Maeda Toshio
  57. Maeda Toshinobu
  58. Maeda Akitoshi

    Daishoji

  59. Maeda Toshiharu
  60. Maeda Toshiaki I
  61. Maeda Toshinao
  62. Maeda Toshiakira
  63. Maeda Toshimichi I
  64. Maeda Toshiaki II
  65. Maeda Toshitane
  66. Maeda Toshiyasu
  67. Maeda Toshikore
  68. Maeda Toshinaka
  69. Maeda Toshihira
  70. Maeda Toshinori
  71. Maeda Toshimichi II
  72. Maeda Toshika
  73. Maeda Toshimitsu
  74. Maeda Toshihiro

    Daishōjishinden

  75. Maeda Toshimasa

    Nanokaichi

  76. Maeda Toshitaka
  77. Maeda Toshimoto
  78. Maeda Toshihiro
  79. Maeda Toshiyoshi
  80. Maeda Toshifuda
  81. Maeda Toshitada
  82. Maeda Toshihisa
  83. Maeda Toshiakira
  84. Maeda Toshimochi
  85. Maeda Toshiyoshi
  86. Maeda Toshiakira
  87. Maeda Toshikaki
  88. Maeda Toshisada
  89. Maeda Toshitami
  90. Maeda Fumisada

    Other notable figures