The was a Japanese

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

from the end of the Sengoku period through the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

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 were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of Kaga Domain under the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, which was second only to the Tokugawa clan in '' kokudaka'' (land value).

Origins

"Maeda" is a place name in Kaitō District of western

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces w ...

, and was the seat of the senior branch of the Maeda clan in the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Maeda Nagatane (1550-1631) 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'' (baron) after the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. A cadet branch of the Owari Maeda were given the castle of Arako in what is now part of Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya. Maeda Toshimasa (d.1560) entered the service of Oda Nobuhide, who nominally ruled Owari Province from his seat at Kiyosu Castle. His son, Maeda Toshihisa (d.1587) 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 The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi period, Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries).Georges Appert, Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its heigh ...

Sengoku and Edo period

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals under

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

. He began his career as a page, rising through the ranks a member of the ''akahoro-shū'' (赤母衣衆), under Nobunaga's personal command and later became an infantry captain (''ashigaru taishō'' 足軽大将). From his youth, he was a close confidant of Nobunaga and a friend of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After defeating the

Asakura clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Asakura", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 3 DF 7 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-4. ...

, he fought under Shibata Katsuie in the Hokuriku region in the suppression of the

Ikkō-ikki were armed military leagues that formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries, composed entirely of members of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. In the early phases, these ''ikki'' leagues opposed the rule of local Shugo, go ...

, 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 (30,000 ''koku''), and in 1581 was given Noto Province (230,000 ''koku''), 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

. 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 is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

from 1583 until the

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

. 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

# Maeda Toshitaka # Maeda Toshimasa # Maeda Toshihisa (d.1587) # Maeda Toshiie # Maeda Hidetsugu (d. 1586)

Mino

# Maeda Nagatane (1550-1631) # Maeda Naotomo (1586-1630) # Maeda Naomasa (1605-1631) # Maeda Takasada (1628-1707) # Maeda Takayuki (1663-1721) # Maeda Takasuke (1683-1753) # Maeda Takamasa (1723-1777) # Maeda Takatomo (1759-1832) # Maeda Takamoto (1808-1856) # Maeda Takanaka (1840-1857) # Maeda Takanori (1847-1888) # Maeda Ko # Maeda Takayuki # Maeda Takaya

Kaga

# Maeda Toshitaka # Maeda Toshimasa # Maeda Toshiie # Maeda Toshinaga # Maeda Toshitsune # Maeda Mitsutaka #

Maeda Tsunanori was an Edo period Japanese people, Japanese samurai, and the 4th ''daimyō'' of Kaga Domain in the Hokuriku region of Japan. He was the 5th hereditary chieftain of the Kanazawa Maeda clan. His childhood name was "Inuchiyo" (犬千代). Biogra ...

# Maeda Yoshinori # Maeda Munetoki # Maeda Shigehiro # Maeda Shigenobu # Maeda Shigemichi # Maeda Harunaga # Maeda Narinaga # Maeda Nariyasu # Maeda Yoshiyasu # Maeda Toshitsugu (1858-1900) # Toshinari Maeda (1885-1942) # Toshitatsu Maeda (1908-1989) # Toshiyasu Maeda (b.1935) # Toshinori Maeda (b.1963, Heir) # Toshiyuki Maeda (2nd generation heir) # Toshiyoshi Maeda (President-elect, President and CEO of Inoda Coffee)

Toyama

# Maeda Toshitsugu (1617 – 1674) # Maeda Masatoshi (1649 – 1706) # Maeda Toshioki (1678 – 1733) # Maeda Toshitaka (1690 – 1745) # Maeda Toshiyuki (1730 – 1762) # Maeda Toshitomo (1737 – 1794) # Maeda Toshihisa (1762 – 1787) # Maeda Toshinori (1768 – 1801) # Maeda Toshitsuyo (1772 – 1836) # Maeda Toshiyasu (1800-1859) # Maeda Toshitomo (1834 – 1854) # Maeda Toshikata (1835 – 1904) # Maeda Toshiatsu (1856 – 1921) # Maeda Toshio (1886 – 1966) # Maeda Toshinobu # Maeda Akitoshi

Daishoji

# Maeda Toshiharu (1618 – 1660) # Maeda Toshiaki I (1638 – 1692) # Maeda Toshinao (1672 – 1711) # Maeda Toshiakira (1691 – 1737) # Maeda Toshimichi I (1733 – 1781) # Maeda Toshiaki II (1758 – 1791) # Maeda Toshitane (1760 – 1788) # Maeda Toshiyasu (1779 – 1806) # Maeda Toshikore (1785 – 1837) # Maeda Toshinaka (1812 – 1838) # Maeda Toshihira (1824 – 1849) # Maeda Toshinori (1833 – 1855) # Maeda Toshimichi II (1835 – 1855) # Maeda Toshika (1841 – 1920) # Maeda Toshimitsu (1905-?) # Maeda Toshihiro (b.1929)

Daishōjishinden

# Maeda Toshimasa (Toshiharu) (1684-1709)

Nanokaichi

# Maeda Toshitaka # Maeda Toshimoto (1625-1685) # Maeda Toshihiro (1645-1693) # Maeda Toshiyoshi (1670-1695) # Maeda Toshifuda (1689-1708) # Maeda Toshitada (1699-1756) # Maeda Toshihisa (1762 – 1787) # Maeda Toshiakira (1691 – 1737) # Maeda Toshimochi (1768-1828) # Maeda Toshiyoshi (1791-1839) # Maeda Toshiakira (1823-1877) # Maeda Toshikaki (1850-1896) # Maeda Toshisada # Maeda Toshitami # Maeda Fumisada

Other notable figures

* Gōhime * Maeda Chiyo * Maeda Matsu * Maeda Riku * Maeda Toshimasa (1578)

References

* Iwao, Seiichi. (1978). ''Biographical dictionary of Japanese history''. Berkeley: University of California. * Papinot, Jacques Edmund Joseph. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha
''Nobiliaire du japon''
(2003, abridged online text of 1906 book). {{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda Clan Japanese clans Daimyo