, was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

nobleman who was the 16th head of the Maeda family. He was a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and the first commander of the Japanese forces in northern

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

(

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

, and

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

) in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Maeda Toshinari was born the fifth son of the former ''

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 Nanokaichi Domain in Kozuke province (modern Tomioka city,

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

), Maeda Toshiaki. He was adopted as heir to the main branch of the

Maeda clan The 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 Kiyotom ...

in 1900. He became

marquis A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wido ...

and the 16th head of the

on 13 June 1900. His childhood name was Shigeru (茂). As was common with sons of the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (''Daimyo, daimyō'') and court nobles (''kuge'') into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distin ...

'' aristocracy, he served for a session in the House of Peers in the

Japanese Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

in 1910, while pursuing his military education. He graduated from the 23rd class of the Army War College in 1911. He was an outstanding student, and was awarded the Emperor's Sword on graduation. In 1913, he traveled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for further studies, and from there went on to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. On 7 August 1923, he became a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

commander in the 4th Regiment of the

Imperial Guard of Japan The Imperial Guard of Japan has been two separate organizations dedicated to the protection of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial Family, palaces and other imperial properties. The first was the , a quasi-independent elite branch of the Imperial ...

. From 26 July 1927 to 1 August 1930 he served as

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

to Great Britain. On his return in 1930, he was made regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment of the Imperial Guard. In 1935, he was made a member of the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Af ...

. From 1936-1937, he was superintendent of the Army War College, and on 2 August 1937, he was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, commanding the

IJA 8th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. It was formed 1 October 1898 in Hirosaki, Aomori, as one of the six new reserve divisions created after the First Sino-Japanese War and was annihilated in the Philippines during the ...

. On 31 January 1939, he retired from active duty and was placed on the reserve list. However, with the start of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, Maeda was recalled to active service, and assigned command of the Borneo theatre of operations on 6 April 1942.

Death

On 5 September 1942, there was an execution of five men at Padungan,

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

who were caught for stealing petrol. The execution was witnessed by Maeda. Maeda later boarded a plane to

that day to officiate an airport which bore his name. However, he never arrived. One month later, the plane was found to have crashed off the coast of Tanjung Batu,

Bintulu Bintulu is a coastal town on the island of Borneo in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. Bintulu is located northeast of Kuching, northeast of Sibu, and southwest of Miri, Malaysia, Miri. With a population of 114,058 as of 2010, Bintulu ...

. The cause of the plane crash was not known. The Japanese later set up a wooden pole memorial made up of Belian wood in Bintulu. The wooden pole was later taken back to Japan by the Maeda family. A memorial dedicated to the general is located in Labuan Museum's History Square.

Family

* Father: Maeda Toshiaki (1850-1896) * Foster Father: (1858-1900) * Wives: ** Maeda Namiko, Maeda Toshitsugu‘s daughter ** Maeda Kikuko (1903-1986) * Children: ** (1908-1989) by Namiko ** Sakai Miiko (1926–1999) married Sakai Tadamoto by Kikuko ** Maeda Toshihiro (b.1929) by Kikuko ** Yoko by Kikuko Former_Maeda_Estate_2009

Maeda's former home built in 1929 in Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, survives today as the historic centerpiece of Komaba Park. It was requisitioned by

SCAP SCAP may refer to: * S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines * Security Content Automation Protocol * '' The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game * SREBP cleavage activating protein * Supervisory Capital Assessm ...

after the end of

for use as a residence by General Ennis Whitehead, commander of the 5th Air Force, and later by General Matthew Bunker Ridgway. In 1957, ownership was then transferred to Meguro Ward. Part of the grounds of the estate now host the Japan Museum of Modern Literature. Likewise, his former summer mansion in

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

(built in 1936) was used as a summer residence by Japanese Prime Minister

Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. He is the third longest-serving Japanese prime minister, and is ranked second by longest uninterrupted service. Satō is best remembered for securing the return ...

, and later donated to the city of Kamakura for use as the Kamakura Museum of Literature. His daughter, Sakai Miiko (1926–1999), became a non-fiction author, writing several works on the ''kazoku'' and their tragic history in

Shōwa period Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

Japan.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Toshinari 1885 births 1942 deaths Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Imperial Japanese Army personnel killed in World War II Kazoku People from Tomioka, Gunma Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Malaysia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1942