Maeda Toshiie

Born in 1538 (Tenbun 7) as the fourth son of Maeda Toshiharu, lord of Arako Castle in Owari Province. His childhood name was Inuchiyo.

Tall and skilled with the spear, he was a kabukimono fond of flashy dress. At fourteen he served Oda Nobunaga (this site's id 1) as a page and was chosen for the elite Akahoro-shū.

But he cut down Nobunaga's dōbōshū attendant Jūami and fled; joining the battles of Okehazama and Moribe without leave, he distinguished himself and was pardoned back into service.

Thereafter he served Nobunaga faithfully, was given Fuchū in Echizen and then the whole province of Noto, and became a daimyō.

After the Honnō-ji Incident of 1582 he attached himself to Shibata Katsuie, but at the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583 he withdrew from the line and turned to his old acquaintance Hashiba Hideyoshi (this site's id 2).

This withdrawal decided Katsuie's defeat. Under the Hideyoshi government he held Kaga, Noto, and Etchū, building the foundation of the million-koku Kaga domain, and carried great weight as one of the Five Elders.

When Hideyoshi died in 1598, by his will Toshiie was entrusted as guardian of the young Hideyori and became the last counterweight restraining the arrogation of Tokugawa Ieyasu (this site's id 3).

On the third day of the intercalary third month of 1599 (Keichō 4), he died of illness in Ōsaka. He was sixty-two. The day after his death, conflict among the Toyotomi vassals erupted and the age began to move toward Sekigahara.

His wife Matsu (Hōshun-in) later went down to Edo as a hostage and protected the Maeda house.

“I let Lord Katsuie die, and I took my house. This is the true face of the man they call the faithful one.”

Maeda Toshiie rose in a single generation from a mere Owari warrior to a great daimyō holding Kaga, Noto, and Etchū, building the foundation of the million-koku Kaga domain.

His greatest legacy is his repute as a faithful man. He was valued by the two rulers of the realm, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, and above all was entrusted by Hideyoshi with the guardianship of the young Hideyori.

While Toshiie lived, the daimyō, though they feared the arrogation of Tokugawa Ieyasu, could not move lightly. Toshiie's very existence was the last counterweight supporting the balance between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa.

For this reason, Toshiie's death in 1599 was not merely the death of one warrior. The day after the report spread, the seven generals including Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori (this site's id 64) attacked Ishida Mitsunari, and the fissure among the Toyotomi vassals erupted at a stroke.

This fissure led straight to Sekigahara the following year. The Maeda house Toshiie built, thanks in part to the work of his wife Matsu, survived through the Edo period as the greatest tozama domain and let the culture of Kaga bloom.

Oyama Shrine in Kanazawa still enshrines Toshiie and Matsu, beloved by the citizens.