Maeda (clan)

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Coat of arms of the Maeda
Maeda residence in Edo

The Maeda ( Japanese 前 田氏 , Maeda-shi ) were a family of the Japanese sword nobility ( Buke ) from the Owari province , which was derived from Sugawara no Michizane . With an income of over 1,000,000 Koku , the Maeda residing in Kanazawa ( Ishikawa Prefecture ) and their branch families were the richest (Tozama) daimyo of the Edo period .

genealogy

Maeda Toshiie

Main branch

  • Toshiie ( 利 家 , 1538–1599) was one of the leading generals under Oda Nobunaga , who left the castle Arako (Owari) to him. After the asakura were extinguished in 1573, he settled in Fuchū ( Echizen ) with an income of 33,000 koku , got the province of Noto in 1581 and the province of Kaga in 1583 . Under the command of Toyotomi Hideyoshi , he fought together with Uesugi Kagekatsu against the Hōjō clan in 1590 with the order to conquer the castles in Kōzuke and Musashi . At the time of the Korean campaign , he accompanied Hideyoshi to Nagoya ( Hizen ) and took over the military leadership when he went to Fushimi . He was next to Tokugawa Ieyasu , Mōri Terumoto , Uesugi Kagekatsu and Ukita Hideie one of the five Tairō, who had been appointed by Hideyoshi to ensure the successor to his underage son. Toshiie was opposed to Ieyasu but died before the battle of Sekigahara . Toshiie is often called the Kaga- Dainagon .
  • Toshinaga ( 利 長 , 1562–1614), Toshiie's eldest son, tried, like his father, to prevent a civil war, but did not succeed. Having no offspring, he adopted his youngest brother, Toshitsune, who married a daughter, Tokugawa Hidetada . He himself married a daughter of Ieyasu. In 1600 he took part in the fighting against Kagakatsu, and after the Battle of Sekigahara he received Noto with 215,000 koku, which had belonged to his brother Toshimasa ( 利 政 , 1578–1633). He became the richest daimyo of the Tokugawa period with an income of 1,250,000 koku. Toshinaga built and lived in Kanazawa Castle . In 1615, Toyotomi Hideyori tried unsuccessfully to win him over.
  • Toshitsune ( 利 常 , 1593–1658), a brother of Toshinagas, followed as prince. He took part in the siege of Osaka in 1615 and defeated the army of Ōno Harafusa. In 1639 he left the domain to his son Mitsutaka ( 光 高 , 1616–1646) and retired to Komatsu , where he had a castle built. It is therefore also called Komatsu-Chūnagon . His descendants resided in Kanazawa until 1868 with 1,027,000 Koku and with the honorary title Saishō-dono . Last daimyo was
  • Yoshiyasu ( 慶 寧 , 1830–1874). After 1868 this family received the rank of prince.

1st secondary branch

A son of Toshitsune and his descendants resided from 1639 to 1868 in Daishōji ( 大聖 寺 ) with 100,000 Koku. After 1868 Vice Count.

2nd branch

Another son of Toshitsune and his descendants resided in Toyama ( 富山 , Etchū) with 100,000 koku from 1639 to 1868 . After 1868 Count.

3rd subsidiary branch

Toshitaka, a son of Toshiie, distinguished himself at the siege of Osaka and became a daimyo with an income of 10,000 koku. He and his descendants resided from 1616 to 1868 in a permanent house ( jinya ) in Nanokaichi ( 七日 市 , Kōzuke ). After 1868 Vice Count.

General

Beginning with Ieyasu, the relationship between the Tokugawa and the rich Maeda remained ambivalent: on the one hand, the Maeda were classified as Tozama daimyo and could therefore never hold an office in Bakufu . On the other hand, there were occasional marriages. In Edo / Tokyo, the Maeda built an extensive residence in Hongō , the site of which became the campus for the University of Tokyo after the Meiji restoration . The symbol of the campus, the “Red Gate” (“Akamon”), was erected by the Maeda in 1827 to welcome the bride, a daughter of Tokugawa Ienari .

Residence city of the Maeda

Kanazawa is still a tourist attraction today, as it was spared the bombings of World War II. Kanazawa has a preserved historic city area, Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen Garden (one of the Three Famous Gardens of Japan ). The Oyama shrine in honor of Maeda Toshiie can also be visited there.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Plum blossom, based on Sugawara Michizane. The coats of arms of the different families differ in detail.
  2. ↑ There is another Maeda family that is derived from the Fujiwara, but only played a role at the end of the 16th century.
  3. ↑ Today the district of Kaga .
  4. ↑ Today part of the Tomioka district .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Furusawa, Tsunetoshi: "Kamon daichō". Kin'ensha, n.d., ISBN 4-321-31720-7 , p. 141
  2. ↑ Excerpt from the “Hongo” district map from around 1850.

literature

  • Papinot, Edmond: Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. Reprinted by Tuttle, 1972 edition of 1910 edition. ISBN 0-8048-0996-8 .
  • Miura, Masayuki (Ed.): Shiro to jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. ISBN 978-4-05-604378-5 .
  • Miyaji, Saichiro (Ed.): Bakumatsu shoshu saigo-no hanshu-tachi. Higashinihon-hen. Jinbunsha, 1997. ISBN 978-4-7959-1905-1 .

Web links

  • Maeda (Samurai Archieves, October 17, 2013)