Araki Mataemon

Japanese: 荒木又右衛門 - あらき・またえもん

Year of death: August 28, 15 of the Kan'ei period (October 5, 1638)
Year of birth: 1598
A swordsman of the early Edo period. His real surname was Hattori, and his given name was Hochi. He was born in Arakimura, Hattori-go, Iga Province (Mie Prefecture). His father, Hattori Heizaemon, served Todo Takatora with a stipend of 150 koku, but after becoming a ronin, he served Ikeda Tadao of Bizen with a stipend of 300 koku. At the age of 12, Mataemon was adopted by Hattori Heibei, a vassal of Honda Tadamasa, lord of Kuwana Domain, and a member of the same clan. In 1617 (Genwa 3), he accompanied his master Tadamasa when he was transferred to Himeji, but for some reason he left his foster home afterwards. He returned to his hometown of Iga, and changed his surname to Kikuyama, and then to Araki. Since both his birth family and foster family had the surname Hattori, there was no need to change it, but this may have been because there were many people with the same surname in Iga, as exemplified by the Hattori ninjas. He is said to have learned swordsmanship from Yagyu Sangen (Jubei), but this is not certain. If this is true, it would have been during the 12 years from 1626 when Sangen lived in Yagyu Valley in Yamato. After that, he was employed as a swordsmanship instructor by Matsudaira Tadaaki, the lord of Yamato Koriyama Domain, with a stipend of 250 koku, and in any case, his name as a swordsman was widely known. The story of how he assisted his wife Mino's younger brother Watanabe Kazuma in killing Kawai Matagoro at Kagiyanotsuji in Iga Ueno on November 7, 1632 (the Igagoe Revenge) is famous. In storytelling, this has been embellished as "36 murders," but in fact, of the four Kawai side killed, Mataemon killed two. In August 1632, he was taken in by the Tottori Domain along with Kazuma, but died 18 days after their arrival at the age of 41.

(Nakai Issui)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：寛永15.8.28(1638.10.5)
生年：慶長3(1598)
江戸前期の剣術家。本姓は服部氏で,諱は保知。伊賀国(三重県)服部郷荒木村生まれ。父の服部平左衛門は藤堂高虎に仕えて150石取りであったが,浪人してのち備前の池田忠雄に300石で仕えた。又右衛門は12歳のとき桑名藩主本多忠政の家臣で,同族の服部平兵衛の養子となった。元和3(1617)年主人忠政の姫路への移封にしたがったが,その後どのような理由からか養家を去ったという。郷里の伊賀へ戻り,姓を菊山,さらに荒木と改めている。生家も養家も服部姓だから変更するまでもなかったろうが,伊賀は忍者の服部氏に代表されるように同姓が多かったからであろう。柳生三厳(十兵衛)に剣を学んだとされているが定かではない。事実とすれば三厳が大和柳生谷に暮らした寛永3(1626)年以降の12年の間であろう。その後,大和郡山藩主松平忠明に剣術師範として250石で召し抱えられており,いずれにしてもその剣名は広く知られていたといえる。妻みのの実弟の渡辺数馬を助けて,寛永11年11月7日,伊賀上野の鍵屋ノ辻で河合又五郎を討った話(伊賀越の仇討)は有名。講談などで「36人斬り」と脚色されているが,史実では河合側死者4人のうち,又右衛門が2人を斬った。寛永15年8月,数馬と共に鳥取藩に引きとられたが,到着後18日目に41歳で没している。

(中井一水)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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