Mr. Maeda

During the Edo period, he was a great feudal lord who ruled over three provinces, Kaga (Ishikawa Prefecture), Noto (Ishikawa Prefecture), and Ecchu (Toyama Prefecture), with a fief of 1,025,000 koku. He was a branch of the Saito clan of Mino Province (Gifu Prefecture), and the Maeda surname is said to have originated from living in Maeda Village in the same province. During the time of Toshiharu (Toshimasa), he lived in Arako Castle in Owari Province (Aichi Prefecture) and ruled over 2,000 kan of land. Although he was a minor Sengoku warlord, his son Toshiie began serving Oda Nobunaga in 1551 (Tenbun 20), and the family fortunes improved. He skillfully handled the succession of national unification by the Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa, and secured lordship over the three provinces. Toshiie and his successors took over as lords of Kaga Domain until the domain was abolished. During the Keicho period (1596-1615) of the second lord, Toshinaga, he held a fief of 1.2 million koku, but when the third lord, Toshitsune, retired, he gave his second son, Toshitsugu, 100,000 koku of Toyama domain, and his third son, Toshiharu, 70,000 koku of Daishoji domain.

[Kisaburo Wakabayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代、加賀（石川県）、能登(のと)（石川県）、越中(えっちゅう)（富山県）3か国で102万5000石を領した大大名。美濃国(みののくに)（岐阜県）斎藤氏の庶流で、前田の姓は同国前田村に住したところから生じたらしい。利春(としはる)（利昌(としまさ)）のとき尾張国(おわりのくに)（愛知県）荒子城に住し、2000貫の地を領した。微々たる戦国武将であったが、1551年（天文20）その子利家(としいえ)が織田信長に仕えてから家運を開き、織田、豊臣(とよとみ)、徳川と天下統一が継承される間に巧みに対処して、3か国における領主権を確保した。利家以下歴代加賀藩主を相受けて廃藩に至る。2代利長(としなが)の慶長(けいちょう)期（1596～1615）には120万石を領したが、3代利常(としつね)隠居の際、次子利次(としつぐ)に富山藩10万石、三子利治(としはる)に大聖寺(だいしょうじ)藩7万石を分けた。

［若林喜三郎］

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