Toshiie Maeda

Japanese: 前田利家 - まえだ・としいえ

Year of death: April 27, 1599
Year of birth: Tenbun 7 (1538)
A military commander in the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The fourth son of Toshimasa, his mother was a member of the Takeno clan. He was born in Arako Village, Owari Province (Nakagawa Ward, Nagoya City). His childhood name was Inuchiyo. He became Magoshiro and later became Matazaemon-no-jo. He became a close attendant to Oda Nobunaga at the age of 14, and in a battle at the age of 19, he is said to have killed an enemy with a spear while an arrow was still lodged in his face. In 1575 (Tensho 3), Nobunaga gave him Echizen (Fukui Prefecture), and he was stationed in Fuchu (Takefu City) in the same province along with Sassa Narimasa and Fuwa Mitsuharu to keep an eye on Shibata Katsuie, who was given Echizen Province (Fukui Prefecture). In the same year, he was assigned the entire province of Noto (Ishikawa Prefecture) and became a kuni-mochi daimyo. He had close relations with both Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, who were his rivals after the Honnoji Incident, and initially sided with Katsuie in the Battle of Shizugatake, but surrendered to Hideyoshi midway through the battle. After Katsuie's suicide, he was awarded the northern half of Kaga for his meritorious service in leading the invasion of Kaga (Ishikawa Prefecture), and in 1582 his eldest son Toshikatsu was given the three counties of Etchu (Toyama Prefecture) for his service in defeating Narimasa in Etchu, forming the basis of what would become the Kaga domain, spanning the three provinces of Kaga, Etchu, and Noto. The following year he was given the surname Hashiba and Hideyoshi's former official title of Chikuzen no Kami, which shows how much Hideyoshi trusted him. His third daughter, Maa (Kagadono), lived in Jurakudai Castle as Hideyoshi's concubine, and his fourth daughter, Take, was adopted by Hideyoshi from a young age and was favored by him. They participated in Hideyoshi's unification of the country by sending large armies to Kyushu in 1582 and to the pacification of Kanto and Oshu in 1585. During the invasion of Korea that began in 1592, he was stationed in Nagoya (Chinzei-cho, Saga Prefecture), and together with Tokugawa Ieyasu, he dissuaded Hideyoshi, who had tried to cross the sea after hearing of the fall of Hanseong (Seoul). After Toyotomi Hidetsugu's rebellion in 1594, he became the protector of Hideyoshi's second son, Hideyori, and in the following year, 1596, he was promoted to the rank of Gon Dainagon (Gon Minister of State) with the rank of Junior Second Rank. As one of the Five Elders, he supported Hideyoshi's government, and in January 1594, after Hideyoshi's death, he took the lead in pursuing Ieyasu for disobeying Hideyoshi's laws, but the two were soon reconciled. Shortly afterwards, he had his wife Matsu write his will, and he died in Osaka shortly thereafter. In accordance with his will, he was buried at Nodayama in Kanazawa. When he was young, he was known as a "kabuki actor" with a taste for flashy things and a quick temper, and even in old age, he disliked the narrow-waisted hakama that was in fashion and wore them thicker. He was also a good arithmetician and always kept an abacus in his armor chest, and was also financially astute, lending money to Date Masamune and others.

(Akira Kawamura)

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

Japanese:

没年：慶長4.閏3.3(1599.4.27)
生年：天文7(1538)
安土桃山時代の武将。利昌の4男,母は竹野氏。尾張国荒子村(名古屋市中川区)生まれ。幼名犬千代。孫四郎のち又左衛門尉。14歳で織田信長の近習となり,19歳のときの合戦では,顔に矢が刺さったまま相手を槍で倒したという。天正3(1575)年信長から越前(福井県)を与えられた柴田勝家の監視役として佐々成政,不破光治と共に同国府中(武生市)に配され,同9年には能登(石川県)一国をあてがわれて国持大名となった。本能寺の変後相対立した柴田勝家,羽柴(豊臣)秀吉とは双方ともに親密な間柄で,賤ケ岳の戦では当初勝家に加担したが,途中で秀吉に降伏した。勝家の自殺後,加賀(石川県)侵攻の先鋒を務めた功で加賀北半を加増され,さらに越中(富山県)の成政を下した功で,同13年嫡子利勝が越中3郡を得,加賀,越中,能登3カ国にわたるのちの加賀藩領の原形ができた。翌年羽柴姓と秀吉の旧官名筑前守を譲られており,秀吉の信頼厚かったことがわかる。ちなみに3女摩阿(加賀殿)は秀吉の側室として聚楽第天守に住み,4女豪は幼時より秀吉の養女となって寵愛された。天正15年の九州出兵,同18年の関東・奥羽平定に大軍を出して秀吉の全国統一に参加。文禄1(1592)年からの朝鮮侵略では名護屋(佐賀県鎮西町)に駐留し,漢城(ソウル)陥落を聞いて渡海しようとする秀吉を徳川家康と共に諫止したこともある。同4年の豊臣秀次の謀反後,秀吉の次男秀頼の守り役となり,翌慶長1(1596)年には従二位権大納言に進んだ。五大老のひとりとして秀吉政権を支え,秀吉没後の同4年1月,秀吉の制法に背いた家康を追及する先頭に立ったがすぐ和解。その直後妻まつに遺書を代筆させ,まもなく大坂で没,遺言に従い金沢の野田山に葬られた。若いときは派手好みで喧嘩早い「かぶき者」で知られ,老いても流行の細腰の袴をきらい太くしたという。また常に具足櫃にそろばんを入れていた計算上手で,伊達政宗らに金子を融資するなど経済的才覚もあった。<参考文献>岩沢愿彦『前田利家』,『加賀藩史料』1編

(河村昭一)

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