Omaeda Eigoro - Omaeda Eigoro

Japanese: 大前田英五郎 - おおまえだ・えいごろう

Year of death: February 26, 1874
Year of birth: 1793
A gangster from the late Edo period. His real surname was Tajima. He was born in Omaeda Village, Seta County, Kozuke Province (Gunma Prefecture). His grandfather is said to have been a village headman, but his father, Hisagoro, was a gambler who was famous for his amateur sumo wrestling, so at the age of 15, he joined a turf war, and at the age of 25, he killed Hisamiya Johachi and became a wanted man. He was captured and exiled to Sado, but he escaped the island and established his influence in Owari (Nagoya), where he became the boss of a two-seater gambler group under the protection of the Owari Domain. During the late Edo period, he was mainly involved in arbitrating turf wars between gamblers who lived in various places, and as a leader, he was given territory and expanded his influence, and it is said that he had influence from the Kanto region to the Tokai region. Unlike Kunisada Chuji, a militant gambler who consistently stood up to the authorities, he was good at using both his two jobs, and in his later years, he returned to his hometown of Omaeda and passed away peacefully at the age of 82. On the gravestone erected by people associated with gamblers in Joshu, the last words are engraved: "A joyous destination, a bittersweet journey before death."

(Bin Takahashi)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治7.2.26(1874)
生年：寛政5(1793)
江戸後期の侠客。本姓は田島氏。上野国(群馬県)勢多郡大前田村生まれ。祖父は名主を勤めたといわれるが,父久五郎が草相撲で鳴らした博徒であったため,15歳で縄張り争いに加わり,25歳のとき久宮丈八を殺しておたずね者となった。捕らえられ佐渡に流刑されるが,島抜けして尾張(名古屋)に勢力を張り,尾張藩の庇護を受ける二足草鞋の大親分となった。幕末期各地に族生した博徒同士の縄張り争いの仲裁役を本領とし,顔役として縄張りをもらっては勢力を拡大し,関東から東海地方にまで影響力を持ったといわれる。一貫してお上に立ち向かった武闘派博徒の国定忠治とは異なり,二足の草鞋をうまく使い分け,晩年は郷里大前田に帰って82歳の大往生を遂げた。上州の博徒関係者が建立した墓碑には「あらうれし行先とほき死出の旅」の辞世が刻まれている。

(高橋敏)

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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