, also known as Masahisa (政久), was a Japanese samurai who served as a retainer to Lord
Mōri of
Chōshū. Though his name was Masahisa, he is known by his "common" name of Matabei. While his income (a stipend of 59 koku) may not have been particularly high, his voice was certainly one closest to the ear of the daimyō. Though he was born into the unstipended Kitamura clan (the clan messengers/couriers), he was adopted by Kijima Masatsune, the head of another Chōshū retainer family. Matabee became greatly renowned for his martial skill, both in Chōshū and in Edo, owing to his many trips accompanying Lord Mōri. He studied swordsmanship and spearmanship with
Ōishi Susumu of the Yanagawa domain, horsemanship with the Hagi-based Narasaki Shirōbei, as well as training in Edo at the
dōjō of Kubota Sukeshirō.
Following the
Ikedaya Incident (July 1864), where the
Aizu
is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princip ...
domain-sponsored
Shinsengumi
The was a special police force organized by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when ...
attacked and defeated around 20 (mostly) Chōshū samurai who were plotting to burn Kyoto to the ground, Kijima was one of those along with senior Chōshū retainer
Kokuji Shinano who led the advance of Chōshū forces to Kyoto in retaliation. However, when he led his forces from
Tenryū-ji
, formally known as , is the head temple of the Tenryū-ji branch of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, located in Susukinobaba-chō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. The temple was founded by Ashikaga Takauji in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Buddh ...
Temple (in the wooded hills west of Kyoto) to the
Forbidden Gates of the Imperial palace, the Aizu force gunned his unit down, and he was forced to have his nephew Kitamura Takeshichi help him commit suicide.
Sources
Brief biography of Kijima Matabee
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060628072907/http://ddb.libnet.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/exhibit/ishin/jinmei/Kijima.html Extended biography of Matabee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kijima, Matabee
Mōri retainers
1817 births
1864 deaths
Suicides by seppuku