, was a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
and the first commander of the
Japanese forces in northern
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
(
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...
,
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
,
Labuan
Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capit ...
, and
North Borneo
North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...
) in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Biography
Maeda Toshinari was born the fifth son of the former ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
'' of
Nanokaichi Domain
was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kōzuke Province (modern-day Gunma Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Nanokaichi ''jin'ya'' in what is now part of the city of Tomioka, Gunma. Parts of the ''j ...
in
Kozuke province (modern
Tomioka city,
Gunma Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...
), Maeda Toshiaki. He was adopted as heir to the main branch of the
Maeda clan
was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan of Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Suga ...
in 1900. He became
marquis
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
and the 16th head of the
Maeda clan
was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan of Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Suga ...
on 13 June 1900. His childhood name was Shigeru (茂).
As was common with sons of the ''
kazoku
The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution.
Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...
'' aristocracy, he served for a session in the
House of Peers in the
Japanese Diet
The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
in 1910, while pursuing his military education. He graduated from the 23rd class of the
Army War College in 1911. He was an outstanding student, and was awarded the Emperor's Sword on graduation. In 1913, he traveled to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
for further studies, and from there went on to
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
.
On 7 August 1923, he became a
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
commander in the 4th Regiment of the
Imperial Guard of Japan
In Japan, the Imperial Guard is the name for two separate organizations dedicated to the protection of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial Family, palaces and other imperial properties. The first was the , a quasi-independent elite branch of the ...
.
From 26 July 1927 to 1 August 1930 he served as
military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...
to Great Britain. On his return in 1930, he was made regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment of the Imperial Guard. In 1935, he was made a member of the
Imperial Japanese Army General Staff
The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army.
Role
The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs ...
. From 1936-1937, he was superintendent of the Army War College, and on 2 August 1937, he was promoted to
lieutenant general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
, commanding the
IJA 8th Division
The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. It was formed 1 October 1898 in Hirosaki, Aomori, as one of the six new reserve divisions created after the First Sino-Japanese War and was annihilated in the Philippines during the P ...
. On 31 January 1939, he retired from active duty and was placed on the reserve list.
However, with the start of the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
, Maeda was recalled to active service, and assigned command of the Borneo theatre of operations on 6 April 1942. In September of that year, he was killed in an
air crash
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
flying to
Labuan Island
Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territories of Malaysia, Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah ...
which was renamed for him during the period of the Japanese occupation. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of full
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
.
Maeda's former home built in 1929 in
Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo
is a residential neighborhood in the northern area of Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. Consisting of four districts, the neighborhood has a population of 6,847.
The neighborhood is known as a center for education being the location of a number of select ...
, survives today as the historic centerpiece of
Komaba Park
is a park in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan located adjacent to the University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus.
History
The land was the site of the Komaba Agricultural College in the Meiji Era and then the location of the Tokyo Imperial University Faculty o ...
. It was requisitioned by
SCAP
SCAP may refer to:
* S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines
* Security Content Automation Protocol
* ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game
* SREBP cleavage activating protein
* Supervisory Capital Assessment ...
after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
for use as a residence by General
Ennis Whitehead
Ennis Clement Whitehead (September 3, 1895 – October 12, 1964) was an early United States Army aviator and a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II. Whitehead joined the U. S. Army after the United States entered World War I ...
, commander of the
5th Air Force, and later by General
Matthew Bunker Ridgway. In 1957, ownership was then transferred to
Meguro Ward. Part of the grounds of the estate now host the Japan Museum of Modern Literature. Likewise, his former summer mansion in
Kamakura
is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939.
Kamak ...
(built in 1936) was used as a summer residence by
Japanese Prime Minister
The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...
Eisaku Satō
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1972. He is the third-longest serving Prime Minister, and ranks second in longest uninterrupted service as Prime Minister.
Satō entered the National Diet in 1949 as a membe ...
, and later donated to the city of Kamakura for use as the
Kamakura Museum of Literature.
His daughter,
Sakai Miiko (1926–1999), became a non-fiction author, writing several works on the ''kazoku'' and their tragic history in
Shōwa period
Shōwa may refer to:
* Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa
* Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu
Japanese eras
* Jōwa (Heian ...
Japan.
Family
* Father: Maeda Toshiaki (1850-1896)
* Foster Father: Maeda Toshitsugu (1858-1900)
* Wives:
** Maeda Namiko, Maeda Toshitsugu‘s daughter
** Maeda Kikuko (1903-1986)
* Children:
** Toshitatsu Maeda (1908-1989) by Namiko
** Sakai Miiko (1926–1999) married Sakai Tadamoto by Kikuko
** Maeda Toshihiro (b.1929) by Kikuko
** Yoko by Kikuko
Death
![Prince Maida memorial at Bintulu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Prince_Maida_memorial_at_Bintulu.jpg)
On 5 September 1942, there was an execution of five men at Padungan,
Kuching
Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...
who were caught for stealing petrol. The execution was witnessed by Maeda. Maeda later boarded a plane to
Labuan
Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capit ...
that day to officiate an airport that bear his name. However, he never arrived. One month later, the plane was found to have crashed off the coast of Tanjung Datu,
Bintulu
Bintulu is a coastal town on the island of Borneo in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. Bintulu is located 610 kilometres (380 mi) northeast of Kuching, 216 kilometres (134 mi) northeast of Sibu, and 200 kilometres (120 mi) ...
. The cause of the plane crash was not known. The Japanese later set up a wooden pole memorial made up of
Belian wood in Bintulu. The wooden pole was later taken back to Japan by the Maeda family. A memorial dedicated to the general is located in
Labuan Museum
The Labuan Museum ( ms, Muzium Labuan) is a museum located along Jalan Dewan in central Labuan, Malaysia.
History
The museum building was originally constructed in the 1950s. It was once the administration office of the British North Borneo gov ...
's History Square.
References
*
External links
*
*
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Toshinari
1885 births
1942 deaths
Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II
Japanese generals
Kazoku
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Malaysia
Japanese military personnel killed in World War II