, better known as or Keijirō (慶次郎), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period through early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. He was famously the nephew of

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又� ...

and

Maeda Matsu , also known as Omatsu no Kata (お松の方) (1547–1617), was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat of the 16th century. She was the wife of Maeda Toshiie, who founded the Kaga Domain. Matsu had a reputation for intelligence; she was skilled at ...

. In legends and fictions, he is one of the most celebrated ''

kabukimono or were gangs of samurai in feudal Japan. First appearing in the Azuchi–Momoyama period (between the end of the Muromachi period in 1573 and the beginning of the Edo period in 1603) as the turbulent Sengoku period drew to a close, were eit ...

'' (wild men) of the time period who is known for his monstrous height and his peerless strength. Toshimasu's horse and companion, Matsukaze, was one of the most famous warhorses in Japan.

Biography

In 1543, Toshimasu was born in the village of Arako (present-day

Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya is one of the 16 wards of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the ...

), Toshimasu was born to the Takigawa Clan, originally the son of

Takigawa Kazumasu , also known as Sakonshōgen (左近将監), was a samurai retainer and military commander of Oda Nobunaga, and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi, during Japan's Sengoku period. His biological son, Toshimasu, was adopted by Toshihisa and later Kazumasu ...

. He was adopted by Maeda Toshihisa, the older brother of

. Toshimasu served under Oda Nobunaga along with his uncle. Toshimasu was originally intended to inherit Maeda family headship; however, after Oda Nobunaga replaced Toshihisa with Toshiie as Maeda family head, he lost this position. Perhaps because of this loss of inheritance, Toshimasu is well known for quarreling with his uncle. Keiji's armor can still be seen today at the Miyasaka Museum. In 1581, Toshimasu was under the command of his uncle, and made a reputation for himself through conflicts within

Noto Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, including the Noto Peninsula (''Noto-hantō'') which is surrounded by the Sea of Japan. Noto bordered on Etchū and Kaga provinces to the so ...

and was rewarded with 5,000 koku. In 1584, during the

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute The was a series of battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would become Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1586) and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu had both served Oda Nobunaga and had not previou ...

, Toshimasu came with

's to rescue

Suemori Castle is a former Japanese castle located in Nagoya. It was originally outside the city of Nagoya in the countryside of the Owari Province. Lord Oda Nobuhide (1508-1549) built this castle in 1548. The following year, his third son Oda Nobuyuki (d. ...

when was attacked by

Sassa Narimasa , also known as Kura-no-suke (内蔵助), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi–Momoyama period.">DF 7 of 80">"Asa ..., where he was in the rear guard. In 1575, Narimasa fought at the Battle of Nagashino">DF 7 of 80/nowiki>">D ...

. When Maeda Toshihisa passed away in 1587, Toshimasu sent his son into the Maeda family's service. Keiji was barred from Toyotomi's Kyushu Campaign for his wild ways. In 1590, he continued to help his uncle in the Odawara campaign. After Odawara campaign, Toshimasu returned to the capital and devoted himself to arts and literature. Either after Toshihisa's death or in 1590, relations between him and Toshiie grew sour. He fled from the Maeda family without taking his wife or child. After his escape, he resided in Kyoto. While in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, Toshimasu met and befriended

Naoe Kanetsugu was a Japanese samurai of the 16th–17th centuries. The eldest son of Higuchi Kanetoyo, Kanetsugu was famed for his service to two generations of the Uesugi ''daimyōs''. He was also known by his court title, Yamashiro no Kami (山城守) or ...

from Uesugi clan. The two became close friends, and Toshimasu agreed to join Kanetsugu at Sekigahara Campaign, in the Uesugi clan's invasion of Aizu. Later in 1600, at Siege of Hasedō against

Mogami clan were Japanese '' daimyōs'', and were a branch of the Ashikaga family. In the Sengoku period, they were the Sengoku ''daimyōs'' who ruled Dewa Province which is now Yamagata Prefecture and part of Akita Prefecture. The Mogami clan is deriv ...

and

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

, Uesugi failed and Toshimasu was appointed to lead the rear guard during the retreat. Riding his horse "Matsukaze" into battle and brandishing a two-pronged spear, he made a splendid show of force. Due in part to Toshimasu's actions, the Uesugi forces were able to retreat largely intact. Legend says he broke through the enemy lines with only eight riders, and shattered their formation. After the Uesugi clan's move to the

Yonezawa Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered at Yonezawa castle in what is now the city of Yamagata, and its territory extended over the Okitama District of Dewa Pro ...

, Toshimasu remained as a retainer and spent half retired life at Mukuan (Toshimasu`s fortified residence).

Matsukaze

Matsukaze ("wind in the pines") was Toshimasu's famous mount. According to the legend, he was bred of only the finest horses, but he refused to let anyone ride him and eventually ran away. Toshimasu managed to tame the wild horse, possibly due to Toshimasu's own wild personality. Since then, the two were never seen apart. Matsukaze was said to be a horse of immense strength, able to carry his master's large frame for days. Supposedly, Matsukaze ran away after his master's death, never seen again.

Depictions in fiction

Toshimasu is a playable character from the Western Army in the original '' Kessen'' and in the ''

Samurai Warriors is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based closely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and it is a sister series of the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series, relea ...

'', ''

Warriors Orochi is a hack and slash video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of two of Koei's popular video game series, ''Dynasty Warriors'' and '' Samurai Warriors'' (specifically ''Dynasty Warriors 5'' a ...

'' under the name Keiji. He is also playable in ''

Sengoku BASARA is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom, and a bigger media franchise based on it, including four anime shows, an anime movie, a live action show, a magazine series, a trading card game, and numerous drama CDs, light nov ...

'' series, as Maeda Keiji. Keiji is voiced by

Masakazu Morita is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer. He previously worked for Aoni Production. He is also the host of the radio show ''Bleach B-Station''. He played Ichigo Kurosaki in ''Bleach'', Maeda Keiji in '' Sengoku Basara'', Marco the Phoenix ...

in Japanese. In English, Matthew Mercer voiced Toshimasu in '' Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes'' while

Eric Vale Eric Vale (born Christopher Eric Johnson) is an American voice actor who provided voices for a number of English versions of Japanese anime series. He is known for voicing Koichiro Iketani in the ''Initial D'' series, Trunks in the ''Dragon Ball' ...

voiced him in the anime adaptions. He is a playable character in '' Pokémon Conquest'' (Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition in Japan), with his partner Pokémon being Bastiodon and Terrakion. In 2015,

Tatsuya Fuji is a Japanese actor. He was born in Beijing and raised in Yokohama. In 1962, Fuji joined Nikkatsu Company and began his acting career with small roles in Nikkatsu film. In 1968, Fuji married actress Izumi Ashikawa. He gained popularity throug ...

played the role of Toshimasu in the

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

drama

Kabukimono Keiji is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was broadcast in prime-time on NHK in 2015. Tatsuya Fuji played Maeda Keiji. Kabukimono Keiji depicts the later life of Maeda Keiji who was called Kabukimono. Plot Maeda Keiji used to be ...

External links

Yonezawa Maeda Keiji`s club 米澤前田慶次の会

/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Toshimasu Samurai 1612 deaths Maeda clan Uesugi retainers 1543 births Warhorses