* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Maeda Gen'i
前田玄以
From monk to one of Hideyoshi's Five Commissioners — the Kyoto shoshidai who managed the court and the temples
Description
Origins
Maeda Gen'i (1539-1602) came from Mino Province and is said to have been a monk in his youth. He is described variously as a monk of Mount Hiei or a Zen monk, and one account makes him abbot of Komatsuji in Owari; much of his early life is obscure. He later entered the service of Oda Nobunaga and attended his heir, Nobutada. The learning he acquired as a monk, and his familiarity with the imperial court and the religious houses, formed the foundation of his later duties.
From the Honnōji Incident to Hideyoshi's Service
At the time of the Honnōji Incident in 1582 he is said to have escaped Kyoto bearing Nobutada's surviving son Sanbōshi, later Oda Hidenobu. After the incident he served Oda Nobukatsu, and in 1583 was appointed Kyoto shoshidai. He subsequently served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who continued to entrust him with the civil administration of Kyoto.
Duties as Kyoto Shoshidai
Gen'i oversaw negotiations with the imperial court, the supervision of temples and shrines, and the civil government of the capital and its environs. At Emperor Go-Yōzei's progress to the Jurakudai in 1588 he acted as the commissioner in charge of arrangements. Granted a domain as lord of Kameyama Castle in Tanba, he administered for many years the distinctive governing space of Kyoto, dense with court nobles and religious institutions — a position without close parallel among his contemporaries.
As One of the Five Commissioners
In 1598, by Hideyoshi's order, he was named one of the Five Commissioners, sharing the governance of the Toyotomi regime with Ishida Mitsunari, Asano Nagamasa, Mashita Nagamori and Natsuka Masaie. Within that body his charge was court and religious affairs; his brief lay in ceremony and religious administration rather than martial duties.
Relations with the Christians, and His End
He at first enforced the suppression of Christians under Hideyoshi's edict expelling the missionaries, but in later years showed understanding and adopted a conciliatory stance, and in 1593 is said to have sheltered Christians secretly in Kyoto. Two of his sons became Christians. At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 illness kept him in Osaka; though counted among the Western army, he is held to have been in communication with Ieyasu, and his holdings were confirmed to him after the battle. He died in 1602 at the age of 64.
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九戸政実
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長束正家
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