* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Maeda Toshiie
前田利家
Mataza of the Spear
Description
The Birth of the Spear's Mataza
Born in Tenmon 7 (1539) at Arashiro Castle in Owari Province, Maeda Toshiie, known by the epithet "Mataza of the Spear," earned his martial renown in the Sengoku period and later became the fierce warrior and cultural patron who laid the foundations of the million-koku Kaga domain. As one of Oda Nobunaga's Akahoroshu (elite guard unit), he accumulated military exploits from his youth in numerous battles, and was particularly celebrated as unmatched under heaven in spear technique.
Nobunaga's Akahoroshu
Toshiie's martial prowess matured early. Beginning his service to Nobunaga at age fourteen, he distinguished himself from his first campaign, wielding his spear to slay enemy commanders. Nobunaga's Akahoroshu were an elite unit who took pride in wearing the red horosu (cape) that made them stand out on the battlefield and fighting in the front lines. Toshiie served as their commander, repeatedly leading the vanguard in numerous battles. He participated in nearly all of Nobunaga's major campaigns—the Battle of Okehazama, the Battle of Inabayama Castle, the Battle of Anegawa—and earned his martial glory with spear in hand.
The Transition to the Age of Hideyoshi
Toshiie's spear technique resounded across the realm, but his connoisseurship of swords ran equally deep. Among the swords transmitted to the Maeda house, the most renowned is the "Ōdenta Mitsuyo." This tachi, counted among the Five Swords Under Heaven, is the work of the swordsmith Mitsuyo of Mitsui in Chikugo Province and stands as his masterpiece and the pinnacle of Japanese sword history. Ōdenta Mitsuyo is characterized by its broad, heavy form, itame grain pattern adorned with bold undulating blade patterns, and embodies the generous style of the late Heian period. Treasured as a family heirloom of the Maeda house through generations, it is designated a National Treasure.
The Path to Kaga's Million Koku
There are various theories regarding how Ōdenta Mitsuyo came into the Maeda house, but the prevailing account holds that it was bestowed upon Toshiie by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As Toshiie accumulated military achievements under Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, he was frequently rewarded with famous blades. Nobunaga in particular granted him numerous renowned swords as battle rewards. These celebrated blades were collected as treasures emblematic of the Maeda house's prestige and formed the nucleus of the Kaga domain's sword collection.
The Eye for Sword Collecting
Toshiie became one of the Five Elders in the Toyotomi regime, and after Hideyoshi's death, he served as guardian to the young Hideyori, supporting the Toyotomi house. Toshiie's presence was the greatest check against the expanding authority of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and as long as Toshiie lived, Ieyasu could not move against the Toyotomi family. However, in Keichō 4 (1599), merely one year after Hideyoshi's death, Toshiie himself passed away. His death accelerated the collapse of the Toyotomi regime and led directly to the Battle of Sekigahara the following year.
The Cultural Dimension
Throughout the Edo period, the Kaga domain flourished as a great domain of one million koku and boasted one of Japan's premier sword collections. The Maeda house's swords are known for their high quality, with the Ōdenta Mitsuyo among the Five Swords Under Heaven as their foremost treasure. The Kaga domain was also actively devoted to cultural enterprises, and the preservation and appreciation of swords was promoted by the entire domain. The tradition of martial prowess and culture that Toshiie established was handed down to posterity alongside the splendor of Kaga's million koku.
The Foundation of Kaga
For Toshiie, the spear was his supreme weapon on the battlefield, but the sword was the symbol of his status as a leading warrior and his cultural refinement. To fell enemies with the spear and to display one's character through the sword—that image embodied the very ideal of a Sengoku warlord who possessed both martial valor and cultural cultivation.
Notable Swords
- Ōdenta Mitsuyo (Tenka Goken)
- Maeda clan sword collection