Maeda Toshinaga

Maeda Toshinaga (1562-1614) was a samurai commander and daimyo who flourished from the Sengoku period through the early Edo period, known as the first daimyo of Kaga Domain (present-day Ishikawa and Toyama Prefectures). He succeeded his father Maeda Toshiie, inheriting the house that held the foremost position among the Five Great Elders under the Toyotomi regime. At the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), he sided with the Eastern Army (Tokugawa Ieyasu) to preserve his house name, establishing the foundation for Kaga Hyakumangoku as the greatest outer daimyo domain throughout the Edo period.

Toshinaga was born as the eldest son of Maeda Toshiie in 1562. His mother was Hōshun-in (Matsu), and he was raised as a samurai warrior under his father Toshiie, who rose as a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, he participated in battles throughout the country following his father, and after the establishment of the Toyotomi regime, he supported his father Toshiie, who was one of the Five Great Elders. Following his father's death in 1599, he inherited the Maeda house headship and became daimyo of Kaga Domain.

At the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), the Maeda clan sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army from the outset and captured Daishō-ji Castle, held by the Western Army. This decision became a crucial turning point in the Maeda clan's survival and served as a distant cause enabling them to maintain the great million-koku domain of Kaga as an outer daimyo throughout the Edo period. After the war, he made Kanazawa Castle his residence and devoted himself to domain administration, working to develop the castle town and promote culture. In 1609, he retired to Takaoka, and he passed away in 1614.

Regarding his relationship with Japanese swords, Toshinaga is renowned as a daimyo who actively protected and fostered the sword culture of the Kaga school. Kaga was a region that had long produced excellent swordsmiths, and Toshinaga cherished that tradition. The Maeda clan possessed numerous masterwork swords from the Maeda house of Kaga, and some are still preserved today at institutions such as the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art. Moreover, Toshinaga was a man of culture who appreciated chanoyu (tea ceremony), and he possessed the refinement to appreciate swords as cultural artifacts. The promotion of sword culture in Kaga Domain began with Toshinaga, and he laid the foundation for the creation of numerous masterwork swords of the Kaga school throughout the Edo period.