Watanabe Kazuma
渡辺数馬
The avenger at the center of the Kagiya-no-Tsuji Duel, one of Japan's "Three Great Vendettas"
Description
Watanabe Kazuma (c. 1608-c. 1643) was a samurai of the early Edo period, known as the central figure of the Kagiya-no-Tsuji Duel, in which he sought the aid of his brother-in-law Araki Mataemon to avenge his younger brother's murder. Sources differ on his exact birth and death years, which remain unconfirmed.
The Murder of His Brother
Kazuma served the Okayama domain lord Ikeda Tadakatsu; his younger brother Watanabe Gendayū was a page in Tadakatsu's service. On July 21, 1630, Gendayū was pursued romantically by a fellow retainer, Kawai Matagorō, and after refusing his advances was killed by Matagorō in a fit of rage.
Requesting Araki Mataemon's Assistance
Not himself a skilled swordsman, Kazuma asked his brother-in-law Araki Mataemon, a noted practitioner of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, for help in avenging his brother. Matagorō fled to Edo after the killing and found protection with the bannerman Andō family, making pursuit difficult, but when word came that he was traveling back toward Edo via the Iga road, Kazuma and Mataemon's party lay in wait for him at Kagiya-no-Tsuji in Iga-Ueno.
The Kagiya-no-Tsuji Duel
On December 26, 1634, Kazuma, Mataemon and two companions clashed with Matagorō's party of eleven at Kagiya-no-Tsuji. In a confrontation said to have lasted roughly six hours, four of Matagorō's side, including Matagorō himself, were killed, against one death on the Watanabe side. The episode is counted among Japan's "Three Great Vendettas," alongside the revenge of the Soga brothers and the raid of the Akō rōnin.
Aftermath and Connection to Swordsmanship
The year after the duel, Kazuma is said to have studied under Tonami Chikakiyo, founder of the Tonami-ryū school of swordsmanship, together with Mataemon. Following the incident he was placed for a time in the custody of the Tōdō family, and in 1638 is said to have left Iga to be taken in by the Tottori domain.
Legacy
The Kagiya-no-Tsuji Duel, along with the popular but exaggerated legend of "thirty-six men cut down," has been retold repeatedly in kabuki, kōdan storytelling and film, and Kazuma has long been remembered as the loyal avenger of his brother's death. At the same time, many accounts regard Mataemon, the helper, as the true protagonist of the actual swordplay, leaving Kazuma's own martial reputation less clearly established in the historical record.