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Maeda Toshiie (前田 利家 Maeda Toshiie; January 15, 1539 - April 27, 1599) was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi-Momoyama period. His father was Maeda Toshimasa. He was the fourth of seven brothers. His childhood name was "Inuchiyo" (犬千代). His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又左衛門) being his common name. The highest rank from the court that he received is the Great Counselor Dainagon (大納言).

Contents 1 Early years 2 Military life 3 Family 4 Portrayal in popular culture

Born in Owari province, he served Oda Nobunaga from childhood and his loyalty was rewarded by being allowed to be the head of the Maeda clan, very unusual for a fourth son with no apparent failures among his elder brothers. Just like Nobunaga, Toshiie was also a delinquent, usually dressed in the outlandish style of a kabukimono. It is believed he also became a friend to Kinoshita Tokichiro (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi) in their youth. Just as Hideyoshi was known as Saru, 猴 or "monkey," it is believed that Toshiie was called Inu, 犬 or "dog" by Nobunaga. Due to a long-standing belief that dogs and monkeys are never friendly to each other, Toshiie is often depicted as stern and honest, in contrast to Hideyoshi's talkative and easy-going nature.

Toshiie began his career as an infantry captain (足軽大将) in the Oda army. During his military career, Toshiie made the acquaintance of many important figures, such as Hashiba Hideyoshi (known at the time as Kinoshita Tokichirou 木下藤吉郎) who was a mere squire to Nobunaga when Toshiie first met him; Sassa Narimasa, his friend and later rival; and also, Nobunaga, his superior. He also made some enemies and rivals such as Akechi Mitsuhide, who went on to assassinate Nobunaga; Toshiie also was a lifelong rival of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After defeating Asakura, Maeda fought under Shibata Katsuie in the Hokuriku area. He was eventually granted a han in Noto Province known as Kaga (Kaga no kuni; 加賀ノ国); Despite its small size, Kaga was a highly productive province having a net worth of 1 million koku (百万石); thus, it was nicknamed Kaga Hyaku-man-goku (加賀百万石).

After Nobunaga's assassination at Honnō-ji (本能寺) by Akechi Mitsuhide and Mistuhide's subsequent defeat by Hideyoshi, he battled Hideyoshi under Shibata's command in the Battle of Shizugatake. After Shibata's defeat, Toshiie worked for Hideyoshi and became one of his leading generals. Later somewhere during this time he was forced to fight another of his friends, Kuranosuke, where the decision of fighting in the battle or not affected not only his military position but life and honor. Kuranosuke was greatly outnumbered and felled by Toshiie, following the major Maeda victory at the Battle of Suemori Castle. Before dying in 1598, Hideyoshi named Toshiie to the council of Five Elders to support Toyotomi Hideyori until he was old enough to take control on his own. However, Toshiie himself was ailing, and could manage to support Hideyori for only a year before he died as well.

Toshiie's wife, Maeda Matsu, was famous in her own right. Strong-willed from childhood, she was well-versed in the martial arts and was instrumental in Toshiie's rise to success. After her husband died, Matsu, then known by her Buddhist nun name of Hoshun-in, assured the safety of the Maeda clan after the year 1600 by voluntarily going as a hostage to Edo, capital of the new shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, to whom she loathed throughout her life as she watched him, her husband and Hideyoshi compete for power.

The 2002 NHK Taiga drama "Toshiie to Matsu" (利家とまつ~加賀百万石の物語) was based on the story of their lives together. Maeda Toshiie was played by Karasawa Toshiaki, and Matsu by Matsushima Nanako. Karasawa later made a special appearance as the same character in the 2006 NHK Taiga drama "Kōmyō ga Tsuji" (功名が辻) (eps 39 and 40).

Maeda Toshiie and Matsu are also playable characters in Capcom's Sengoku Basara, and they are still portrayed as a loyal couple. In Devil Kings, he is renamed as Lark, while Matsu is renamed as Bramble. Unfortunately, they become unplayable in the said game.

He also appears in Koei's Kessen III as a young, brash vassal to Nobunaga. However, his wife can only be unlocked using an exclusive disc (in the same fashion of Nobunaga's tea ceremony instructor Sen no Rikyu and Fuuma Kotarou).

Maeda Toshiie is portrayed as a comic relief in the manga Hana no Keiji (by Tetsuo Hara) in which his nephew Maeda Keiji causes his uncle Toshiie many problems in the Maeda household.

Maeda Toshiie (under the name Maeda Inuchiyo) also appears in the manga Mister Zipangu.