Maeda Matsu

Maeda Matsu (前田 まつ, 1547-1617), also known as o-Matsu no Kata (お松の方), was a sixteenth-century Japanese woman. Wife of Maeda Toshiie, the founder of the Kaga estate, she was renowned for her intelligence and talents in writing and fighting.

She was also responsible for the rise of the Maeda clan. Following Toshiie's death, she ensured the safety of the clan after the year 1600. She even went as far as to go as a hostage to the castle of the new shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, whom she hated all her life.

Her sons, Toshinaga Toshimasa, Toshitsune, Toshitaka, and Toshitoyo, were each allowed to hold the title of daimyo and own their own fiefdoms. She also had four daughters: Kō, Ma'a, Gō and Chise.

Maeda Matsu Influence in culture

• Actress Matsushima Nanako played Maeda Matsu in the 2002 taiga drama Toshiie to Matsu.
• In the taiga drama Tenchijin (en), one of her sons sells her to Tokugawa Ieyasu for her life.
• In the video game Sengoku Basara, she fights as a non-playable character alongside Toshiie. She is named Bramble (in the English version) and her husband is called Lark. Her names are not used in the other games of the series. In the video game Sengoku Basara X, she and Toshiie rescue their nephew Keiji. In Sengoku Basara 2, Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes, and Sengoku Basara 3: Utage, she is a playable character and appears in Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes as a non-playable character.
• She is a bodyguard in Samurai Warriors 2 and Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends. In Samurai Warriors 3: Empires, Matsu is mentioned during a conversation between Toshiie and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
• She appears in the game Kessen as a playable character. She also appears in Kessen 3 if the player has the Enjoy Disc.