Maeda Shigemichi

Maeda Shigemichi (前田 重教, November 30, 1741 – July 7, 1786) was an Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 9th daimyō of Kaga Domain in the Hokuriku region of Japan. He was the 10th hereditary chieftain of the Kanazawa Maeda clan.

Maeda Shigemichi
前田 重靖
Maeda Shigemichi
Born	(1741-11-30)November 30, 1741 Kanazawa, Japan
Died	July 7, 1786(1786-07-07) (aged 44)
Nationality	Japanese
Predecessor	Maeda Shigenobu
Successor	Maeda Harunaga
Parent(s)	Maeda Yoshinori (father)
9th Daimyō of Kaga Domain
In office 1753–1771

Shigemichi was born in Kanazawa as Kenjiro (健次郎), the seventh son of Maeda Yoshinori. His mother was a concubine and he was initially destined to be adopted by Kaga clan retainer Moirai Nagakata; however, with so many of his brother dying untimely deaths during the O-Ie Sōdō known as the “Kaga Sōdō” these plans were cancelled. In 1753, he was named to succeed his brother Maeda Shigenobu and became daimyō the same year. He immediately prepared to depart for Edo, but came down with measles (the same disease which had killed his brother), and his departure was delayed by a year. He was received in formal audience by Shogun Tokugawa Ieshige in 1754 and his posthumous adoption and position as daimyō was confirmed.

One of his first steps was to end the “Kaga Sōdō” by siding firmly with the conservative faction, ending the fiscal experiments begun by Ōtsuki Denzō. While this purge brought political stability back to the domain, the domain finances immediately spiralled out of control. In 1759, Kanazawa Castle burned down, along with much of the surrounding castle town, and to domain was forced to borrow 50,000 ryō from the shogunate for immediate repairs.

Sgigemichi was a noted patron of Noh and Kyōgen drama.

Shigemichi yielded headship to his half-brother Harunaga in 1771, and died in 1786 at age 44.