Meada Keiji
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Keiji Maeda ( died 1605 or 1612) was a feudal Japanese warrior who lived during the Sengoku period. He was born to the Takigawa Clan of Owari, originally the son of Takigawa Kazumasu. He was the adopted son of Toshihisa Maeda. When the house of Maeda was passed along to his uncle, Toshiie Maeda, whom he never got along with, Keiji broke away from his clan to live the life of a wanderer.
He was barred from Toyotomi’s Kyushu campaign for his wild ways. While in Kyoto Keiji met Kanetsugu Naoe, Kagekatsu Uesugi's trusted assistant. He then agreed to join Kanetsugu in his invasion of Aizu. During the retreat from the failed invasion, Keiji was given the task of leading the rear guard. Riding his horse Matsukaze into battle and brandishing a two-pronged spear, he made a splendid show of force. Due to Keiji's prowess, the Uesugi Army returned unscathed.
Afterwards, he returned to the capital and devoted himself to arts and literature. When the Tokugawa challenged the Uesugi, he once again fought with Uesugi’s army. In the battle against the Mogami, he broke through the enemy base with only eight riders and shattered their formation.
His armor can still be seen today in the Miyasaka Museum.
[edit] Keiji Maeda in Japanese Popculture
He is also a playable character in the PlayStation 2 video game Samurai Warriors and intended to be the strongest warrior in nearly all aspects. Keiji/Keijiro Maeda appears in Onimusha Blade Warriors as well as the original Onimusha video game, under the name: Yumemaru (a little boy whom Princess Yuki protects). Maeda Keiji is also a secret playable character in Kessen III, who must loaded through Samurai Warriors saved game data from a memory card.
There is a manga comic about Keiji Maeda by Tetsuo Hara (who is famous for his Hokuto no Ken manga and anime). It was produced in 1993 and is titled Hana no Keiji.
Recently, Maeda Keiji was confirmed as a new character in Sengoku Basara 2 (also known as Devil Kings 2), the sequel to Capcom's Sengoku-based hack-and-slash game, Sengoku Basara (Devil Kings). He will be voiced by Masakazu Morita.
