Kijima Matabei
Kijima Matabei (æ¥å³¶ åˆå…µè¡›, February 23, 1817 – August 20, 1864), also known as Masahisa (政久), was a Japanese samurai who served as a retainer to Lord MÅri of ChÅshÅ«. Though his name was Masahisa, he is known by his "common" name of Matabei. While his income (a stipend of 59 koku) may not have been particularly high, his voice was certainly one closest to the ear of the daimyo. Though he was born into the unstipended Kitamura clan (the clan messengers/couriers), he was adopted by Kijima Masatsune, the head of another ChÅshÅ« retainer family. Matabei became greatly renowned for his martial skill, both in ChÅshÅ« and in Edo, owing to his many trips accompanying Lord MÅri. He studied swordsmanship and spearmanship with ÅŒishi Susumu of the Yanagawa domain, horsemanship with the Hagi-based Narasaki ShirÅbei, as well as training in Edo at the dÅjÅ of Kubota SukeshirÅ.
Following the Ikedaya Incident (July 1864), where the Aizu domain-sponsored Shinsengumi attacked and defeated around 20 (mostly) ChÅshÅ« samurai who were plotting to burn Kyoto to the ground, Kijima was one of those along with senior ChÅshÅ« retainer Kokuji Shinano who led the advance of ChÅshÅ« forces to Kyoto in retaliation. However, when he led his forces from TenryÅ«-ji Temple (in the wooded hills west of Kyoto) to the Forbidden Gates of the Imperial palace, the Aizu force gunned his unit down, and he was forced to have his nephew Kitamura Takeshichi help him commit suicide.
Sources
- Brief biography of Kijima Matabei
- Background on Matabei, as well as the Kijima and Kitamura families
- Extended biography of Matabei