[known in Japan as o-Matsu no Kata (お松の方)](1547–1617) was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese woman of the 16th century. She was the wife of Maeda Toshiie

Maeda Toshiie

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" . His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as...

, who founded the Kaga Domain

Kaga Domain

The was a powerful feudal domain in Kaga, Noto and Etchū Provinces of Japan during the Edo period. The domain was founded by Maeda Toshiie and headed by the Maeda clan. Its income rating, over 1,000,000 koku, was the highest in the nation after the Tokugawa shogunate itself...

. Matsu had a reputation for intelligence; she was skilled at both literary and martial arts. Her sons—Toshinaga, Toshimasa

Maeda Toshimasa

was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. Also known as Toshiharu , he was the son of Maeda Toshitaka. Ruled Arako Castle in Owari Province...

, Toshitsune

Maeda Toshitsune

was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who ruled the Kaga Domain. Toshitsune was a brother of Maeda Toshinaga and a son of Toshiie. Adopted as his heir, he became the wealthiest daimyo outside the Tokugawa. He controlled Etchū, Kaga, and Noto provinces....

, Toshitaka

Maeda Toshitaka

was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Nanokaichi Domain. He was the fifth son of Maeda Toshiie.His court title was Yamato no kami.-References:...

, and Toshitoyo, who were each born throughout Matsu's marriage to Toshiie—were each allowed their own individual title of daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 and their own private fief.

Cultural Influence

• Actress Matsushima Nanako acted as Maeda Matsu in NHK
  NHK
  NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
  
   Taiga drama
  Taiga drama
  is the name NHK gives to the annual, year-long historical fiction television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shōroku and Takarazuka star Awashima Chikage, the network has hired a producer, director, writer, music...
  
  Toshiie to Matsu in 2002.
• In Tenchijin, one of her sons sells her to Tokugawa Ieyasu in order to live.
• In Sengoku Basara, she fights alongside Toshiie, and occasionally keeps up with his insatiable hunger. She was not playable in the American version.
• She is a female bodyguard in Samurai Warriors 2.