was a hatamoto

Hatamoto

A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa...

 and an official of the Tokugawa Shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 during the Edo Period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 of Japanese history

History of Japan

The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...

. His ancestry was of the Minamoto clan

Minamoto clan

was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were demoted into the ranks of the nobility. The practice was most prevalent during the Heian Period , although its last occurrence was during the Sengoku Era. The Taira were another such offshoot of...

 of Mino Province

Mino Province

, one of the old provinces of Japan, encompassed part of modern-day Gifu Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mino Province bordered Echizen, Hida, Ise, Mikawa, Ōmi, Owari, and Shinano Provinces....

. His father, Kagemichi, was the magistrate of Nagasaki. Kagemoto held the posts of Finance Magistrate, North Magistrate, and subsequently the South Magistrate of Edo

Edo

, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...

. (The magistrates of Edo acted as chiefs of the police and fire departments and as judges in criminal and civil matters.) As North Magistrate, his opposition to South Magistrate Torii Yōzō and Rōjū Mizuno Tadakuni

Mizuno Tadakuni

was a daimyō during late-Edo period Japan, who later served as chief senior councilor in service to the Tokugawa Shogunate. He is remembered for having instituted the Tenpo Reform.-Biography:...

 won him popularity. In 1843, he was ousted from his position as North Magistrate through the machinations of Torii, and although nominally appointed Ōmetsuke, was out of power. Two years later, when Mizuno ousted Torii, Tōyama received an appointment as South Magistrate, a post once held by Ōoka Tadasuke

Ooka Tadasuke

was a Japanese samurai in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, as a magistrate of Edo, his roles included chief of police, judge and jury, and Yamada Magistrate prior to his tenure as South Magistrate of Edo...

.

Tōyama's rose to the Lower Junior Fifth rank with the name Tōyama Saemon no Jō.

In fiction

In kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 and kōdan

Kodan

, is a style of traditional oral Japanese storytelling. The form evolved out of lectures on historical or literary topics given to high-ranking nobles of the Heian period, changing over the centuries to be adopted by the general samurai class and eventually by commoners, and eventually, by the end...

, he was celebrated under his childhood name of Kinshirō, or popularly, Tōyama no Kin-san

Toyama no Kin-san

is a popular character based on the historical Tōyama Kagemoto, a samurai and official of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo Period of Japanese history. In kabuki and kōdan, he was celebrated under his childhood name, Kinshirō, shortened to Kin-san. He was said to have left home as a young man,...

. He was said to have left home as a young man, and lived among the commoners, even having a tattoo of flowering sakura

Sakura

A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese . Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit...

 trees on his shoulder. This story developed into a legend of helping the common people.

The novelist Tatsurō Jinde (陣出達郎) wrote a series of books about Kin-san. Noted actor Chiezō Kataoka

Chiezo Kataoka

was a Japanese actor. Born in 1903 in Gunma Prefecture, he was raised in Tokyo. His first starring role in a film was in 1923. Specializing in jidaigeki, he played the lead in various films before and during World War II. After the war, he eventually joined Toei...

 starred in a series of eight Toei

Toei Company

is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...

 jidaigeki

Jidaigeki

is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...

films about him. Several Japanese television networks have aired series based on the character. These variously portrayed him pretending to be a petty hood or a yojimbo

Bodyguard

A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...

while solving crimes as the chief of police.