Kuniaki Koiso
Maeda was placed in charge of the Western New Guinea area during the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. After the invasion, Maeda was dispatched again to Batavia/Jakarta in August 1942 as a liaison between the Japanese Sixteenth Army and the naval forces. In October 1944, following a declaration by Japanese Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso promising Indonesian independence, Maeda sponsored a school known as "Asrama Indonesia Merdeka". Maeda stated that the intent of the "Asrama" was to prepare a younger generation of Indonesian leaders.