O-Ie Sōdō
Harunaga was born in Kanazawa as Tokijiro (時次郎), the tenth son of Maeda Yoshinori. His mother was a concubine and he was initially destined for the Jōdo Shinshū priesthood, and was ordained as a priest at the temple of Shōkō-ji in Toyama in 1746; however, with so many of his brothers dying untimely deaths during the "O-Ie Sōdō" known as the “Kaga Sōdō” he returned to secular life in 1768 under the name of Maeda Toshiari (利有). In 1771, his brother Maeda Shigemichi officially retired, and he became "daimyō". He was received in formal audience by "Shōgun" Tokugawa Ieharu the same year, and was granted a "kanji" from Ieharu's name, becoming Maeda Harunaga.