Maeda family

Hello all. I'm new at this and hope i am going about it the right
way. My name is Kenji and I am the product of a post WW2
Marine/Japanese marriage. I have a limited amount of info on my
Japanese heritage, but here's what I do know:
My grandfather (mother's father) was named Kikuma Maeda.
Until my mother's marriage to my US born father, her family was
of Samurai lineage. She is from Sasebo and I know that their family
owned all or part of a MT near there prior to the war. Her brother
is still in possession of the family Katana, which is about 400 years
old. Unfortunately, my grandfather died when my mother was a little
girl, my grandmother died when I was young, my mother has limited
knowledge of her ancestry and there is a communication barrier with
my
Uncles overseas. Also, at about the time of my grandfather's death,
WW2 began and it seems that much of the knowledge never passed on.
Anyhow, I would greatly appreciate any info anyone can offer dealing
with the Maeda clan, their samurai background, lineage, etc. (I have
read what is available on the Samurai-bigsite-city website). Thanks
for your time and sorry for the rambling.