Tokugawa Ietsuna

was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the fourth shōgun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which makes him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Early life (1641–1651) Tokugawa Ietsuna was born in 1641, allegedly the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu with his concubine, Oraku no Kata later Houjuin. Later Ietsuna was raised with his sister, Chiyohime (born by Ofuri) by Iemitsu's concubine, Oman no kata (later Eikoin) and Iemitsu's wife, Takatsukasa Takako later Honriin. After Eikoin retired, Senhime (also called Tenjuin) raised him with Honriin. At that time his father was shogun in his own right and had enacted several anti-Christian measures after the bloody Shimabara Rebellion of 1637. Though the suppression of this rebellion quelled all serious threats to Tokugawa rule, it was nonetheless an unsure era. Ietsuna was a frail child, and this carried over into his adult years. Nothing else is known of his youth. His childhood name was Takechiyo (竹千代).

Family Parents Father: Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川 家光, 12 August 1604 – 8 June 1651) Mother: Hōjuin (1621–1653) Adopted mother: Eiko'in (1624–1711) Consorts and Issue: Wife: Asa no Miya Akiko (1640–1676) later Koge'in Concubine: Ofuri no Kata (1649–1667) later Yoshun'in son (died in womb in 1667) Concubine: Mitsuru no Kata (1660–1690) later Enmyō'in daughter (died in womb in 1678) Concubine: Yoshino no Kata (d. 1680) son (died in womb in 1680) Concubine: Oyo no Kata (d. 1657) Concubine: Oshima no Kata (d. 1660) Concubine: Onatsu no Kata (d. 1680) later Honjuin Concubine: Okiku no Kata Concubine: Ofuji no Kata later Jokkoin Concubine: Okoto no Kata later Zumnyoin Concubine: Oran no Kata Concubine: Omino no Kata (d. 1679) Concubine: Osumi no Kata Adopted daughter: Naohime, daughter of Tokugawa Mitsutomo

Shogunal regency (1651–1663) Tokugawa Iemitsu died in early 1651, at the age of forty-seven. After his death, the Tokugawa dynasty was at major risk. Ietsuna, the heir, was only ten years old. Nonetheless, despite his age, Tokugawa Ietsuna became shogun in Kei'an 4 (1651). Until he came of age, five regents were to rule in his place, but Shogun Ietsuna nevertheless assumed a role as formal head of the bakufu bureaucracy.

In this period, regents exercised power in the shoguns name. Chuya was brutally executed along with his family and Shosetsu's family. Shosetsu chose to commit seppuku rather than being captured.

In 1652, about 800 rōnin led a small disturbance on Sado Island, and this was also brutally suppressed. But for the most part, the remainder of Ietsuna's rule was not disturbed anymore by the rōnin as the government became more civilian-oriented.

In Meireki 3 (1657), on the 18th–19th days of the 1st month, when Ietsuna was almost 20 years old, a great fire broke out in Edo and burned the city to the ground. Ietsuna's concubine Oyo burned to death in the fire. It took two years to rebuild the city and bakufu officials supervised the rebuilding of the city. In 1659, Ietsuna presided over the opening ceremonies. In the 11th month he married Asa no Miya Akiko, daughter of Fushimi no Miya Sadakiyo. It is said that his relationship was quite good with Asa no Miya, though they didn't have a child; they adopted Naohime, daughter of Tokugawa Mitsutomo.

Bakufu power struggle (1663–1671)

In 1663, the regency for shōgun Ietsuna ended, but the regents still exercise authority, which was the first time that the power behind the bakufu was not a former shōgun. Ietsuna's chief advisors were Hoshina Masayuki, Ietsuna's uncle (for whom he had deep regard) Itakura Shigenori, Tsuchiya Kazunao, Kuze Hiroyuki, and Inaba Masanori. Even though Ietsuna was then ruling in his own right, those former regents became his official advisors, and in some cases, acted on his behalf. In some cases however, Ietsuna acted on his own accord, as when he abolished junshi, the custom in which a samurai committed suicide to follow his lord in death.

1663 (Kanbun 3). The shogunate banned suicides due to fidelity (junshi).

Tadakiyo retired, embarrassed, and shortly after, Tokugawa Ietsuna died in 1680. His posthumous name was Genyū-in (厳有院) and was buried in Kan'ei-ji. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Tsunayoshi.

Though Ietsuna proved to be an able leader, affairs were largely controlled by the regents his father had appointed, even after Ietsuna was declared old enough to rule in his own right.

Eras of Ietsuna's bakufu The years in which Ietsuna was shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō. Keian (1648–1652) Jōō (1652–1655) Meireki (1655–1658) Manji (1658–1661) Kanbun (1661–1673) Enpō (1673–1681)

Ancestry