| Tokugawa 徳川 | |
|---|---|
 Tokugawa clanmon | |
| Home province | |
| Parent house |
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| Titles | Various |
| Founder | |
| Final ruler | Tokugawa Yoshinobu |
| Current head | Iehiro Tokugawa |
| Founding year |
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| Ruled until |
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| Cadet branches | Various, including
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TheTokugawa clan (徳川氏,Tokugawa-shi, Tokugawa-uji;Japanese pronunciation:[to.kɯꜜ.ɡa.wa,-ŋa.wa,-kɯ.ɡa.waꜜ.ɕi,-ŋa.waꜜ-][1][2]) is a Japanese dynasty which produced theTokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during theEdo period. It was formerly a powerfuldaimyō family. They nominally descended fromEmperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of theMinamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through theMatsudaira clan. The early history of the clan remains a mystery.[3] Nominally, the Matsudaira clan is said to be descended from theNitta clan, a branch of the Minamoto clan, but this is considered to be untrue or unlikely.[4][5][6][7]
Minamoto no Yoshishige (1135–1202), grandson ofMinamoto no Yoshiie (1041–1108), was the first to take the name of Nitta. He sided with his cousinMinamoto no Yoritomo against theTaira clan (1180) and accompanied him toKamakura. Nitta Yoshisue, 4th son of Yoshishige, settled at Tokugawa (Kozuke province) and took the name of that place. Their provincial history book did not mention Minamoto clan or Nitta clan.[8]
The nominal originator of theMatsudaira clan was reportedlyMatsudaira Chikauji, who was originally a poor Buddhist monk.[3][9] He reportedly descended from Nitta Yoshisue in the 8th generation and witnessed the ruin of the Nitta in their war against theAshikaga. He settled at Matsudaira (Mikawa province) and was adopted by his wife's family. Their provincial history book claimed that this original clan was Ariwara clan.[8] Because this place is said to have been reclaimed by Ariwara Nobumori, one theory holds that Matsudaira clan was related toAriwara no Narihira.[10]
The lineage as recorded in Tokugawa sources, including theTokugawa Jikki (徳川実紀) andKansei Chōshū Shokafu (寛政重修諸家譜), was presented as follows:[11][12]
The authenticity of the Tokugawa claim to Minamoto descent remains debated among historians. Genealogical records from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods do not clearly document a continuous line from the Nitta to the Matsudaira, leading some scholars to regard the claim as a politically motivated reconstruction during Ieyasu’s rise to power.[14][15]
Nonetheless, the assertion proved effective in providing Ieyasu with the symbolic authority to assume the title ofSeii Taishōgun, a rank historically limited to descendants of the Seiwa Genji line. In 1603, the Imperial Court officially recognized his Minamoto lineage, allowing him to be styledMinamoto no Ieyasu (源家康).[16][17]
Matsudaira Nobumitsu (15th century), son of Chikauji, was in charge ofOkazaki Castle, and strengthened the authority of his family in the Mikawa province. Nobumitsu's great-great-grandsonMatsudaira Kiyoyasu made his clan strong, but was assassinated. In 1567, Matsudaira Motonobu—then known asTokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616)—grandson of Kiyoyasu, was recognized byEmperor Ōgimachi as a descendant ofSeiwa Genji; he also started the family name Tokugawa.[citation needed] According to historical documents from the same period, some of the three generations of the Matsudaira clan, including Nobumitsu, took the surname Kamo no Ason (Kamo), and the Matsudaira clan's hollyhock crest also suggests a connection to the Kamo clan, so some have pointed out that they were actually vassals of the Kamo clan.[18] Tokugawa Ieyasu himself signed the letter of assurance to the Suganuma clan in 1561, shortly after independence from the Imagawa clan, as "Minamoto no Motoyasu" ("Suganuma Family Genealogy" and "Documents Possessed by Kunozan Toshogu Shrine")[19]
The clan rose to power at the end of theSengoku period. as their political influences and territories they controlled expanded during this period, they developed many new offices such as many magistrate official such asKōriki Kiyonaga,Amano Yasukage,Honda Shigetsugu, and many others, to control their new territories and vassals.[20] In 1566, as Ieyasu declared his independence from the Imagawa clan, he reformed the order of Mikawa province starting with theMatsudaira clan, after he pacifiedMikawa. This decision was made after he counseled by his senior vassalSakai Tadatsugu to abandon their allegiance with the Imagawa clan.[21] He also strengthened his powerbase by creating a military government system of Tokugawa clan in Mikawa which based from his hereditary vassalsFudai daimyō. The system which called "Sanbi no gunsei" (三備の軍制) with the structure divide the governance into three sections:[22][23][24]
To the end of theEdo period they ruled Japan asshoguns. During the Edo period There were fifteenTokugawashoguns. Their dominance was so strong that some history books use the term "Tokugawa era" instead of "Edo period". Their principal family shrine is theTōshō-gū inNikkō, and their principal temples (bodaiji) areKan'ei-ji andZōjō-ji, both inTokyo. Heirlooms of the clan are partly administered by theTokugawa Memorial Foundation.[citation needed]
After the death of Ieyasu, in 1636, the heads of thegosanke (the three branches withfiefs inOwari,Kishū, andMito) also bore the Tokugawa surname, so did the three additional branches, known as thegosankyō: the Tayasu (1731), Hitotsubashi (1735), and Shimizu (1758) family, after the ascension ofTokugawa Yoshimune. Once ashogun died without a living heir, both the heads ofgosanke (exceptMito-Tokugawa family) andgosankyō had priority to succeed his position.[25][26] Manydaimyōs descended from cadet branches of the clan, however, retained the surnameMatsudaira; examples include the Matsudaira ofFukui andAizu. Members of the Tokugawa clan intermarried with prominent daimyo and theImperial family.
On November 9, 1867,Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and the last shogun of Tokugawa, tendered his resignation toEmperor Meiji. He formally stepped down ten days later, returning governing power to the Emperor,[27] marking the end of the ruling power of theTokugawa shogunate. In 1868,Tokugawa Iesato (1863–1940, from Tayasu family) was chosen as the heir to Yoshinobu as the head of Tokugawa clan.[28] On July 7, 1884, Iesato became a prince, just like the heads of some of other notable Japanese noble families, known asKazoku.[29]
The 1946Constitution of Japan abolished thekazoku and the noble titles, making Iesato's son,Iemasa Tokugawa, no longer a prince. Iemasa had a son Iehide, who died young, so he was succeeded by one of his grandsons,Tsunenari. Tsunenari is the second son of Toyoko (eldest daughter of Iemasa) and Ichirō Matsudaira (son ofTsuneo Matsudaira),[30] and he is also a patrilineal descendant ofTokugawa Yorifusa, the youngest son of Tokugawa Ieyasu.[31]
In 2007, Tsunenari published a book entitled Edo no idenshi (江戸の遺伝子), released in English in 2009 as The Edo Inheritance, which seeks to counter the common belief among Japanese that the Edo period was like aDark Age, when Japan,cut off from the world, fell behind. On the contrary, he argues, the roughly 250 years of peace and relative prosperity saw great economic reforms, the growth of a sophisticated urban culture, and the development of the most urbanized society on the planet.[32] Tsunenari formed theTokugawa Memorial Foundation in 2003 to preserve and administer the historical objects, art, armor and documents that have been passed down in the Tokugawa family over the generations, display them for the general public and provide assistance to academic research on topics concerning historical Japan.
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All Tokugawashōguns share descent fromIeyasu, who is recognized as the dynasty's founder. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Tokugawa's clan symbol, known in Japanese as a "mon", the "triplehollyhock" (although commonly, but mistakenly identified as "hollyhock", the "aoi" actually belongs to thebirthwort family and translates as "wild ginger"—Asarum), has been a readily recognized icon in Japan, symbolizing in equal parts the Tokugawa clan and the last shogunate.[citation needed]
The symbol derives from a mythical clan, the Kamo clan, which legendarily descended fromYatagarasu.[33] Matsudaira village was located inHigashikamo District,Aichi Prefecture. AlthoughEmperor Go-Yōzei offered a new symbol, Ieyasu continued to use the symbol, which was not related toMinamoto clan.[34]
Injidaigeki, the symbol is often shown to locate the story in the Edo period. In works set in during theMeiji Restoration movement, the symbol is used to show the bearer's allegiance to the shogunate—as opposed to the royalists, whose cause is symbolized by the Imperial throne's chrysanthemum symbol. Compare with the red and white rose iconography of EnglishWars of the Roses, as imagined byWalter Scott earlier in the 19th century, inAnne of Geierstein (1829).[citation needed]
From "The Truth About Tokugawa Ieyasu" in the February 2023 issue of Rekishijin article
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