Tokugawa Ietsuna
| Tokugawa Ietsuna | |
|---|---|
Tokugawa Ietsuna
|
|
| 4th Edo Shogun | |
|
In office 1651–1680 |
|
| Monarch |
Emperor Go-Kōmyō Emperor Go-Sai Emperor Reigen |
| Preceded by | Tokugawa Iemitsu |
| Succeeded by |
Shogun: Tokugawa Tsunayoshi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 September 1641 |
| Died | 4 June 1680 (aged 38) |
| Mother | Houjuin |
| Father | Tokugawa Iemitsu |
Tokugawa Ietsuna (徳川 家綱?, September 7, 1641 – June 4, 1680) was the fourth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which would make him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
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 by Iemitsu's concubine, Oman no kata (Later Eikoin) like his older sister, Chiyohime born by Ofuri (after giving birth Ofuri become buddhist monk in Kan'ei-ji Temple), Chiyohime was also raised by Oman. After Eikoin died, Senhime (also called Tenjuin) raised him. 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. He married Asa no Miya Akiko, daughter of Fushimi no Miya Sadakiyo (1596-1654), in 1658.
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, Minamoto no 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 shogun's name. These were Sakai Tadakatsu, Sakai Tadakiyo, Inaba Masanori, Matsudaira Nobutsuna (a distant member of the Tokugawa), and one other. In addition to this regency, Iemitsu handpicked his half-brother, Hoshina Masayuki.
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