Tokugawa Yoshimune
| Tokugawa Yoshimune | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 8th Edo Shogun | |
|
In office 1716–1745 |
|
| Preceded by |
Shogun: Tokugawa Ietsugu Daimyo of Kii: Tokugawa Yorimoto |
| Succeeded by |
Shogun: Tokugawa Ieshige Daimyo of Kii: Tokugawa Munenao |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 27, 1684 |
| Died | July 12, 1751 (aged 66) |
| Relations |
Father: Tokugawa Mitsusada |
| Children |
Tokugawa Ieshige Tokugawa Munetake Tokugawa Munetada Takehime Others |
Tokugawa Yoshimune (徳川 吉宗?, November 27, 1684 – July 12, 1751) was the eighth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Yoshimune was not the son of any former shogun. Rather, he was a member of a cadet branch of the Tokugawa clan. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, well aware of the extinction of the Minamoto line in 1219, had realized that his direct descendants might die out, leaving the Tokugawa family at risk of extinction. Thus, while his son Tokugawa Hidetada was the second shogun, he selected three other sons to establish the gosanke, hereditary houses which would provide a shogun if there were no male heir. The three gosanke were the Owari, Kii, and Mito branches.
Yoshimune was from the branch of Kii. The founder of the Kii house was one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's sons, Tokugawa Yorinobu. Ieyasu appointed him daimyō of Kii. Yorinobu's son, Tokugawa Mitsusada, succeeded him. Two of Mitsusada's sons succeeded him, and when they died, Tokugawa Yoshimune, Mitsusada's fourth son, became daimyo of Kii in 1705. Later, he became shogun.
Yoshimune was closely related to the Tokugawa shoguns. His grandfather, Tokugawa Yorinobu, was a brother of second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, while Yoshimune's father, Tokugawa Mitsusada, was a first cousin of third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. Yoshimune thus was a second cousin to the fourth and fifth shoguns (both brothers) Tokugawa Ietsuna and Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, as well as a second cousin to Tokugawa Tsunashige, whose son became Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu.
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