was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' of the early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)
"Hosokawa Tadatoshi"
in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 359
細川忠利
at ''Nihon jinmei daijiten''; retrieved 2013-5-29. He was the head of

Kumamoto Domain The , also known as , was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Higo Province in modern-day Kumamoto Prefecture.

. He was a patron of the martial artist

Miyamoto Musashi , also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer and rōnin, who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship a ...

. He married Chiyohime (1597–1649) daughter of Ogasawara Hidemasa and adopted daughter of the second Tokugawa shōgun,

Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

. His childhood name was Mitsuchiyo (光千代). Having studied the

Yagyū Shinkage-ryū is one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship (''kenjutsu''). Its primary founder was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who called the school Shinkage-ryū. In 1565, Nobutsuna bequeathed the school to his greatest student, Yagyū Munetoshi, who ...

under

Ujii Yashiro a retainer under the Japanese clan of Hosokawa during the Edo period (17th century) of Japan. Lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi had previously practiced the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū art of the sword, in which the principal sword master of the fief was none oth ...

, Tadatoshi wanted his guest, Musashi, to fight against the sword master of his fief, and see which style was the strongest. But Ujii, despite his full license in Yagyu Shinkage style, could not strike a single blow against him after numerous bouts. Lord Tadatoshi took over, but he too was powerless against Musashi. He said then about Musashi: "I never imagined there could be such a difference in levels of accomplishment!" Tadatoshi's grave is in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

. His grandfather was

Hosokawa Fujitaka , also known as , was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Fujitaka was a prominent retainer of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last Ashikaga shōgun. When he joined the Oda, Oda Nobunaga rewarded him with the fief of Tango and went o ...

Family

* Father:

Hosokawa Tadaoki was a Japanese samurai warrior of the late Sengoku period and early Edo period. He was the son of Hosokawa Fujitaka with Numata Jakō, and he was the husband of a famous Christian convert (Kirishitan), Hosokawa Gracia. For most of his life, he ...

* Mother:

Hosokawa Gracia Akechi Tama, usually referred to as , (1563 – 25 August 1600) was a member of the aristocratic Akechi family from the Sengoku period. Gracia is best known for her role in the Battle of Sekigahara, she was considered to be a political hos ...

* Wife: Chiyohime (1597–1649) * Children: **

Hosokawa Mitsunao was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His childhood name was Rokumaru (六丸). Family * Father: Hosokawa Tadatoshi * Mother: Chiyohime (1597–1649) * Wife: Shojōin, daughter of Karasuma Mitsukata * Concubines: ** Seitai-in ** Sh ...

by Chiyohime ** Fujihime married Matsudaira Tadahiro ** Hosokawa Munemoto ** daughter married Ariyoshi Hidenaga ** Hosokawa Naofusa ** Nanjo Mototomo (1641–1703)

Gallery

File:Kumamoto Suizenji-jojuen22n4272.jpg, This tea retreat, which was established by Hosokawa Tadatoshi, remains a popular tourist attraction File:Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi.jpg, Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi at

Suizen-ji Jōju-en is a '' tsukiyama'' Japanese garden located within in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The main ''tsukiyama'' is a representation of Mount Fuji. Lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi began construction of the garden in 1636 as a tea retreat. The park was named af ...

Ancestry

References

External links

*Harris, Victor (1974). Introduction to ''A Book of Five Rings''. New York: Overlook Press. , - 1586 births 1641 deaths Daimyo Higo-Hosokawa clan Deified Japanese people {{daimyo-stub