The is a branch of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

based in

Mito, Ibaraki is the capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 269,330 in 123,282 households and a population density of 1239 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged o ...

History

Following the establishment of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

in 1603,

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

appointed his eleventh son, Tokugawa Yorifusa, as ''daimyō'' in 1608. With his appointment, Yorifusa became the founding member of the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan. Along with the Tokugawa branches in Kii and Owari, the Mito branch represented one of three Tokugawa houses known as the ''Gosanke'' ("three honourable houses of the Tokugawa"). Although the Mito branch held less land and wealth than either of the other two branches, they maintained considerable influence throughout the Edo period. Mito Domain's promiximity to the ''de facto'' capital in Edo was a contributing factor to this power as well as the fact that many people unofficially considered the Mito daimyō to be "vice-shōgun". The Mito branch however, as the lowest of the gosanke, was not eligible for the shōgun rank. Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa, became the second daimyō of Mito in 1661. Mitsukuni further established Mito's status as a respected han by sponsoring the ''Dai Nihonshi'' in 1657.Koschmann, 2 The endeavor would launch Mito's reputation as a center for intellectual thought. The treasures of the Mito branch are kept in The Tokugawa Museum (彰考館徳川博物館) in Mito. The 15th head of the Mito House is (born in 1958). From July 2009 he is also the director of Mito's Tokugawa Museum. He presently works for Tokio Marine Nichido, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. A Tokyo resident, he commutes to Mito during weekends.

Heads

# Tokugawa Yorifusa (1603-1661) # Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1701) # Tokugawa Tsunaeda (1656-1718) # Tokugawa Munetaka (1705-1730) # Tokugawa Munemoto (1728-1766) # Tokugawa Harumori (1751-1805) # Tokugawa Harutoshi (1773-1816) # Tokugawa Narinobu (1797-1829) # Tokugawa Nariaki (1800-1860) # Tokugawa Yoshiatsu (1832-1868) # Tokugawa Akitake (1853-1910) # Tokugawa Atsuyoshi (1855-1898) # Tokugawa Kuniyuki (1886-1969) # Tokugawa Kuninari (1912-1986) # Tokugawa Narimasa (Mito Branch), Tokugawa Narimasa (b. 1958)

Family tree

References

External links

Mito-Tokugawa family, {{japan-clan-stub