, issue-link = , issue-pipe = , native_name = 吉子女王 , native_name_lang = ja , full name = Tokugawa Yoshiko , noble family = Chiefs 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 ...

as:{{plainlist, * Ieyoshi (12th, brother-in-law) * Yoshinobu (15th) * Feudal lords as: * Yoshiatsu, Mito Domain * Tsuchiya Tsugunao,

Tsuchiura Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Hitachi Province (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Tsuchiura Castle in what is now the city of Tsuchiura, Ibaraki. It was ruled for much of ...

(stepson) * Akitake, Shimizu-Tokugawa Family (stepson) , house-type = , father = {{plainlist, * Prince Taruhito of

Arisugawa-no-miya The was one of the shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were, until 1947, eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. History The Arisugawa-no-miya house was founded by Pr ...

* (twelfth and the last daughter) , mother = Ando Kiyoko , birth_name = Arisugawa-no-miya Tomi , birth_date = {{Birth date, 1804, 10, 28 , birth_place = , christening_date = , christening_place = , death_date = {{Death date and age, 1893, 01, 27, 1804, 10, 28, df=y , death_place = Tokyo , burial_date = , burial_place = Zuiryuzan temple,

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 ...

Prefecture , occupation = Imperial princess, the first wife of feudal lord Tokugawa Nariaki of

Mito Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Hitachi Province in modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture.Arisugawa-no-miya The was one of the shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were, until 1947, eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. History The Arisugawa-no-miya house was founded by Pr ...

cadet branch of the Imperial House of Japan. Yoshiko was married to

Tokugawa Nariaki Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, April 4, 1800 – September 29, 1860) was a prominent Japanese ''daimyō'' who ruled the Mito Domain (now Ibaraki Prefecture) and contributed to the rise of nationalism and the Meiji Restoration. Biography C ...

, and was mother to the 10th Lord Yoshiatsu, and the 15th and final

Tokugawa shogun 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' ...

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

Personal history

{{More citations needed section, date=March 2021 Yoshiko, the twelfth and youngest daughter of Prince Taruhito of the Arisugawa-no-miya family, was born of the union of her father and the courtesan Ando Kiyoko. She was called {{Nihongo, Princess Tomi, 登美宮, Tomi no miya as a child. She later moved to

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

from

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, where her husband renamed her {{Nihongo, , 貞芳院, Teihoin in case she were to be widowed. Upon her death, she was given the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...

{{Nihongo, Madam Bummei, 文明夫人, Bummei fujin. She died in 1893 at the age of 88 in Tokyo. Tokugawa Yoshiko rests at the Zuiryusan temple, the official

Bodhi The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi''), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect ...

temple of the Mito clan in

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

.{{sfn, Akimoto, 2008, page=162 In 1830, at the age of 27, Yoshiko was engaged to Nariaki, who was 37 but had not yet had his first wife as he had become the head of his clan just the year before. Princess Takako was said to have arranged the marriage, and

Emperor Ninkō was the 120th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 仁孝天皇 (120)/ref> Ninkō's reign spanned the years from 1817 until his death in 1846, and saw further deteriorati ...

was recorded as having issued an approving comment on the political and educational pedigrees of the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan. The Mito branch was further renowned for having enthusiastically supported the imperial system for generations, and the emperor gladly approved of the marriage.{{sfn, Takamatsu-no-miyake, 1938 When Yoshiko moved to Edo and started leading the life of a

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 ...

wife, she kept the attire of the imperial household for weeks after her marriage. In a portrait she posed for at the time, she wore a {{transliteration, ja,

kosode The was a type of short-sleeved Japanese garment, and the direct predecessor of the kimono. Though its component parts directly parallel those of the kimono, its proportions differed, typically having a wider body, a longer collar and narro ...

and {{transliteration, ja,

hakama are a type of traditional Japanese clothing. Originally stemming from (), the trousers worn by members of the Chinese imperial court in the Sui and Tang dynasties, this style was adopted by the Japanese in the form of in the 6th centur ...

, in the style of centuries past. In a letterbox with that portrait, Nariaki called his wife Yoshiko, instead Princess Yoshiko or other names. Among Nariaki's 37 children with four wives, Yoshiko was the mother of his first son, Yoshiatsu, his seventh son, Yoshinobu, and finally a daughter. A fourth child, born before Yoshinobu, died prematurely. Yoshiko was known to be fluent in the arts, particularly {{transliteration, ja,

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

poems, as well as

Japanese calligraphy also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrin ...

and the Arisugawa family heritage.

Embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

and playing music on the {{transliteration, ja,

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

and the {{transliteration, ja,

hichiriki The is a double reed Japanese used as one of two main melodic instruments in Japanese music. It is one of the "sacred" instruments and is often heard at Shinto weddings in Japan. Its sound is often described as haunting. According to scholar ...

were among her hobbies.{{Efn, As Yoshiko's marriage to a feudal lord was to join a lower social rank compared to the imperial household, it meant she would never come back to Kyoto, and visited the palace to bid farewell to her relatives and left a {{transliteration, ja, waka poem.{{sfn, Anthology, 1939, p=18

{{nihongo, While the cherry blossoms will be at the peak in the remote place, / let the sweet smell reach above the clouds to the palace., 天ざかるひなにはあれど櫻花／雲の上まで咲き匂はなん
, Amazakaru hina niwa aredo sakurabana / kumo no ue made saki niowanan

After relocating to Mito from Edo, she learned to fish at the river by the castle.{{sfn, Shiba, 1998, pages=129–152 Being an imperial princess and a sister-in-law of the twelfth shogun, Ieyoshi, high-ranking officials including

Ii Naosuke was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Ha ...

and his followers in the Edo government were said to surveil her in case she advised either the shogun or the emperor on political issues.{{Efn, 1=In July, 1858 (Ansei 5th), the ko-metsuke (junior censor or intelligent survey officer) wrote the following statement to "Tairo" ( ja) and {{transliteration, ja,

Rōjū The , usually translated as '' Elder'', was one of the highest-ranking government posts under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council of Elders as a whole; under the first two ''sh� ...

, the top rank officials.

"Because for the temperament of Lady Behind the Screen (= Tomi-no-miya Yoshiko), she often writes to those she cares about on various topics, and that extends naturally to the housemaids or homemakers under her supervision, but even concerning controversial political topics related to home affairs or the maritime defenses. While the recent policy of the government was quite reasonable, it is said that she was quite upset with that arrangement. As she is a relative to Prince Nikko the Monk, it seems that both share the same sentiment. It is rumored that she wrote a letter to Kyoto (Imperial court)."

This letter would be the evidence that not only in homemaking of a feudal household Yoshiko was deeply involved in politics as well as interested in national defense matters., name=, group= After Nariaki was charged during the

Ansei Purge was a multi-year event in Japanese history of the Edo period between 1858 and 1860, during which the Tokugawa shogunate imprisoned, executed, or exiled those who did not support its authority and foreign trade policies. The purge was undertaken by ...

for taking part in anti-shogun movements and detained in Mito for life in 1859, it took her three months to obtain permission and move from Edo to Mito. Widowed the next year, Yoshiko followed samurai custom and cut her hair short and made a pabbajja, retiring from social activities, and was renamed as Teiho-in {{Nihongo, 2=貞芳院.

Later life

Between 1869 and 1873 (second and sixth years of Meiji), Yoshiko resided in the Kobuntei Villa in

Kairaku-en is a Japanese garden located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Along with Kenroku-en and Koraku-en, it is considered one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Overview Kairaku-en was built in the year 1842 by Tokugawa Nariaki, ''daimyō'' of ...

garden, which her late husband opened. Her stepson Akitake invited Yoshiko to live in his mansion at Koume, Tokyo, which was the {{transliteration, ja, shimo-yashiki, or the second official residence of the Mito clan in Edo.{{sfn, Tokugawa Residents, 2011, pages=71–77 While the samurai custom prohibited Yoshiko from living with her only surviving natural son, Yoshinobu, they did exchange letters. Yoshinobu had been adopted to the Hitotsubashi family when he was eleven to be entitled as an heir to the shogunate so that he was no longer regarded as Yoshiko's "direct family".{{sfn, Shiba, 1998, pages=129–152 It took years for Yoshiko to overcome the prejudice among Meiji politicians as being anti-government, and for being the mother of Yoshinobu who had opened fire against the government supporters in Kyoto. Additionally, the Mito clan was radically against opening the country to foreign relations and trades. As the emperor governed the Meiji government, Yoshiko had been distanced from her kin in Kyoto{{Efn, In February 1869, her great-niece Yoshiko (28 March 1851 – 4 January 1895) by her brother's son

Prince Arisugawa Takahito was the eighth head of the house, one of the ''shinnōke'' branches of the Imperial Family of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. Family *Father: Prince Arisugaw ...

was married with

Ii Naonori was the 16th (and final) ''daimyō'' of Hikone Domain in Bakumatsu period Japan and was the 35th hereditary chieftain of the Ii clan. Before the Meiji Restoration, his courtesy title was ''Kamon-no-kami'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourt ...

(22 May 1848 – 9 January 1904). Naonori's father was Ii Naosuke, who ordered Nariaki's detainment in Mito.{{cite book, author1= Haga, Noboru , author2= Ichibangase, Yasuko , author3= Nakajima, Kuni , author4= Soda, Koichi, title= Nihon josei jinmei jiten , trans-title= Japan Women's Who's Who, publisher = Nihon Tosho Center, year = 1993{{NCID, BN09249637, name=, group= before she regained family ties with her grand nephew Prince Taruhito of the Arisugawa family ( ja) (1835 – 1895). After she moved to Tokyo, Prince Taruhito wrote in his diary that after January 1873, Yoshiko invited the Prince to her residence and sent gifts when she heard Taruhito was ill and also when the engagement of Prince Taruhito was publicized in June 1873.{{sfn, Prince Taruhito diary, 1935, pages=7, 11, 27, 45, 83, 202 Yoshiko recovered her social status when late Nariaki was honored with the rank of {{transliteration, ja, Sho-ni-i ( ja) or the Second Rank of Honor, posthumously in 1873 and commemorated the occasion by giving Prince Taruhito a handcrafted stationery.{{Sfn, Prince Taruhito diary, 1935, p=213 When Prince Taruhito lost his first wife Sadako to illness in 1872, Yoshiko mourned the death of her stepdaughter. She offered condolences, arranging an extended family reunion of the children of Nariaki for the deceased, with Prince Taruhito as the guest of honor. The eldest surviving son, Ikeda Yoshinori ( ja), who was the lord of

Tottori domain 270px, Ikeda Yoshinori 270px, Front gate of the Tottori Domain residence in Edo was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Tottori Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It controlled all of Inaba Provi ...

, offered his residence, inviting Akitake (Sadako's natural brother), Atsuyoshi (Yoshiatsu's son), Matsudaira Tadakazu (

Shimabara domain The was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It is associated with Hizen Province in modern-day Saga Prefecture.DF__...,_who_were_''Kirishitan">DF_6-7_of_80/nowiki>">DF__...,_who_were_''Kirishitan_daimyō.html" ;"title="Kirishitan.html" ;"title= ...

), Tsuchiya Tsugunao (

Tsuchiura domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Hitachi Province (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Tsuchiura Castle in what is now the city of Tsuchiura, Ibaraki. It was ruled for much of ...

) among others.{{Sfn, Prince Taruhito diary, 1935, pp=221-222 Princess Ei, the wife of Akitake, who was Taruhito's pupil of calligraphy, joined them.{{Efn, Princess Ei was born to aristocrat Nakanoin Michitoyo ( ja) and raised in Kyoto like Yoshiko was. They shared the aristocratic culture of Kyoto. Madam Bummei, her

, was given by her husband Nariaki before his death.

Footnotes

{{Notelist, colwidth=30em

References

{{reflist

Sources

*{{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bfMqC4DpW8C&q=%E8%B2%9E%E8%8A%B3%E9%99%A2&pg=PP17, title=Taruhito Shinnō nikki, trans-title= Prince Taruhito Diary , publisher=Takamatu-no-miya Household, others= Prince Taruhito of Takamatu-no-miya, year=1935, volume=2 , quote= Between Keio 4th and Meiji 14th (1868–1881), pages=7, 11, 27, 45, 83, 202, 213, 221–222 , ref={{sfnref, Prince Taruhito diary, 1935, access-date=2019-06-09 {{nihongo, 2=熾仁親王日記, 3=Taruhito Shinnō nikki * {{cite book, last= Akimoto, first= Shigeharu, year= 2008, title=Tokugawa shōgun-ke bohi sōran, trans-title= Headstones of the Tokugawa Shogun family, chapter= Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th shogun : natural mother Yoshiko , page=162, location=

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, publisher= Parēdo, oclc=675728533{{isbn, 9784434114885, 4434114883 * {{cite book, title = Aishō-shū engi, trans-title= My Favorite Waka Poems Anthology , page=18 , editor = Ibaraki Board of Education , location = Mito , publisher = Ibaraki Board of Education , id={{JPNO, 44042091, doi = 10.11501/1437963 , year = 1939, oclc=673118728, ref={{sfnref, Anthology, 1939, p=18, last1= 茨城県教育会 {{nihongo, 2=愛誦集衍義, 3=Aishō-shu engi Japanese binding *{{cite book, publisher=Takamatsu-no-miya household, year= 1938, title= Taruhito shinnō gyōjitsu, location= Tokyo , oclc=682955379, ref={{sfnref, Takamatsu-no-miyake, 1938 * {{cite book, last=Takase, first= Shinkei, year= 1905, chapter=Toyama Kyoshu-ou monogatari narabini Teihoin dai-fujin no gosho, trans-title=Kyoshu Toyama Story and the Calligraphy of Great Madam Teihoin , title= Mito shidan: Koro jitsureki fu kino no yume, publisher= Chugai Toshokyoku, oclc=672446921 * {{Cite book, title=Mitogaku zuihitsu , last=Nishimura, first=Bunsoku, location= Tokyo, publisher= Shōwa Kankōkai, year=1944, pages=128–138, chapter= Rekkō fujin Teihō-in, trans-title= Madam Teihō-in, the Widow of the late Lord Rekkō: Essays of Mito Philosophy , doi=10.11501/1038547, id={{JPNO, 46001378, oclc=39919766 * {{Cite journal, last=Shiba, first=Katsurako, date=September 1998, journal= Edo-ki Onna Kou, trans-title= Thoughts about women in Edo era, title= Tokugawa Yoshinobu no haha Teiho-in Yoshiko to oku-jochu Nishimiya Hide, publisher=Katsura bunko, id={{JPNO, 00081734, issue=9, pages=129–152, doi=10.11501/1835480, issn=1343-6821, oclc=5174478406 {{nihongo, 1=Shogun mother Teiho-in Yoshiko and lady servant Hide Nishimiya, 2=徳川慶喜の母貞芳院吉子と奥女中西宮秀 * {{Cite journal, last= Hirota, first=Yoshitaka, title=(Kenkyu nōto) Meiji zenki no "Kishin no cha no yu": "Taruhito Shinnō Nikki" oyobi "Higashikuze Michitomi Nikki" ni miru kissa bunka no jōkyō , trans-title=Aristocratic Tea ceremony in the Early Meiji Era : Tea Culture in the "Diary of Prince Arisugawa-no-miya Takahito" and the "Diariy of Higashikuze Michitomi" , url=https://irdb.nii.ac.jp/01342/0002273441, access-date= 2019-07-05, journal=Nihon Kenkyu , volume=45 , date=2012-03-30, pages=185–236 , doi=10.15055/00000465, oclc= 998016213 * {{Cite book, editor= Matsudoshi Tojō Rekishikan, others= Akitake Tokugawa, Yoshinobu Tokugawa (contributors), year= 2011, title= Tokugawa akitake no yashiki Yoshinobu no sumai: Matsudoshi Tojō Rekishikan kikakuten, location= Matsudo , publisher= Matsudoshi Tojō History Museum, oclc=796783371, ref={{sfnref, Tokugawa Residents, 2011, pages=71–77 - Special exhibition on the residences of Akitake and Yoshinobu. {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshiko, Princess 1893 deaths 1804 births Arisugawa-no-miya Japanese princesses People of Edo-period Japan Tokugawa Yoshinobu family Mito Domain People from Kyoto

Personal history

Later life

See also

Further reading

Footnotes

References

Sources