was ''

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 nominall ...

'' of

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated ...

during 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 character ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Biography

Tokugawa Yoshimichi was the 10th son of the 3rd ''

'' of

, Tokugawa Tsunanari by a concubine, Hōju-in, who was believed to have been a commoner. His childhood name was Matsudaira Yabutaro (松平藪太郎) later become Yoshito (吉郎) and changed again to Gorota (五郎太). On August 25, 1695, he was permitted to take the Tokugawa surname in place of Matsudaira, and in December of the same year was awarded with one ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

'' from Shōgun

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was the fifth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, as well as the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.Nussbaum, Louis-Fr ...

's name, lower 4th court rank and ceremonial court title of Captain of the Left Guards. On the death of his father in 1699, Yoshimichi officially became the 4th Tokugawa ''daimyō'' of Owari Domain with 3rd Court Rank, but since he was only age 11 at the time, his uncle Matsudaira Yoshiyuki served as regent, and he continued to reside at the

Yotsuya is a neighborhood in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It is a former ward (四谷区 ''Yotsuya-ku'') in the now-defunct Tokyo City. In 1947, when the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with Ushigome ward of Tokyo City and Yo ...

residence of his mother in

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 ...

until 1705. During this period, he studied

Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usage ...

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

, and

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

, and later was considered to be a scholarly and wise ruler of

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were ...

. He was awarded the title of ''

Chūnagon was a counselor of the second rank in the Imperial court of Japan. The role dates from the 7th century. The role was eliminated from the Imperial hierarchy in 701, but it was re-established in 705. This advisory position remained a part of the I ...

'' on November 28, 1704. He was also ranked as the 8th master of 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 a ...

school of

Japanese swordsmanship is an umbrella term for all ('' ko-budō'') schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of ...

. In addition to his official wife (a daughter of court noble Kujō Tsukezane) by whom he had a son, Yoshimichi had also had two concubines, by whom he had two daughters. Yoshimichi died on July 26, 1713, under somewhat uncertain circumstances. It is known that he was held in high regard by Shōgun

Tokugawa Ienobu (June 11, 1662 – November 12, 1712) was the sixth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Tsunashige, thus making him the nephew of Tokugawa Ietsuna and Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the grandson of Tokugawa Iemi ...

, who approached Yoshimichi in 1712 with regards to his possible succession to 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 ...

– a post for which he declared to have no desire or ambition. Plans for Yochimichi to either succeed Ienonu, or to act as regent for Ienobu's infant son were vehemently opposed by Ienobu's councilor,

Arai Hakuseki was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo period, who advised the ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi (君美). Hakuseki (白� ...

. However, in May 1713, a plot by some of his retainers in Nagoya resulted in twelve sentences of death or ''

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

,'' and Yoshimichi went into permanently secluded retirement back with his mother, Hōju-in, on July 21 of the same year. He died, reportedly of illness, less than five days later. His grave is at the Owari Tokugawa clan temple of

Kenchū-ji Kenchū-ji (建中寺) is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in Tsutsui, Higashi-ku, Nagoya, central Japan. Starting in the Edo period, the mausoleums of the lords of the Owari Domain were located there, making it the '' Bodaiji'' of the Owari Tokuga ...

in Nagoya.

Family

* Father: Tokugawa Tsunanari * Mother: Hoju-in (1665-1739) * Wife: Kujō Sukehime later Zuishoin, daughter of Kujō Tsukezane * Concubines ** Osan no Kata ** Onoue no Kata * Children: **

Tokugawa Gorota Tokugawa may refer to: *Tokugawa era, an alternative term for the Edo period, 1603 to 1868 *Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime of Japan during the Edo period **Tokugawa clan, a powerful family of Japan ***Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), most nota ...

by Sukehime ** Senhime married

Kujo Yukinori Kujo is an American outdoor footwear company specializing in shoes made for yard work. The company is based out of Cleveland, Ohio. History Kujo successfully launched on Kickstarter in June 2017, and began selling in February 2018. The nam ...

by Osan ** Mitsuhime married

Tokugawa Munekatsu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period, who ruled the Takasu Domain and then the Owari Domain. As lord of Takasu he used the name . His childhood name was Daigoro (代五郎). Family * Father: Matsudaira Tomoaki (1678-1728), son of Tokuga ...

Takasu Domain The was a Japanese domain located in Mino Province (present-day Kaizu, Gifu). For most of its history, it was ruled by the Takasu-Matsudaira, a branch of the Tokugawa clan of Owari Domain. Matsudaira Katamori, Matsudaira Sadaaki, Tokugawa Yoshik ...

and then the

, by Onoue

References

* Nakai, Kate Widman. ''Shogunal politics: Arai Hakuseki and the premises of Tokugawa rule''. Harvard University Asia Center (1988). * Papinot, Edmond. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
* ''The content of much of this article was derived from that of the corresponding article on Japanese Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tokugawa, Yoshimichi 1689 births 1713 deaths Tokugawa clan Lords of Owari