was a Japanese ''

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 the early Edo period.

Biography

Born the ninth son of

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 fello ...

with his concubine, Okame no Kata. His childhood name was Gorōtamaru (五郎太丸). While still a young child, he was appointed leader of first the fief of Kofu in Kai Province and later the fief of Kiyosu in

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 ...

. In 1610, he was appointed leader of the

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 ...

(present-day

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

), one of the most important regions in the country, thus founding the Owari-Tokugawa house. A holder of the 2nd court rank, junior grade (''ju-ni-i''), he had the title of ''dainagon'' (major counselor). During the

Kan'ei was a after '' Genna'' and before ''Shōhō.'' This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1644. The reigning emperors and empress were , and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 411./ref> Chan ...

era (1624-44) he had a kiln constructed at the corner of the Ofuke enceinte (''Ofukemaru'') of

Nagoya Castle is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the ...

and invited potters from Seto to make pottery there. This became known as

Ofukei ware , also spelled ''Ofuke'', refers to a type of Japanese pottery that was originally produced in Nagoya, central Japan. History During the Kan'ei era (1624–44), the first lord of Owari Tokugawa Yoshinao (1601–1650) had a kiln constructed a ...

. Yoshinao began learning

Shinkage-ryū ' meaning "new shadow school", is a traditional school ('' koryu'') of Japanese martial arts, founded by Kamiizumi Ise-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Hidetsuna, later Kamiizumi Ise-no-Kami Nobutsuna Friday, Karl ''Legacies of the sword'', page 24. Unive ...

from

Yagyū Hyōgonosuke or — Toshitoshi (利厳) was the founder of the Owari mainline of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū style of swordsmanship in the early Edo period. He was a son of Yagyū Toshikatsu and a grandson of Yagyū Muneyoshi (Sekishūsai). His name is sometim ...

at age 16, and was named the 4th ''

sōke , pronounced , is a Japanese term that means "the head family ouse" In the realm of Japanese traditional arts, it is used synonymously with the term ''iemoto''. Thus, it is often used to indicate "headmaster" (or sometimes translated as "head of ...

'' at age 21. Joukouji5

His remains were cremated and laid to rest at his mausoleum in

Jōkō-ji (Seto) , is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen, Buddhism located in the city of Seto, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Its main image is a statue of Jizō Bosatsu. The temple is noted for the mausoleum o ...

Family

Yoshinao's principal wife was Haruhime, the daughter of

Asano Yoshinaga was a Japanese samurai and feudal lord of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods. His father served as one of the '' Go-Bugyō'' in the late Azuchi–Momoyama period. Asano Yoshinaga was born at Odani, in the Asai district of Ōmi Province, in ...

of Kii (whose family was later transferred to Hiroshima), and his concubines included Osai and Ojō no Kata. He had two children: Mitsutomo, who succeeded him as ''

'' of Owari, and Shiko or Kyōhime who married Hirohata Tadayuki, a court noble. * Father:

* Mother: Okame no Kata (1573–1642) later Sōōin * Wife: Asano Haruhime (1593–1637) later Kōgen-in, daughter of

of Kishū Domain * Concubines: ** Osai no Kata later Sadashin-in ** Ojō no Kata later Kankiin * Children: ** Tokugawa Mitsutomo by Ojō ** Kyōhime (1626–1674) by Osai and married Hirohata Tadayuki

References

*Tokugawa, Munefusa (2005). ''Tokugawa yonhyakunen no naishobanashi''. Tokyo: Bunshun-bunko.

External links

1601 births 1650 deaths Lords of Owari Deified Japanese people {{Daimyo-stub