was

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

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 at ...

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 characteriz ...

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 north ...

Biography

Tokugawa Mitsutomo was the eldest son of the first daimyō of

Tokugawa Yoshinao was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Biography Born the ninth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu 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 ...

by a concubine. He undertook his ''

genpuku is a Japanese coming-of-age ceremony which dates back to Japan's classical Nara Period (710–794 AD). /sup> This ceremony marked the transition from child to adult status and the assumption of adult responsibilities. The age of participat ...

'' ceremony under Shōgun

Tokugawa Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who a ...

on May 3, 1630, and was given the adult name of the "Mitsuyoshi", which included the same ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' "Mitsu" as the Shōgun. As a further sign of favor, his official wife,

Chiyohime was Tokugawa Iemitsu's daughter with his concubine, Ofuri no Kata (died 1640), daughter of Oka Shigemasa, also known as Jishō'in. After Ofuri died, Chiyohime was adopted by Iemitsu's concubine, Oman no Kata (1624-1711), later Keishoin. She m ...

later Reisen-in, was also the daughter of ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' Tokugawa Iemitsu. His childhood name was Gorōta (五郎太). On the death of his father on June 28, 1650, he became the 2rd Tokugawa ''daimyō'' of Owari Domain, with lower 3rd court rank and the courtesy title of Captain of the Right Imperial Guards. He completed the clan mortuary temple of Kenchu-ji the following year, and was raised to upper 3rd court rank and

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 August 12, 1653. On November 1, 1671, he formally changed his name to "Mitsutomo". On May 4, 1690, he received the courtesy title of

Dainagon was a counselor of the first rank in the Imperial court of Japan. The role dates from the 7th century. This advisory position remained a part of the Imperial court from the 8th century until the Meiji period in the 19th century.Nussbaum, "Dainag ...

, and a week later was awarded 2nd Court Rank. On April 25, 1693, he officially retired, turning his offices and position as clan heed to his son,

Tokugawa Tsunanari was ''daimyō'' of Owari Domain during early-Edo period Japan. Biography Tokugawa Tsunanari was the son of the second ''daimyō'' of Owari Domain, Tokugawa Mitsutomo by his official wife, Chiyohime later Reisen-in, the daughter of ''shōgun'' T ...

; however, although officially retired, he continued to wield all political power using his son's name, until his son's death on July 1, 1699. During this period, he lived at the Ōzone ''Oshitayashiki'', a palatial palace with extensive gardens some distance from

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 ...

. He also had the Aoi ''Oshitayashiki'' constructed. In addition to his official wife (a daughter of Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu), Mitsutomo had at least 10 official concubines, by whom he had 17 children (11 male, 6 female). Noted for his accomplishments in the

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is se ...

and

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 ...

, Mitsutomo was especially noted as a master of the

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. Univers ...

style 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 ...

, having been taught by the Owari Yagyū clan. He proved so adept that he was named the 6th ''

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 t ...

'' by Yagyū Toshikane, and added a number of teaching concepts to the ''ryū''. 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 Tokugawa ...

in Nagoya.

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Ojo no Kata or Yoshida-dono * Wife: Tokugawa Chiyohime, daughter of

* Concubines: ** Higuchi-dono ** Seshin'in ** Iyo-dono ** Ohisa no Kata ** Oito no Kata ** Otei no Kata ** Otsune no Kata ** Ofuchi no kata ** Umeda-dono ** Kimura-dono * Children: **

by Chiyohime ** Matsudaira Yoshiyuki (1656–1715) by Chiyohime ** Toyohime (b.1655) by Chiyohime ** Naohime (1658–1661) by Chiyohime ** Matsudaira Yoshimasa (1651–1713) by Higuchi ** Matsudaira Yasunaga (1661–1675) by Seishin'in ** Atehime (1666–1683) married

Asano Tsunanaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period, who ruled the Hiroshima Domain. He held the title of '' Aki no kami''. His childhood name was Iwamatsu (岩松). During the 47 ''rōnin'' incident, Tsunanaga sent a messenger to Akō, which was r ...

by Seishin'in ** Senosuke (b.1676) by Seishin'in ** Hachirotaro (1668–1669) by Iyo ** Matsudaira Tomoshige (1669–1702) by Iyo ** Chotakeru by Iyo ** Hidehime (b.1673) by Ohiya ** Nohime (b.1674) by Oito ** Mannosuke (1676–1681) by Otei ** Mannanosuke (b.1678) by Otsune ** Kannosuke (b.1677) by Ofuchi ** Matsudaira Tomoaki (1678–1728) by Umeda ** Motohime (1679–1690) by Kimura

References

* 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.'' {{s-end 1625 births 1700 deaths Lords of Owari Tokugawa clan Japanese swordfighters 17th-century Japanese calligraphers