, also known as , was the official wife of , the 13th ''

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 ...

'' of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

of Japan. She was the daughter of Lady Oyuki and , who was the head of the branch of the

Shimazu Shimazu is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Esther Shimazu (born 1957), American/Hawaiian sculptor * Saeko Shimazu (born 1959), Japanese voice actress * Shimazu clan, ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han * Shimazu Hisami ...

in Satsuma. She was originally named by her parents. When she was adopted by

Shimazu Nariakira was a Japanese feudal lord (''daimyō'') of the Edo period, the 28th in the line of Shimazu clan lords of Satsuma Domain. He was renowned as an intelligent and wise lord, and was greatly interested in Western learning and technology. He was en ...

, her name was changed to or and later to upon her adoption by

Konoe Tadahiro Prince Senior first rank , son of Motosaki, was a ''kugyō'' or Japanese court noble of the late Edo period (1603–1868). He held a regent position kampaku from 1862 to 1863. His consort was Shimazu Kyoko, an adopted daughter of Shimazu Nariok ...

Biography

Tenshōin was born in

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

in 1835. In 1853, she became the adopted daughter of Shimazu Nariakira. On August 21, 1853, she travelled by land from Kagoshima via

Kokura is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen li ...

to the Edo jurisdiction, never to return to Kagoshima again. Atsuko was thought to have been sent to Edo Castle with the aim of helping Shimazu Nariakira politically. The question of the next heir to the shogunate was divided between the choice of

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 ...

, then head of the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa house and

Tokugawa Yoshitomi (July 17, 1846 – August 29, 1866) was the 14th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of the "re-opening" of Japan to western nations. ...

, then head of Kii-Tokugawa house. In order to ensure that Yoshinobu became the next in succession, Atsuko was arranged to wed into 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 cl ...

. On 18 November 1856, Atsuko married

Tokugawa Iesada was the 13th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He held office for five years from 1853 to 1858. He was physically weak and was therefore considered by later historians to have been unfit to be ''shōgun''. His reign marks the begi ...

and became a Midaidokoro. In 1858, both

and Shimazu Nariakira died. The 14th ''shōgun'' was decided to be Iesada's cousin and adopted son,

Tokugawa Iemochi (July 17, 1846 – August 29, 1866) was the 14th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of the "re-opening" of Japan to western nations. ...

. Following the demise of her husband, Atsuko took the tonsure, becoming a Buddhist nun, and took the name Tenshōin on 26 August 1858, and she was given

Junior Third Rank The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese as ''ikai'' (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the state. ''Ikai'' as a system was originally used in the Ritsuryo system, which was the poli ...

. In 1862, as part of the Kōbu Gattai ("Union of Court and Bakufu") movement, Iemochi was married to Imperial Princess

Kazu-no-Miya Chikako (''Kazunomiya'') was the wife of 14th ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Iemochi. She was renamed Lady Seikan'in-no-miya after she took the tonsure as a widow. She was the great-great-great aunt of Emperor Akihito, who reigned from 1989 to 2019. Biography ...

daughter of

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 deteriorat ...

, and younger sister of

Emperor Kōmei was the 121st Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')孝明天皇 (121)/ref> Kōmei's reign spanned the years from 1846 through 1867, corresponding to the final years of the ...

. The Satsuma clan brought up the request for Tenshōin to return to Satsuma, but was rejected by Tenshōin herself. In 1866, Iemochi died. Tokugawa Yoshinobu became the next ''shōgun''. During the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

, Tenshōin and her daughter in law, Seikan'in (Kazu-no-Miya's name after tonsure) helped negotiate for the peaceful surrender of Edo Castle. She spent her remaining years nurturing

Tokugawa Iesato Prince was the first head of the Tokugawa clan after the overthrow of the Tokugawa bakufu, and a significant figure in Japanese politics and diplomacy during the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan. When Prince Tokugawa travelled ...

, the 16th head of the Tokugawa clan. She moved into the Tokugawa residence in

Sendagaya is an area within Shibuya ward, one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo. Introduction Sendagaya is nestled in an urban green area in Shibuya ward between Shinjuku ward and Shinjuku Gyo-en (Shinjuku Imperial Gardens) to the north (an area in Sen ...

, in the

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

district,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. She suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

which eventually took her life on November 20th, 1883, at the age of 47. She was buried in

Kaneiji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Nihon Re ...

Ueno is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of N ...

, together with her husband, Onkyoin (Iesada). Beside Onkyoin and Tenshoin tombs, There is

loquat The loquat (''Eriobotrya japonica'') is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant. The loquat is in the family ...

tree planted there as it was Tenshoin's favorite food. The 2008 NHK Taiga drama '' Atsuhime'' was a fifty-episode television dramatization of her life.

Family

* Father: Shimazu Tadatake (1806–1854) * Mother: Lady Oyuki * Adoptive Fathers: **

* Adoptive Mothers: ** Tsunehime (1805–1858), daughter of Tokugawa Nariatsu and wife of

** Shimazu Kyoko or Ikuhime (1807–1850) sister of

and wife of

* Uncle: Shimazu Hisamitsu * Husband:

* Adopted son:

Honours

Shimazu clan Tokugawa clan 19th-century Buddhist nuns Japanese Buddhist nuns Neurological disease deaths in Japan Deaths from Parkinson's disease 1883 deaths 1836 births {{Authority control