Tokugawa Ieshige

Tokugawa Ieshige; 徳川 家重 (January 28, 1712 – July 13, 1761) was the ninth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.

The first son of Tokugawa Yoshimune, his mother was the daughter of Okubo Tadanao, known as Osuma no kata. His childhood name was Nagatomi-maru. He underwent the "genpuku" coming-of-age ceremony in 1725. His first wife, Nami-no-miya, was the daughter of Prince Fushimi-no-miya Kuninaga (伏見宮 邦永親王). His second wife, Okō, was the daughter of one of the courtiers who had followed his high-born first wife from the Imperial Court to the Shogunal Court in Edo. This famously good-natured second wife was the mother of Ieharu, who would become Ieshige's heir. [Screech, T. "Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822," p. 130.]

In "Enkyō" 2, Ieshige was made shogun.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). "Annales des empereurs du Japon," p. 418.]

Ieshige suffered from chronic ill health and a severe speech defect. Yoshimune's choice of Ieshige as his heir created considerable controversy within the shogunate as his younger brothers Tokugawa Munetake and Tokugawa Munetada appeared to be far more suitable candidates. Yoshimune continued to insist on his decision, favoring the Confucian principle of primogeniture; and Ieshige continued in the role of formal head of the shogunate. Yoshimune directed affairs after his official retirement in 1745. This attention was designed to ensure that Ieshige was secure in his office. Ieshige remained shogun until 1760.

Uninterested in government affairs, Ieshige left all decisions in the hands of his chamberlain, Ooka Tadamitsu (1709-1760). He officially retired in 1760 and assumed the title of "Ōgosho," appointed his first son Tokugawa Ieharu as the 10th shogun, and died the following year.

Ieshige's second son Tokugawa Shigeyoshi became the founder of the Shimizu Tokugawa clan, which together with the Tayasu and Hitotsubashi (established by Ieshige's younger brothers) became the "gosankyō", three cadet branches of the Tokugawa family from which future shoguns might be selected if the main line were to die out. They joined the existing three cadet branches, the "gosanke", to which Ieshige's father Yoshimune had been born.

Ieshige's reign was beset by corruption, natural disasters, periods of famine and the emergence of the mercantile class, and his clumsiness in dealing with these issues greatly weakened the rule of Tokugawa. Ieshige's posthumous title was "Junshin-in," and his grave was at the Tokugawa family mausoleum at Zōjō-ji in Shiba, Edo. His remains were disinterred and underwent scientific investigation from 1958-1960. It was discovered that his teeth were crooked and badly deformed, confirming historical references to his speech defect, and that his blood type was Type A.

Eras during Ieshige's rule

The years in which Ieshige was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or "nengō". [see above] ]
* "Enkyō" (1744-1748)
* "Kan'en" (1748-1751)
* "Hōreki" (1751-1764)

References

* Screech, Timon. (2006). "Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822." London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-7007-1720-X
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1822). "Illustrations of Japan." London: Ackerman.
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652] , "Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon." Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)]
*Totman, Conrad. (1967). "Politics in the Tokugawa bakufu, 1600-1843". Cambridge: Harvard University Press.