- Lady Kasuga
nihongo|Lady Kasuga|春日局|"Kasuga no Tsubone (1579–
October 26 ,1643 ) was from a prominent Japanesesamurai family of the Azuchi-Momoyama andEdo period s. Born Saitō Fuku (斉藤福), she was a daughter ofSaitō Toshimitsu (who was a retainer ofAkechi Mitsuhide ). Her mother's father wasInaba Yoshimichi . Married to Inaba Masanari, she had three sons, includingInaba Masakatsu , and an adopted son,Hotta Masatoshi . She was thewet nurse of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu. She also established the "Ōoku," the women's quarters, atEdo Castle .In 1629, Ofuku traveled to the capital, where she had an audience with the emperor at the
Imperial Court in Kyoto . She was promoted to the extraordinarily high Court rank of second class; and after this time, she was called Kasuga-no-Tsubone or Lady Kasuga. [ Murdock, James. (1996) [http://books.google.com/books?id=32HnwxdP4pMC&pg=RA1-PA2-IA1&dq=Kasuga+no+Tsubone&lr=&client=firefox-a&sig=eqekWbHL37UA9kcwaXTBlRzZ7eU "A History of Japan," p. 3.] ]Her grave is in Rinshō-in, a temple in Bunkyō,
Tokyo ; the temple possesses a portrait of Kasuga byKanō Tanyū . The Kasuga neighborhood of Bunkyō takes its name from her. Another grave is in Odawara,Kanagawa Prefecture .Lady Kasuga has been the subject of various films and television series, and has been a character in many more. Among the most prominent are these:
*"Jotei Kasuga no Tsubone" (1990, directed by Sadao Nakajima)
*"Ōoku" (2004) portrayed byYuki Matsushita
*"Kasuga no Tsubone" (1989NHK Taiga drama ) portrayed by Reiko Ōhara
*"" (2005 anime and manga) voiced byKimiko Saitō .Notes
References
* Murdock, James. (1996) [http://books.google.com/books?id=32HnwxdP4pMC&dq=Kasuga+no+Tsubone&lr=&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "A History of Japan."] London:
Routledge .External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359520/ Jotei: Kasuga no tsubone] at IMDB
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