Tokugawa Ietsugu

2025-08-15T21:36:43Z

99.214.133.33: /* Death */

{{Short description|Military ruler of Japan from 1713 to 1716}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Tokugawa (surname)|Tokugawa]]|lang=Japanese}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Senior First Rank]]
| name = Tokugawa Ietsugu
| native_name = {{Nobold|徳川家継}}
| native_name_lang = ja
| image = Tokugawa Ietsugu cropped.jpg
| imagesize =
| order = ''[[Shōgun]]''
| monarch = [[Emperor Nakamikado|Nakamikado]]
| term_start = 29 March 1713
| term_end = 19 June 1716
| predecessor = [[Tokugawa Ienobu]]
| successor = [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]]
| spouse = Yoshiko no Miya
| children =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1709|08|08|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Edo]], [[Tokugawa shogunate]]<br>(now [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]])
| death_date = {{death date and age|1716|06|19|1709|08|08|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Tokugawa shogunate]]
| signature = Tokugawa Ietsugu kao.jpg
| parents = {{Plainlist|
* [[Tokugawa Ienobu]]
* [[Gekkōin]]}}
}}

{{Self-contradictory|article|about=the age of Ietsugu at the time of his marriage|date=August 2023}}
'''Tokugawa Ietsugu'''; 徳川家継 (8 August 1709 – 19 June 1716) was the seventh ''[[shōgun]]'' of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa dynasty]], who ruled from 1713 until his death in 1716. He was the son of [[Tokugawa Ienobu]], thus making him the grandson of [[Tokugawa Tsunashige]], ''[[daimyō]]'' of [[Kofu]], great-grandson of [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], great-great grandson of [[Tokugawa Hidetada]], and finally the great-great-great grandson of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]].

==Early life (1709–1713)==
Tokugawa Ietsugu was born in 1709 in Edo, being the eldest son of ''shōgun'' [[Tokugawa Ienobu]] and concubine, Gekkōin. At that time, his father was ''shōgun'', and was being advised by his long-time Confucian advisor, [[Arai Hakuseki]], who held considerable influence in the ''shōgun''{{'}}s court at Edo. When Ietsugu was born, his father, Ienobu, was 48. His childhood name was Nabematsu (鍋松). Arai had traced the Tokugawa family's bloodline back to the Minamoto family, the founders of the first shogunate. Thus, Ietsuga also was called Minamoto no Ietsugu. He was only three years old when his father died, upon which he became ''shōgun'' Ietsugu. He married Yoshiko no Miya (1714–1758), daughter of [[Emperor Reigen]], in 1715; at that time he was only 4 years and Yoshiko no Miya was only one year old.<ref>Screech, T. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822'', p. 97.</ref>

==Family==
* Father: [[Tokugawa Ienobu]]
* Mother: [[Gekkōin]] (1685–1752)
* Wife: Yasonomiya Yoshiko (1714–1758)

==''Shōgun'' (1713–1716)==
Although ''shōgun'' Ietsugu assumed the role as formal head of the ''bakufu'',<ref name="t416">Titsingh, I. (1834). ''Annales du empereurs du Japon'', p. 416.</ref> he was still a toddler. As he was not old or able enough to rule, he was put under the protection and advice of Confucian scholar [[Arai Hakuseki]]. Two problems were addressed during Ietsugu's reign: currency reform and foreign trade in [[Kyūshū]]. Ietsugu did not take much care of the country's matters; and his advisors, namely Arai Hakuseki, addressed them.

In 1715, he married Yoshiko-no-miya, daughter of [[Emperor Reigen]]. He was 5 years old, she was 1 years old.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

In 1713, prices were rising. Thus, after various proposals (most after the death of Ienobu) submitted to Shogun Ietsugu and Arai, it was decided to create a new currency. In 1714, the new metallic currency was introduced. While rice had increased during the rule of Ienobu, after the currency was introduced during the rule of Ietsugu, it fell to a lower level.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

The currency reform was closely linked to foreign trade. In 1716, only Dutch and Chinese merchant ships could trade from [[Dejima]] in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]]. Reform of the currency system also led to reform of trade rules as well. In 1716, a document was addressed saying that the ''bakufu'' would appoint two commissioners of Foreign Trade in [[Edo]] and Nagasaki, and that 30 Chinese ships and 2 Dutch ships be allowed to enter the country each year. Nonetheless, Japan still remained very isolated.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==Death==
[[File:Mausoleum of Yushoin.JPG|thumb|right|Mausoleum of Ietsugu (posthumously known as Yushoin) at [[Zōjō-ji]] in [[Shiba Park]]]]
In ''Shōtoku'' 6, on the 30th day of the 4th month (1716), Shogun Ietsugu died of complications of a cold, at the age of six.<ref>Screech, p. 98.</ref> He had not done much to rule—but was thought of as a playful and mischievous character. Since he had no children the direct descendant line of [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] came to an end. Nonetheless, there were still collateral lineal branches descended from Ieyasu through one of his many children, and the new ''shōgun'', [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]], was chosen from one of these lineal Tokugawa branches. Ietsugu's posthumous Buddhist name was Yushoin and he was buried in [[Zōjō-ji]].

==Eras of Ietsugu's ''bakufu''==
The years in which Ietsugu was ''shōgun'' are more specifically identified by more than one [[Japanese era names|era name]] or ''[[nengō]]''.<ref name="t416"/>
* ''[[Shōtoku (era)|Shōtoku]]'' (1711–1716)
* ''[[Kyōhō]]'' (1716–1736)

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center |ref=<ref name=descent>{{cite web|url=https://reichsarchiv.jp/%e5%ae%b6%e7%b3%bb%e3%83%aa%e3%82%b9%e3%83%88/%e5%be%b3%e5%b7%9d%ef%bc%88%e5%be%b7%e5%b7%9d%ef%bc%89%e6%b0%8f%ef%bc%88%e5%b0%86%e8%bb%8d%e5%ae%b6%ef%bc%89#ietugu|title=Genealogy|website=Reichsarchiv|date=6 May 2010 |access-date=4 July 2018|language=ja}}</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Tokugawa Ietsugu, 7th [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa Shōgun]]'''
|2= 2. [[Tokugawa Ienobu]], 6th [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa Shōgun]] (1662-1712)
|3= 3. [[:ja:月光院|Gekkōin]] (1685-1752)
|4= 4. [[Tokugawa Tsunashige]], ''daimyō'' of Kōfu (1644-1678)
|5= 5. [[:ja:長昌院|Chōshōin]] (1637-1664)
|6= 6. Katsuda Gentetsu
|7= 7. Wada
|8= 8. [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], 3rd [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa Shōgun]] (1604-1651)
|9= 9. [[:ja:順性院|Junshōin]] (1622-1683)
|10=
|11=
|12=
|13=
|14= 14. Wada Jizaemon
|15=
}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
* [[Timon Screech|Screech]], Timon. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''. London: [[RoutledgeCurzon]]. {{ISBN|0-7007-1720-X}}
* [[Isaac Titsingh|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: [[Royal Asiatic Society|Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland]]. [https://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]].

==External links==
*{{commons-inline}}

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{{Tokugawa dynasty (Japan)}}
{{Tokugawa chronology (Japan)}}
{{Tokugawa_officials}}
{{Shoguns}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokugawa, Ietsugu}}
[[Category:1709 births]]
[[Category:1716 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century shōguns]]
[[Category:Tokugawa shōguns]]
[[Category:Tokugawa clan]]
[[Category:Monarchs who died as children]]
[[Category:Child monarchs from Asia]]

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Tokugawa Ietsugu