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 no ...

'' of

Owari Domain The Owari-Han, also known as the Owari Domain, was a significant feudal domain in Tokugawa shogunate, Japan during the Edo period. Situated in the western region of what is now Aichi Prefecture, it covered portions of Owari Province, Owari, Mino ...

during mid-

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Biography

Tokugawa Tsugutomo was the 11th son of the 3rd ''

'' of

, Tokugawa Tsunanari by a concubine, who was a commoner, his childhood name was Hachisaburo (八三郎). He became 6th Tokugawa daimyō of Owari Domain on the unexpected death of his brother Tokugawa Yoshimichi, and Yoshimichi's son Tokugawa Gorōta in 1713. He was severely reprimanded by the domain's senior retainer, Takenokoshi Masatake, for having thrown a celebratory party immediately on his succession, ignoring the customary mourning period. Tsugutomo was awarded lower 4th Court Rank and the ceremonial position of Captain of the Left Guards on January 11, 1713, and was promoted to 3rd Court Rank and was given a ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, 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 and are ...

'' from the name of Shōgun Tokugawa Ietsugu. He advanced to the ceremonial post of ''

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 December 26, 1715. Whereas his predecessor, Yoshimichi, had enjoyed the high regard of the 6th shōgun

Tokugawa Ienobu (11 June 1662 – 12 November 1712) was the sixth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Tsunashige, thus making him the nephew of Tokugawa Ietsuna and Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the grandson of Tokugawa Iem ...

, Tsugutomo was viewed with suspicion by senior shogunal retainers Manabe Akifusa and

Arai Hakuseki was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo period, who advised the ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi (君美). Hakuseki (白� ...

, as Tsugutomo had the closest claim by direct descent to the position of shōgun, and the 7th shōgun Tokugawa Ietsugu had no heirs. Tsugutomo's position was also bolstered by the fact that his official wife was the daughter of the '' kampaku'' Konoe Iehiro, with ties to the powerful faction led by Tenei-in within the ''

Ōoku The was historically the harem, women's quarters of Edo Castle, the section where the women connected to the reigning resided. Similar areas in the castles of powerful , such as the Satsuma Domain, were also referred to by this term. During ...

'' of

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established th ...

. Despite his blood ties and political connections, Tsugutomo was bypassed by the shogunal succession, and

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yoshimune is know ...

from Kii Domain was selected to become 8th shōgun instead. Tsugutomo was noted for his fiscal acuity from an early age, and reformed the finances of Owari Domain. He also supported Yoshimune's Kyōhō Reforms, which left the domain with a very considerable fiscal surplus. The castle town of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

prospered under his administration, increasing in population, and attracting merchants such as Echigoya from

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

. Tsugutomo died on January 5, 1731, without an heir (his only son, by a concubine, having died in infancy). The leadership of the domain passed to his younger half-brother, the 19th son of Tokugawa Tsunanari, Tokugawa Muneharu. Tsugutomo's 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 A in Japanese Buddhi ...

in Nagoya.

Family

* Father: Tokugawa Tsunanari * Mother: Izumi later Senkoin * Wife: Konoe Yasuko * Concubine: Ukyo no Kata * Son: Hachisaburo by Ukyo

References

* Nakai, Kate Widman. ''Shogunal politics: Arai Hakuseki and the premises of Tokugawa rule''. Harvard University Asia Center (1988). * 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.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tokugawa, Tsugutomo 1692 births 1731 deaths Lords of Owari