Asahi no kata (朝日の方, 1543 – February 18, 1590) was a Japanese

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

of the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

. She was a half-sister of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

and wife of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

, two of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan. Apart from "Asahi no kata", she is also known as Suruga Gozen (駿河御前) and Asahi-hime (朝日姫), though none of these are personal names, which roughly translate to "the person of Asahi", "the Lady Suruga", or "Princess Asahi", respectively.

Life

In 1543, Asahihime was born as the daughter of

Ōmandokoro Ōmandokoro (大政所, 1516 – 29 August 1592) or Ōmandokoro Naka was the mother of the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. She was also the mother of Asahi no kata, Tomo and Toyotomi Hidenaga. Biography Ōmandokoro is said to have been ...

and Chikuami, a farmer in Owari Province. Along with the rise of Hideyoshi under Oda Nobunaga, her husband was elevated to the status of a ''bushi'' and adopted the name of Saji Hyūga-no-kami. Asahi no kata was first married to Saji Hyūga no kami, but when her brother Toyotomi Hideyoshi wished to make peace with Tokugawa Ieyasu after the

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute The , also known as the Komaki Campaign (小牧の役 ''Komaki no Eki''), was a series of battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would become Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1586) and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

, Hideyoshi expressed interest in marrying her to Ieyasu. In 1586, the retainers of Oda Nobukatsu were dispatched as messengers to Yoshida in Mikawa and, via

Sakai Tadatsugu was one of the most favored and most successful military commanders serving Tokugawa Ieyasu in the late Sengoku period. Serving as the highest-ranking general in the Tokugawa clan along with Ishikawa Kazumasa, Tadatsugu is also regarded as o ...

, proposed a marriage to appease Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu accepted the proposal and sent

Sakakibara Yasumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period through early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan. As one of the Tokugawa family's foremost military commanders, he was considered one of its Shitennō (Tokugawa clan), "Four Guardian ...

as his representative to Kyōto to exchange betrothal gifts. As a result, Saji Hyūga committed suicide, in order to not pose an obstacle to such a powerful political marriage, and the two were married soon afterwards. Asahihime departed from Ōsaka Castle and went to Hideyoshi’s formal residence in Kyōto known as ''jurakutei''. In the fifth month, a wedding procession departed from the capital with over 150 participants including Asano Nagamasa and others famous warlords. During the procession, retainers of Nobukatsu including Oda Nagamasu also joined. Days later, the procession reached Nishino in Mikawa, and, in May 14, arrived in Hamamatsu whereupon she was married into the Tokugawa family as the formal (second) wife of Ieyasu. At this time, Ieyasu was forty-five years old and Asahihime was forty-four. Thereafter, Asahihime kept a residence in Fuchū in Suruga so she was referred to as Suruga Gozen. Even after completion of the wedding ceremony, Ieyasu did not go to Kyōto so, on the premise that Ōmandokoro would visit Suruga Gozen in Okazaki, she further became a hostage, whereupon Ieyasu went to Kyōto and entered into a peace arrangement with Hideyoshi. In 1588, Suruga Gozen visited Kyōto to visit her ill mother, but, before long, she began to recover, so, on September, she returned to Suruga. It is not certain when she went to Kyōto again, but while residing in Hideyoshi’s residence, she fell ill in the first month of 1590, and died on January at the age of forty-seven. Around this time, Ieyasu was preparing for an expedition known as the Conquest of Odawara, and, while concealing his mourning, interred her at the Tōfuku Temple in Kyōto. Suffering from ill health in her later years, Suruga Gozen became a follower of the Rinzai sect of Buddhism, and her posthumous name is Nanmei-in. A memorial tower was built at the Tōfuku Temple so that Ieyasu could pay tribute to her after her death. This is the family temple for the Tokugawa ''shōgun'' family where her portrait is kept. Ieyasu also had built a grave at the Zuiryū Temple on Mount Taiun in Sunpu. Hideyoshi visited this site to pay his respects while en route on the Conquest of Odawara. A memorial tower was constructed for memorial services and he donated lands to the temple. Tokugawa and his new wife visited her mother when she fell ill in 1589; the mother of Asahi no kata and Hideyoshi died the following year, as did Asahi no kata herself.

Family

* Father: Chikuami * Mother:

(1513–1592) *Siblings: **

(1537-1598) **

Toyotomi Hidenaga , formerly known as or . He was a half-brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the most powerful and significant warlords of Japan's Sengoku period and regarded as 'Hideyoshi's brain and right-arm'. Life Hidenaga was also known by his court tit ...

(1540-1591) ** Tomo (1534-1625), married Soeda Jinbae * Husbands: ** Soeda Yoshinari (m. ??–1586) **

(m. 1586–1590)

References

* Papinot, Edmond (1910). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha. {{DEFAULTSORT:Asahi No Kata 1543 births 1590 deaths 16th-century Japanese nobility 16th-century Japanese women Toyotomi clan Women of the Sengoku period