Tokugawa Iemitsu

Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604 – 1651) was the third Tokugawa shogun, ruling from 1623 to 1651. During his rule, his government persecuted Christians; closed Japan to the outside world; solidified Tokugawa control over the daimyō (feudal lords); and established an increasingly rigid society that would evolve one day into a totalitarian state.

Iemitsu was the son of Tokugawa Hidetada, the second Tokugawa shogun and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun. His mother was Hidetada’s wife, Oeyo. Oeyo was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Iemitsu’s wetnurse and close ally was Lady Kasuga no Tsubone (whose name was Saita Fuku), who in later years acted as a political advisor.

He had two sisters, Senhime (who married Toyotomi Hideyori) and Masako also known as Kazuko (who married Emperor Go-Mizunoo), and a brother, Tadanaga (who would become a rival).

Iemitsu almost did not become shogun. His father and mother favored his younger brother for Iemitsu was weak, stammered, and unattractive, while Tadanaga was a beautiful boy. However, even at this early age, Iemitsu had an ally, his wetnurse, Kasuga no Tsubone, (Fuku). Fuku appealed to Ieyasu, who was much distressed over a succession controversy and ruled that shogunal succession rights would go to the oldest and that became the rule for the Tokugawa shogunate.

In 1623, Hidetada abdicated as shogun in favor of Iemitsu and retained power as Ogosho. As had Ieyasu and Hidetada, Hidetada and Iemitsu ruled together as Ogosho and Shogun. Hidetada installed some of his trusted advisors to assist Iemitsu.

Hidetada had worked to keep good relations with the imperial court, marrying his daughter to Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Iemitsu followed suit giving the court gold and money. However, the good times with the imperial family would not last forever after the  Shie or Purple Robe Incident and after Fuku broke a taboo when she (a commoner) visited Masako at the imperial court. Go-Mizunoo abdicated and Meishō became empress. The shogun became the uncle of the imperial monarch.

After Hidetada died in 1632, Iemitsu began a careful reorganization strengthening his position. He was especially mindful of the threat of Tadanaga assassinating him, for Tadanaga intrigued to gain power. Tadanaga committed seppuku in 1633 after his lands were confiscated and being accused of insanity. With Tadanaga gone, Iemitsu felt completely free to rule and replaced the daimyō that Hidetada had assigned to him with his close friends. He began a counselor system that created a strong centralized government, weakening the power of the daimyō.

Iemitsu amended the laws for Warrior Houses in 1635 to require daimyō to reside in Edo every other year, leaving their family in Edo as hostages in the year they were allowed to return to their lands. He controlled foreign trade by restricting foreign access to ports. Even crises like rebellion and famine only served to strengthen the shogunate. He crushed the Christians and other disaffected people who had rebelled in the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. The great Kanei famine of 1642 resulted in the bakufu ordering daimyō to draw up maps of their domains and castles and banning the buying and selling of fields to control the farmers. He established the national isolation policy and Japan became closed and static. Iemitsu perfected Tokugawa command and control over Japan.

Iemitsu’s legitimate son, Takechiyo, was born in 1641. In 1650, he assumed Iemitsu’s ceremonial obligations as Iemitsu became ill. Iemitsu died in 1651 and Takechiyo would become became Shogun Ietsuna at the age of ten, so there was no shogun-ogosho relationship.

Personal Behavior

Iemitsu had a profound reverence for his grandfather Ieyasu. He commissioned the famous painter Kano Tanyū to draw a narrative handscroll of Ieyasu. He carried an amulet that stated, “Live or die, all things depend on the great Gongen” (Gongen was Ieyasu’s posthumous name). Iemitsu often styled himself as “Gongen the Second.”

In financial affairs, Iemitsu was a wastrel and spent much of the vast fortune that his grandfather accumulated. His extravagances began the ongoing financial problems the bakufu would have in the future.

Personal Relationships

Iemitsu practiced the shūdō tradition from an early age. This relationship would be comprised of the older, Nenja, and the younger, Wakashu, who would study martial arts and other ways of the samurai under him. However, in a lover’s quarrel, Iemitsu killed Sakabe Gozaemon, his nenja, while they were taking a bath.

He was married to Takatsukasa Takako, who came from nobility. Unfortunately, she miscarried her children. They had no married life. He moved her out of the palace into a residence in a garden, confining her there, and giving her only a small allowance and some tea utensils.

Iemitsu’s lack of an heir as he approached middle age worried Kasuga no Tsubone (Fuku) who arranged for several concubines for Iemitsu. Eventually he had several children, including his shogunal heirs Ietsuna (the fourth Tokugawa shogun) and Tsunayoshi (the fifth Tokugawa shogun).