Tokugawa Yoshinobu


'Kazoku was the 15th and last shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. After resigning in late 1867, he went into retirement, and largely avoided the public eye for the rest of his life.

Early life

Tokugawa Yoshinobu was born in Edo as the seventh son of Tokugawa Nariaki, daimyō of Mito. Mito was one of the gosanke, the three branch families of the Tokugawa clan which were eligible to be chosen as shōgun. His birth name was Matsudaira Shichirōmaro His mother, Princess Arisugawa Yoshiko, was a member of the Arisugawa-no-miya, a cadet branch of the imperial family; through her, he was a third cousin of the then-Emperor Ninkō. Shichirōmaro was brought up under strict, spartan supervision and tutelage. While his father Nariaki respected the second Mito Tokugawa Mitsukuni who had sent off the second and younger sons from Edo to Mito to raise them, Shichirōmaro was seven months old when he arrived in Mito in 1838. He was taught in the literary and martial arts, as well as receiving a solid education in the principles of politics and government at Kōdōkan.
At the instigation of his father, Shichirōmaro was adopted by the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family in order to have a better chance of succeeding to the shogunate and changed his first name to :ja:昭致|Akimune. He became family head in 1847, coming of age that year, receiving court rank and title, and taking the name Yoshinobu. Upon the death of the 13th shōgun, Iesada, in 1858, Yoshinobu was nominated as a potential successor. His supporters touted his skill and efficiency in managing family affairs. However, the opposing faction, led by Ii Naosuke, won out. Their candidate, the young Tokugawa Yoshitomi, was chosen, and became the 14th shōgun Iemochi. Soon after, during the Ansei Purge, Yoshinobu and others who supported him were placed under house arrest. Yoshinobu himself was made to retire from Hitotsubashi headship.
The period of Ii's domination of the Tokugawa government was marked by mismanagement and political infighting. Upon Ii's assassination in 1860, Yoshinobu was reinstated as Hitotsubashi family head, and was nominated in 1862 to be the shōgun, receiving the position soon afterwards. At the same time, his two closest allies, Matsudaira Yoshinaga and Matsudaira Katamori, were appointed to other high positions: Yoshinaga as chief of political affairs, Katamori as Guardian of Kyoto. The three men then took numerous steps to quell political unrest in the Kyoto area, and gathered allies to counter the activities of the rebellious Chōshū Domain. They were instrumental figures in the kōbu gattai political party, which sought a reconciliation between the shogunate and the imperial court.
In 1864, Yoshinobu, as commander of the imperial palace's defense, defeated the Chōshū forces in their attempt to capture the imperial palace's Hamaguri Gate in what is called the Kinmon Incident. This was achieved by use of the forces of the Aizu–Satsuma coalition.

''Shōgun'' (1866–1867)

After the death of Tokugawa Iemochi in 1866, Yoshinobu was chosen to succeed him, and became the 15th shōgun. He was the only Tokugawa shōgun to spend his entire tenure outside of Edo: he never set foot in Edo Castle as shōgun. Immediately upon Yoshinobu's ascension as shōgun, major changes were initiated. A massive government overhaul was undertaken to initiate reforms that would strengthen the Tokugawa government. In particular, assistance from the Second French Empire was organized, with the construction of the Yokosuka arsenal under Léonce Verny, and the dispatch of a French military mission to modernize the armies of the bakufu.
The national army and navy, which had already been formed under Tokugawa command, were strengthened by the assistance of the Russians, and the Tracey Mission provided by the British Royal Navy. Equipment was also purchased from the United States. The outlook among many was that the Tokugawa shogunate was gaining ground towards renewed strength and power; however, it fell in less than a year.

Boshin War (1868–69)

Fearing the renewed strengthening of the Tokugawa shogunate under a strong and wise ruler, samurai from Satsuma, Chōshū and Tosa formed an alliance to counter it. Under the banner of sonnō jōi coupled with a fear of the new shōgun as the "Rebirth of Ieyasu" who would continue to usurp the power of the Emperor, they worked to bring about an end to the shogunate, though they varied in their approaches. In particular, Tosa was more moderate; it proposed a compromise whereby Yoshinobu would resign as shōgun, but preside over a new national governing council composed of various daimyōs. To this end, Yamanouchi Toyonori, the lord of Tosa, together with his advisor, Gotō Shōjirō, petitioned Yoshinobu to resign in order to make this possible.
On November 9, 1867, Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor and formally stepped down ten days later, returning governing power to the Emperor. He then withdrew from Kyoto to Osaka. However, Satsuma and Chōshū, while supportive of a governing council of daimyōs, were opposed to Yoshinobu leading it. They secretly obtained an imperial edict calling for the use of force against Yoshinobu and moved a massive number of Satsuma and Chōshū troops into Kyoto. There was a meeting called at the imperial court, where Yoshinobu was stripped of all titles and land, despite having taken no action that could be construed as aggressive or criminal. Any who would have opposed this were not included in the meeting. Yoshinobu opposed this action, and composed a message of protest, to be delivered to the imperial court; at the urging of the leaders of Aizu, Kuwana, and other domains, and in light of the immense number of Satsuma and Chōshū troops in Kyoto, he dispatched a large body of troops to convey this message to the court.
When the Tokugawa forces arrived outside Kyoto, they were refused entry, and were attacked by Satsuma and Chōshū troops, starting the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, the first clash of the Boshin War. Though the Tokugawa forces had a distinct advantage in numbers, Yoshinobu abandoned his army in the midst of the fight once he realized the Satsuma and Chōshū forces raised the Imperial banner, and escaped to Edo. He placed himself under voluntary confinement, and indicated his submission to the imperial court. However, a peace agreement was reached wherein Tayasu Kamenosuke, the young head of a branch of the Tokugawa family, was adopted and made Tokugawa family head; On April 11, Edo Castle was handed over to the imperial army, and the city spared from all-out war.
Together with Kamenosuke, Yoshinobu moved to Shizuoka. Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, had also retired to Shizuoka, centuries earlier. Iesato was made the daimyō of the new Shizuoka Domain, but lost this title a few years later, when the domains were abolished.
Many of the hatamoto also relocated to Shizuoka; a large proportion of them did not find adequate means to support themselves. As a result, many of them resented Yoshinobu, some of them to the point of wanting him dead. Yoshinobu was aware of this, and was so afraid of assassination that he redesigned his sleeping arrangement to confuse any potential assassin.

Later Life

Living a life in quiet retirement, Yoshinobu indulged in many hobbies, including oil painting, archery, hunting, photography, and cycling. Some of Yoshinobu's photographs have been published in recent years by his great-grandson, Yoshitomo.
In 1902, the Meiji Emperor allowed him to reëstablish his own house as a Tokugawa branch with the highest rank in the peerage, that of prince, for his loyal service to Japan. He took a seat in the House of Peers, resigning in 1910. Tokugawa Yoshinobu died on 21 November 1913, at 16:10 and is buried in Yanaka Cemetery, Tokyo.
On 9 January 1896, his ninth daughter Tsuneko Tokugawa married Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu, a second cousin to both Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun and nephew of Prince Kan'in Kotohito.
On 26 December 1911, his granddaughter Kikuko Tokugawa was born. She married Prince Takamatsu, the brother of Emperor Shōwa, to become Princess Takamatsu.

Honors

With information from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia
The years in which Yoshinobu was shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

Patrilineal descent

Yoshinobu's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.
The existence of a verifiable link between the Nitta clan and the Tokugawa/Matsudaira clan remains somewhat in dispute.
  1. Descent prior to Keitai is unclear to modern historians, but traditionally traced back patrilineally to Emperor Jimmu
  2. Emperor Keitai, ca. 450–534
  3. Emperor Kinmei, 509–571
  4. Emperor Bidatsu, 538–585
  5. Prince Oshisaka, ca. 556–???
  6. Emperor Jomei, 593–641
  7. Emperor Tenji, 626–671
  8. Prince Shiki, ????–716
  9. Emperor Kōnin, 709–786
  10. Emperor Kanmu, 737–806
  11. Emperor Saga, 786–842
  12. Emperor Ninmyō, 810–850
  13. Emperor Montoku 826–858
  14. Emperor Seiwa, 850–881
  15. Prince Sadazumi, 873–916
  16. Minamoto no Tsunemoto, 894–961
  17. Minamoto no Mitsunaka, 912–997
  18. Minamoto no Yorinobu, 968–1048
  19. Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, 988–1075
  20. Minamoto no Yoshiie, 1039–1106
  21. Minamoto no Yoshikuni, 1091–1155
  22. Minamoto no Yoshishige, 1114–1202
  23. Nitta Yoshikane, 1139–1206
  24. Nitta Yoshifusa, 1162–1195
  25. Nitta Masayoshi, 1187–1257
  26. Nitta Masauji, 1208–1271
  27. Nitta Motouji, 1253–1324
  28. Nitta Tomouji, 1274–1318
  29. Nitta Yoshisada, 1301–1338
  30. Nitta Yoshimune, 1331?–1368
  31. Tokugawa Chikasue?, ????–????
  32. Tokugawa Arichika, ????–????
  33. Matsudaira Chikauji, d. 1393?
  34. Matsudaira Yasuchika, ????–14??
  35. Matsudaira Nobumitsu, c. 1404–1488/89?
  36. Matsudaira Chikatada, 1430s–1501
  37. Masudaira Nagachika, 1473–1544
  38. Matsudaira Nobutada, 1490–1531
  39. Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, 1511–1536
  40. Matsudaira Hirotada, 1526–1549
  41. Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1st Tokugawa shōgun
  42. Tokugawa Yorifusa, 1st daimyō of Mito
  43. Matsudaira Yorishige, 1st daimyō of Takamatsu
  44. Matsudaira Yoriyuki
  45. Matsudaira Yoritoyo, 3rd daimyō of Takamatsu
  46. Tokugawa Munetaka, 4th daimyō of Mito
  47. Tokugawa Munemoto, 5th daimyō of Mito
  48. Tokugawa Harumori, 6th daimyō of Mito
  49. Tokugawa Harutoshi, 7th daimyō of Mito
  50. Tokugawa Nariaki, 9th daimyō of Mito
  51. Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 15th Tokugawa shōgun

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