Tokugawa Ieyasu

Introduction

Tokugawa Ieyasu is a well-known Japanese historical figure as one of the Three Unifiers of Japan; Oda Nobunaga, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Some people might not fully understand what he had achieved, although he has been covered through historical dramas, historical novels, films, and manga due to his bigger presence. 

Now, let’s look at Tokugawa Ieyasu’s life and his achievements.

Childhood as a hostage of Imagawa Yoshimoto

Tokugawa Ieyasu (Takechiyo as his childhood name) was born in Mikawa No Kuni (eastern area of Aichi prefecture) as the heir eldest son of Matsudaira Hirotada, the 8th head of the Matsudaira clan and the land lord of Okazaki Castle. Takechiyo was already put in the tense situation of the war after he was born.

 Mikawanokuni was surrounded by strong enemies such as Imagawa Yoshimoto in the eastern area and Oda Nobuhide, father of Oda Nobunaga in the western area, being in the situation where it was invaded by those enemies at that time. In 1547, when Takechiyo was 6, he faced the first challenge of his life.

 Oda Nobuhide, a warlord in the western area, broke the silence and invaded Mikawa No Kuni.

Matsudaira Hirotada requested Imagawa Yoshimoto in the eastern area for reinforcements to get out of this predicament. Imagawa Yoshimoto accepted Hirotada‘s request but presented the condition of giving Takechiyo to him as a hostage.

 Matsudaira Hirotada unwillingly accepted his request and took Takechiyo to Imagawa Yoshimoto. Takechiyo, as a hostage of Yoshimoto, was taken to his territory, Sunpu (now Shizuoka City, Shizuoka prefecture). However, Takechiyo had a betrayal then.

A vassal of Matsudaira clan as a security guard for Takechiyo traded Takechiyo with Oda Nobuhide in exchange for money. Since a rebellion was not rare in those times and Matsudaira Hirotada was still young, he didn’t notice his vassal’s rebellion, being trapped by such a plot easily.

Takechiyo spent about 2 years in the Oda clan as a hostage. 2 years later, when Takechiyo was 8 years old, he was taken to the Imagawa clan because Imagawa exchanged their hostage for Takechiyo with Oda. 

However, Matsudaira Hirotada, Takechiyo’s father was already dead at that time and Okazaki Castle where Takechiyo left for the war, had been taken over by his vassal as the castle representative. Okazaki Castle was virtually owned by the Imagawa clan because Takechiyo, who was determined as the next castle lord considering his bloodline, was a hostage of the Imagawa clan.

In 1555, Takechiyo changed his name to Jirosaburo Motonobu, and Motoyasu 2 years later. When he was 16, he met Senahime (later as Tsukiyamadono) and married with her.

Independence from Imagawa through the Battle of Okehazama

On February 5th, 1558, Motoyasu won the first battle in the “Mikawa Shougeki”, a big rebellion and riot by the civilians in Mikawa No Kuni. Motoyasu attacked Suzuki Shigetatsu, a castle lord of Terabe Castle located in Kamo District. Motoyasu withdrew after burning the castle town and attacked the vicinity.

 With his achievement, his reputation was raised. In 1560, when the Battle of Okehazama broke out, Udono Nagateru who guarded Otaka Castle reported the shortage of provisions in the castle to Imagawa Yoshimoto, so Motoyasu as the spearhead was ordered to supply provisions to Nagateru.

 However, Otaka Castle was surrounded by Oda troops, so the provisions were not able to be carried in the castle. Therefore, Motoyasu devised sending provisions carriers to the castle after going through two hills. Consequently, he succeeded in the withdrawal of his and Udono troops. 

 However, Imagawa Yoshimoto was defeated by the Battle of Okehazama. His ambition of unifying Japan and making Motoyasu an active warlord of the Imagawa clan was finally smashed.

 Although Imagawa troops had progressed to Kyoto, they were given a sudden attack by Oda troops composed of only a few thousands soldiers at that time. Motoyasu, joined in the Battle of Okehazama, received that report and planned to be independent from Imagawa. Death of Imagawa by the Battle of Okehazama gave a significant change to Motoyasu’s life.

Cooperation with Nobunaga and renaming into Tokugawa Ieyasu

In 1561, when Motoyasu broke a relationship with Imagawa, he connected with Nobunaga via Mizuno Nobumoto’s intermediacy, what is now called as “Kiyosu Alliance (清洲同盟)”. Next year, in 1562, talks between Motoyasu and Nobunaga were realized and they confirmed that the connection of the alliance is robust.

 In 1563, Motoyasu, who broke a relationship with Imagawa, changed his name into Ieyasu by taking away the “Moto” of “Imagawa Yoshimoto”. 

 There are many opinions concerning his choice of “Ie”(家) according to historical materials, but the true story is unclear. According to one of the opinions, Hisamatsu Toshikatsu with whom Odainokata, an ex-wife of Matsudaira Hirotada married, called him “Nagaie”. However, some academics advocate that “Ie”(家) had been the significant kanji character for the Tokugawa Shogunate family, so Ieyasu veiled the origin.      

 In March 1563, Takechiyo, Ieyasu’s legitimate child, married Tokuhime, daughter of Nobunaga as the sign of alliance, which made the alliance more robust.

 Ieyasu, who was renamed, progressed the Imagawa’s strategy. In 1564, when the Ikko-shu Uprising in Mikawa province broke out, Ieyasu managed to suppress the rebellious groups and progressed in waving away troubles for him to fix his foundation.

 Ieyasu steadily gained influence by drawing powerful and elite families such as Saigo and Toda in eastern areas of Mikawa into his side and had won against opposing forces.

The battle with opposing Imagawa was mainly waged in Hoi District, whose cause was Imagawa’s delayed response to Mikawanokuni by a gradually spreading rebellion by the civilians in Totominokuni, what is called “Enshusougeki”.

 The modifications of military rule by Ieyasu at that time, is called “Sanbi-no-sei”; Sanbi was a major three samurai group and referred to Nishi-Mikawasyu, Higashi-Mikawa Yu, and Hatamoto. Ieyasu appointed Ishikawa Ienari (later as Kazumasa) the head of Nishi-Mikawasyu, while he did Sakai Tadatsugu the head of Higashi-Mikawa Yu, and he established the resident samurai group named “Hatamoto-Senteyaku” as Hatamoto, which achieved his unification of Mikawanokuni. 

 In 1566, Ieyasu finally changed his surname into “Tokugawa”. Ieyasu was complimented on his achievement of unification of Mikawanokuni and he received the official title named “Junior Fifth Rank of Mikawanokami” from the Imperial Court. 

 There are some opinions about his change of surname: at the time when he received the official title named “Junior Fifth Rank of Mikawanokami”, while just before he did, but it is unclear. Anyway, “Tokugawa Ieyasu”: a well-known Japanese historical figure, finally was born at the age of 24.

 As a feudal lord (“Daimyo”) of Hideyoshi administration

At the time when he changed his name into “Tokugawa Ieyasu”, Takeda Shingen, who had an alliance with Oda Nobunaga, invaded Suruga, a territory of Imagawa. With that as a start, Ieyasu occupied Totominokuni in 1568 and relocated to Hikuma Castle as home in 1570. In the same year, Ieyasu left for the Battle of Anegawa in Ominokuni as well, for rescuing Nobunaga who broke an alliance with Shingen together with him.

 However, the Ieyasu side got a big blow from the strong Takeda troops. What’s more, he got a great defeat against Shingen at the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1572. Ieyasu troops were greatly defeated by the number of troops against Takeda; Ieyasu side had 11,000 troops in addition to Oda’s reinforcements, while Takeda side had 30,000 troops, and Takeda’s shock tactics, which caused Ieyasu troops a great loss of competent vassals.

 However, Ieyasu won against Katsuyori at the battle in 1575. In 1582, Ieyasu received control of the entire Suruganokuni because Nobunaga conducted a strategy against Takeda and he accomplished the extinction of Takeda. But, the biggest shocking event happened 2 months later, which was the death of Oda Nobunaga by the Honno-ji Incident. At that time, Ieyasu, who was in Sakai, crossed over the Kansai region to Iseshirako, crossing the sea to return to Okazaki Castle. He once went to Iseshirako to avoid the Kansai region where the security was devastated by the death of Nobunaga.

 During his move, those who guarded Ieyasu were Iga Ninja. Over the following years, Iga Ninja such as Hattori Hanzo were used for the Tokugawa shogunate. Ieyasu, after returning to Okazaki Castle, succeeded in having Kai, and Shinano where there was no administrator following Nobunaga was dead in his hand.

 With this, he succeeded in possessing five provinces: Mikawa, Totomi, Suruga, Kai, and Shinano through making a huge sacrifice. After that, Ieyasu fought against Hashiba Hideyoshi who then was an outstanding feudal warlord and won against his troops in 1584. But, a half year later, Ieyasu reached a settlement between Hideyoshi so he lost reasons to fight and returned to Mikawa.

 In 1586, Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave Asahihime to Ieyasu as his second wife, which was Hideyoshi’s secret plan to draw Ieyasu to his side. With this, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu became adopted brothers. Ieyasu gave his loyalty to Hideyoshi and he joined Hideyoshi’s troops at the Siege of Odawara, making a big achievement.

 Ieyasu took control of eight provinces, however his five possessed provinces were confiscated, with which he consequently lost Mikawa, his home.

Decisive battle: The Battle of Sekigahara

Tokugwa Ieyasu, the ruler of eight provinces in the Kanto region acted vigorously. What he approached and concentrated on was management of his domains in the Kanto region and restructuring of military rule. He appointed competent vassals to each area as part of his activities and he finally succeeded in the administration of the Kanto region.

 However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi worried about Ieyasu’s ability the most. The aim of Hideyoshi’s order for management of domains in the Kanto region to Ieyasu was to suppress his momentum of steady expansion of Ieyasu’s power. But, Ieyasu increasingly expanded his governance of Kanto against Hideyoshi’s intention.

 Ieyasu thoroughly enforced his military power as well. He drew former competent vassals of Takeda troops and Hojyo to his side to fully enforce the military power. And as he found the timing and finally determined to unify the nation.

 The timing came to him when Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598. Ieyasu quietly had worked for Hideyoshi while losing Mikawa, his home, however he released his accumulating power to approach the final stage toward unifying the nation.

 The will created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi before he died, stated that he appointed Ieyasu the head of the Council of Five Elders. Ieyasu followed his will, and he assumed the head of the Council of Five Elders. However, he came to object to the administration Hideyoshi had established during his lifetime.

 Ieyasu mainly allowed each feudal lord to marry which Hideyoshi prohibited in his will and intervened in salary for warriors. After Hideyoshi died, Ishida Mitsunari, the chief vassal of his administration, stood up to stop Ieyasu’s visibly rebellious activities. But, Ieyasu calculated that Ishida Mitsunari was an obstacle for his unification of the nation.Ieyasu aimed to make Mitsunari lose the position through drawing people around him to Ieyasu’s side. 

 In 1600, the event that triggered the historical battle named “The Battle of Sekigahara” happened, which was the betrayal of Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of the Council of Five Elders. Ieyasu raised the army to subjugate Kagekatsu, which is a historically famous event named “Aizu Seibatsu”(Aizu Subjugation).

 On the way to Aizu, Ieyasu troops knew that Ishida Mitsunari raised the army. After Ieyasu troops received that news, they stopped going to Aizu and gathered people who opposed the Toyotomi administration and Mitsunari, starting to subjugate Mitsunari. Eastern Army formed by anti-Toyotomi people led by Ieyasu and Western Army led by Mitsunari fought in Sekigahara, Minonokuni (what is now Gifu Prefecture).

 At the beginning of this battle, Western Army was advantageous, but more warriors of Western Army switched to the Eastern Army as the time passed, which increasingly made Western Army disadvantageous. Finally, Eastern Army won the battle of the century which lasted for a few hours. The days after the battle, Mitsunari who was escaping was captured and was executed. The win of this battle led Ieyasu to become de facto ruler of the era.

Appointed as Barbarian-Subduing Generalissimo and open the Edo Shogunate

 Tokugawa Ieyasu, who successfully won the Battle of Sekigahara, a decisive and fierce battle that lasted for hours, was appointed as the position of Barbarian-Subduing Generalissimo from the Imperial Court. His appointment triggered the birth of Edo Shogunate over 200-year long administration.

 During the former administration of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he was in the position of “Kanpaku” (Chief advisor for the Emperor) and had a close relationship with the Imperial Court, while Ieyasu aimed to avoid being confined from the absolute power of the Imperial Court by deploying the shogunate government in Edo.

Ieyasu thought of the mechanism where Edo Shogunate take the lead in carrying out the politics smoothly and the Imperial Court is not too powerful and can’t threaten the Shogunate by having a deep connection with vassals. On the other hand, he thought of building a peaceful connection with the Imperial Court. Therefore, he came up with the following mechanisms.

•  Deployment of the Kyoto Shoshidai (important administrative and political office) for monitoring the Imperial Court
•   Deployment of the Bukedenso (position that acts as a window for communication between the Shogunate and the Imperial Court)
•  Constitution of Kinchu Narabini Kuge Shohatto (Laws for the Imperial and Court Officials)

 Especially, Laws for the Imperial and Court Officials was a law that regulates the behavior of the Imperial family for the first time in Japanese history. This law stipulated that the most important thing for the Imperial family was focusing on learning. The mechanism of the law allowed the shogunate to carry out politics more freely through regulating the behavior of the Imperial family to deconcentrate the power of the family, by putting this law in practice.

 In this way, Tokugawa administration put the shogunate in Edo, but Ieyasu himself was not always in Edo, rather he made an expedition to other areas because he paid attention for the remnants of the Toyotomi administration who were a big threat for the Edo Shogunate. He often resided in Hushimi Castle.

 After being appointed as Barbarian-Subduing Generalissimo, enemies for Ieyasu were people on the Toyotomi side, which means there were still many feudal lords backing the Toyotomi administration. To suppress their rebellion, Ieyasu always needed to strain.

To resolve that fear, Ieyasu got an idea: construction of the brilliant castle in Edo, which is later named Edo Castle. Ieyasu practiced the plan that he made of feudal lords who were suspected of being anti-Tokugawa administration involved in the plan of construction of Edo Castle as not to give them room for rebellion against him.

Construction of the Edo Castle had a meaning of symbolizing the authority of the Edo Shogunate, while also having a meaning of suppressing rebellious vassals. Castle town was also arranged for the construction of the castle and Edo flourished so much.

Retirement and Death of Tokugawa Ieyasu

In 1605, 2 years after Ieyasu became tycoon, he handed over the shogunate to Tokugawa Hidetada, his third-son.

 After that, Ieyasu seemed to start his retired life, but he had continued to support politics from the shadows. He actually took a political initiative even though he retired from the shogunate.

 Even though Ieyasu lived a leisurely life, he had an everlasting fear: the existence of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s remaining family members. Their existence remained alive and intimidating for Ieyasu’s shogunate even after Hideyoshi died, so he always had fear for them.

 And after that, the battle to extinguish the Toyotomi clan who had been a single fear for Ieyasu broke out: the Siege of Osaka (1614~1615). 

 The Winter Campaign broke out during November to December in 1614. Toyotomi troops, which barricaded them into Osaka Castle, fought evenly against Ieyasu troops at the beginning of the battle.

 However, the momentum of Toyotomi troops gradually got weaker by plans supported by Ieyasu’s scrupulous calculation, which finally forced the troops to make a pacification with Ieyasu troops. By that, moat inside and outside of Osaka was all reclaimed, which consequently triggered the extinction of the Toyotomi clan.

 The Summer Campaign broke out in 1615. The Toyotomi side steadily prepared for the next battle by inviting masterless samurai groups and intending to enrich weapons in order to avenge the Winter Campaign.

 However, there was an overwhelming difference between Ieyasu troops and Toyotomi troops: 155,000 warriors versus 78,000 warriors in total. What’s more, Toyotomi troops already had no chance of winning before the battle because they lost reliance on barricading in the castle because moat inside and outside of Osaka was all reclaimed.

 Toyotomi troops, which couldn’t barricade themselves in the castle, had no choice but to challenge an open battle against Tokugawa troops. Consequently, Osaka Castle as the Toyotomi clan’s symbol was burned out at the battle, which made the Toyotomi side lose the will to fight and was defeated. The Toyotomi clan was extinguished at this battle.

 After the extinction of Toyotomi clan, the biggest enemy for Ieyasu, it was said he spend a frugal life, which means he spent a simple and healthy life in his later years by eating barley rice which was low-calorie and high-protein as his staple diet and going for falconry to relieve his lack of exercise.

 Ieyasu’s character: steady, unadventurous, and deliberate can be the reason why he could rule the nation.

Summary of Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu is a historical figure who was at the mercy of strange fate as a hostage from the time he was born, while he never lost himself and steadily succeeded in unifying the nation.

 People in modern days have a lot of learning points regarding his life: never resting on his laurels even though building a position as a samurai warrior and having lived a simple and steady life until the end of his life.

 Besides, it is Tokugawa Ieyasu who has attractions in every aspect, such as being adored by his subordinates, studious, curious in every field, and having a brain to calmly plot every situation.

 Seeking to study his life and lifestyle more, you may find hints for living the modern society smoothly.

A title featuring Tokugawa Ieyasu

One of the titles featuring Tokugawa Ieyasu is “Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and his Three Ladies”.Also available on SAMURAI VS NINJA!