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{{Short description|Japanese princess (1804–1893)}}
{{Infobox noble|name=Yoshiko|title=Imperial Princess|native_name=徳川吉子|native_name_lang=ja|image=Princess_Yoshiko.jpg|birth_name=Tominomiya}}'''Princess Yoshiko'''（28 October 1804 &amp;ndash; 27 January 1893）was the younger sister of His Imperial Highness Prince Tsunahito of Arisugawanomiya. Yoshiko married to [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], the 9th feudal load of [[Mito Domain]]. She was the mother to the 10th load Yoshiatsu as well as the 15th and the last Chief of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], 15代将軍・[[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]]. Called Tominomiya when very young, and before coming to [[Edo]] from [[Kyoto]]. Named Teihoin '''貞芳院''' surviving her husband, then called Madam Bummei [[Posthumous name|post humously]] when she died in 1893 at the age of 89 in Tokyo. Tokugawa Yoshiko rests at Zuiryusan temple, the official [[Bodhi]] temple of Mito clan in [[Ibaraki Prefecture]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=徳川将軍家墓碑総覧|last=秋元茂陽|publisher=パレードブックス|year=2008|isbn=9784434114885|page=162|chapter=十五代徳川慶喜 : 生母吉子|和書}}</ref>。
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Princess Yoshiko <br/> 吉子女王
| image = Princess_Yoshiko.jpg
| caption =Yoshiko in later life
| alt = A portrait of Japanese noble lady Yoshiko Tokugawa in the late 19th century.
| spouse = [[Tokugawa Nariaki]]
| issue = {{plainlist|
* Yoshiatsu ([[:w:Ja:徳川慶篤|ja]]) (her eldest son)
* [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]] (her third son)
}}
| issue-link =
| issue-pipe =
| full name = Tokugawa Yoshiko
| house = Chiefs of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as:{{plainlist|
* [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi|Ieyoshi]] (12th, brother-in-law)
* [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]] (15th)
* Feudal lords as:
* Yoshiatsu, Mito Domain
* Tsuchiya Tsugunao, [[Tsuchiura Domain]] (stepson)
* [[Tokugawa Akitake|Akitake]], [[Shimizu-Tokugawa]] Family (stepson)
}}
| house-type =
| father = {{plainlist|
* Prince Taruhito of [[Arisugawa-no-miya]]
* (twelfth and the last daughter)
}}
| mother = Ando Kiyoko
| birth_name = Arisugawa-no-miya Tomi
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1804|10|28}} <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| birth_place =
| christening_date =
| christening_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1893|01|27|1804|10|28|df=y}} <!--28 October 1804 &ndash; 27 January 1893 {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| death_place = Tokyo
| burial_date =
| burial_place = Zuiryuzan temple, [[Mito, Ibaraki]] Prefecture
| occupation = Imperial princess, the first wife of feudal lord Tokugawa Nariaki of [[Mito Domain]]
| memorials =
| website = <!-- {{{URL|example.com}} -->
| module =
}}

'''Princess Yoshiko''' (吉子女王, 28 October 1804 &ndash; 27 January 1893) was the younger sister of [[Prince Tsunahito]] of the [[Arisugawa-no-miya]] cadet branch of the Imperial House of Japan. Yoshiko was married to [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], and was mother to the 10th Lord Yoshiatsu, and the 15th and final [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa shogun]], [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]].


== Personal history ==
== Personal history ==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2021}}
Yoshiko, the twelfth and the last daughter was born to His Imperial Highness Prince Orihito of Arisugawanomiya family with a courtesan Ando Kiyoko. One of her elder sisters, Princess Takako, was married to the twelfth shogun [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi]], and others were married to feudal loads, one the wife of [[Asano Narikata]] of [[Hiroshima Domain]]・ and the other of Mori clan of [[Chōshū Domain]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=水戸学随筆|last=西村文則|publisher=昭和刊行会|year=1944|location=東京|pages=128-138|chapter=烈公夫人 貞芳院|doi=10.11501/1038547|id={{全国書誌番号|46001378}}|和書}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=廣田吉崇|date=2012-03-30|title=<研究ノート> 明治前期の「貴紳の茶の湯」 : 『幟仁親王日記』および『東久世通禧日記』に見る喫茶文化の状況|journal=日本研究|volume=45|pages=185-236|doi=10.15055/00000465|和書}}</ref>
Yoshiko, the twelfth and youngest daughter of [[Prince Taruhito]] of the Arisugawa-no-miya family, was born of the union of her father and the courtesan Ando Kiyoko. She was called {{Nihongo|Princess Tomi|登美宮|Tomi no miya}} as a child. She later moved to [[Edo]] from [[Kyoto]], where her husband renamed her {{Nihongo||貞芳院|Teihoin}} in case she were to be widowed. Upon her death, she was given the [[posthumous name]] {{Nihongo|Madam Bummei|文明夫人|Bummei fujin}}. She died in 1893 at the age of 88 in Tokyo. Tokugawa Yoshiko rests at the [[Zuiryusan temple]], the official [[Bodhi]] temple of the Mito clan in [[Ibaraki Prefecture]].{{sfn|Akimoto|2008|page=162}}


In [[1830]] and at the age of 27, Yoshiko was engaged to Nariaki who was 37 but had not had the first wife as he had become the chief of his clan just a year ago. Princess Takako who married a shogun was said to arrange the marrige, and there is a record of [[Emperor Ninkō]]'s comment that Mito clan had been good in both politics and education since (Nariaki's) predecessors. The Mito clan was heard to support the imperial system with enthusiasm for generations, and that the emperor gladly approved the marrige of Princess (Yoshiko) to a feudal load.{{Refn|<ref>芝葛盛『織仁親王行實』(1938年・昭和13年) 高松宮家。{{ncid|BN1350785X}}</ref><ref>高松宮藏版刊 (1938年刊) の複製。</ref>}}
In 1830, at the age of 27, Yoshiko was engaged to Nariaki, who was 37 but had not yet had his first wife as he had become the head of his clan just the year before. Princess Takako was said to have arranged the marriage, and [[Emperor Ninkō]] was recorded as having issued an approving comment on the political and educational pedigrees of the [[Mito Tokugawa family|Mito branch]] of the Tokugawa clan. The Mito branch was further renowned for having enthusiastically supported the imperial system for generations, and the emperor gladly approved of the marriage.{{sfn|Takamatsu-no-miyake|1938}}


When Yoshiko moved to Edo and started leading the life of a [[samurai]] wife, she kept the attire of the imperial household for weeks after her marriage. In a portrait she posed for at the time, she wore a {{transliteration|ja|[[kosode]]}} and {{transliteration|ja|[[hakama]]}}, in the style of [[kimono#history|centuries past]]. In a letterbox with that portrait, Nariaki called his wife Yoshiko, instead Princess Yoshiko or other names. Among Nariaki's 37 children with four wives, Yoshiko was the mother of his first son, [[Yoshiatsu]], his seventh son, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]], and finally a daughter. A fourth child, born before Yoshinobu, died prematurely.
Among 37 children of Nariaki, Yoshiko was the mother of their first son Yoshiatsu, the seventh son [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]] after an infant died prematurely, and a daughter as the last child.


Yoshiko was known to be fluent in arts, especially waka Japanese poems as well as Japanese calligraphy as the Arisugawa family heritage. [[Embroidery]] and playing music on [[Koto (instrument)|koto]] and [[hichiriki]] was among her hobbies,{{Efn|降嫁にあたって宮中にあがり詠んだ歌が伝わる<ref>{{cite book|和書| title = 愛誦集衍義 |page=18 | editor = 茨城県教育会 | location = 水戸 | publisher = 茨城県教育会 | id={{全国書誌番号|44042091}}
Yoshiko was known to be fluent in the arts, particularly {{transliteration|ja|[[Waka (poetry)|waka]]}} poems, as well as [[Japanese calligraphy]] and the Arisugawa family heritage. [[Embroidery]] and playing music on the {{transliteration|ja|[[Koto (instrument)|koto]]}} and the {{transliteration|ja|[[hichiriki]]}} were among her hobbies.{{Efn|As Yoshiko's marriage to a feudal lord was to join a lower social rank compared to the imperial household, it meant she would never come back to Kyoto, and visited the palace to bid farewell to her relatives and left a {{transliteration|ja|waka}} poem.{{sfn|Anthology|1939|p=18}}<blockquote>{{nihongo|While the cherry blossoms will be at the peak in the remote place, / let the sweet smell reach above the clouds to the palace.|天ざかるひなにはあれど櫻花／雲の上まで咲き匂はなん<br />|Amazakaru hina niwa aredo sakurabana / kumo no ue made saki niowanan}}</blockquote>}} After relocating to Mito from Edo, she learned to fish at the river by the castle.{{sfn|Shiba|1998|pages=129–152}}
|format= 和装 | doi = 10.11501/1437963 | year = 1939}}</ref>。<blockquote>「天ざかるひなにはあれど櫻花／雲の上まで咲き匂はなん」</blockquote>}} while after relocating to Mito from Edo, leant to fish at the river down the castle.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=柴桂子|date=1998年9月|title=江戸期おんな考|chapter=徳川慶喜の母貞芳院吉子と奥女中西宮秀|publisher=桂文庫|issue=9|pages=129-152|doi=10.11501/1835480|issn=1343-6821|和書}}</ref>.


Being an imperial princess and a sister-in-law of the twelfth shogun, [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi|Ieyoshi]], high-ranking officials including [[Ii Naosuke]] and his followers in the Edo government were said to surveil her in case she advised either the shogun or the emperor on political issues.{{Efn|1=In July, 1858 (Ansei 5th), the [[Metsuke|ko-metsuke]] (junior censor or intelligent survey officer) wrote the following statement to "Tairo" ([[:Ja:大老|ja]]) and {{transliteration|ja|[[Rōjū]]}}, the top rank officials.<blockquote>
As being the younger daughter-in-law to [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi|Ieyoshi]] the twelfth shogun and being an imperial princess, those higher ranks including [[Ii Naosuke]] and his followers were said to keep an eye on her if she would advise either the shogun or the emperor on political issues.{{Efn|安政5年（[[1858年]]）7月の小人目付発[[大老]]・[[老中]]宛上書には<blockquote>「兼々御簾中（＝登美宮吉子）ニは気象も被在之、文筆達者ニ被取廻、女中向之世話は勿論、御家政向或ハ海防之議論抔まで（※ しんにょうに「占」）を被申出候程之義ニ有之候処、此度御処置之次第、殊之外御不平之由ニ而、日光御門主とは御続柄、旁以同意被成候由ニ而、京都江御上書有之候趣噂仕」</blockquote>とあり、このことから通常、正室が取り仕切る奥向のことばかりでなく、藩政にも深く関わり、更に国防にも関心を持っていたことが窺える。}} While Nariaki was detained in Mito for lifetime in 1859 charged to take part in unti-shogun movements at [[Ansei Purge]], it took her three months to obtain permission and move from Edo to Mito and was widowed the next year. Yoshiko followed samurai custom and cut her hair short and [[Pabbajja|made a Pabbajja]], renamed as Teihoin {{Nihongo|2=貞芳院}}.
"Because for the temperament of Lady Behind the Screen (= Tomi-no-miya Yoshiko),<ref>"{{nihongo|Lady Behind the Screen|御簾中|Go-renchū}}" was an honorific originally attached to those of imperial household during [[Heian period]] (794 &ndash; 1185). As it had propagated among samurai leaders, the Edo government restricted the use under the feudal ranking system, and only the first wives of Shoguns and those of the lords of prominent Three Families or {{transliteration|ja|[[Gosanke]]}} were known by that name. Later, the closest Shōgun family household was extended to include {{transliteration|ja|[[Gosankyo]]}}, first wives of those lords were also called {{transliteration|ja|gorenjū}}: they were married to the heirs in line of [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]]'s three sons, who had resided at Shimizu, Tayasu, and Hitotsubashi quarters inside the [[Edo castle]] properties.</ref> she often writes to those she cares about on various topics, and that extends naturally to the housemaids or homemakers under her supervision, but even concerning controversial political topics related to home affairs or the maritime defenses. While the recent policy of the government was quite reasonable, it is said that she was quite upset with that arrangement.<ref>The "recent policy" an intelligent survey officer mentioned in his letter implied to the [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Japan)|Treaty of Amity and Commerce]] signed with the US the month that letter was sent.</ref> As she is a relative to Prince Nikko the Monk, it seems that both share the same sentiment. It is rumored that she wrote a letter to Kyoto (Imperial court)."</blockquote> This letter would be the evidence that not only in homemaking of a feudal household Yoshiko was deeply involved in politics as well as interested in national defense matters.|name=|group=}} After Nariaki was charged during the [[Ansei Purge]] for taking part in anti-shogun movements and detained in Mito for life in 1859, it took her three months to obtain permission and move from Edo to Mito. Widowed the next year, Yoshiko followed samurai custom and cut her hair short and [[Pabbajja|made a pabbajja]], retiring from social activities, and was renamed as Teiho-in {{Nihongo|2=貞芳院}}.
[[File:Kairakuen_Kobuntei.jpg|left|thumb|Kobuntei villa in Mito city.]]
Between 1869 and 1873 (2nd 6th years of [[Meiji (era)|Meiji]]), Yoshiko resided in the Kobuntei villa in [[Kairaku-en]] garden her late husband has opened. Her stepson [[Tokugawa Akitake|Akitake]] invited Yoshiko to live in his mansion at Koume, Tokyo which was the second residence, or ''shimo-yashiki'', of the Mito clan.<ref>{{Cite book|title=徳川昭武の屋敷 慶喜の住まい : 松戸市戸定歴史館企画展|last=松戸市戸定歴史館 ; 徳川昭武 ; 徳川慶喜|publisher=松戸市戸定歴史館|year=2011|pages=71-77|和書}}</ref> She exchanged letters with Yoshinobu, while the samurai culture prohibited Yoshiko to live with her only surviving natural son: he was adopted to Hitotsubashi family and no more regarded as her "family".


== Later life ==
Once Yoshiko's position was observed as against the Meiji government as being the mother of Yoshinobu who had opened fire against the government supporters in Kyoto, and on top of that the Mito clan was known to be radically against opening the country to foreign relations and trades. Yoshiko regained family ties with her grand nephew Prince Taruhito of Arisugawa family (1835&amp;ndash;1895) ([[W:ja:有栖川宮熾仁親王|ja]]) after she moved to Tokyo and started living with Akitake. Prince Taruhito wrote in his diary that since after January 1873, Yoshiko invited the Prince to her residence, sent gifts when she heard Taruhito was ill, and when the engagement of Prince Taruhito was publicised in June 1873.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.jp/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2bfMqC4DpW8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP17&dq=%E8%B2%9E%E8%8A%B3%E9%99%A2&ots=nGMfGH99yN&sig=PymPkFmvWMbe_g9OF6iLZNi1T7k#v=onepage&q=%E8%B2%9E%E8%8A%B3%E9%99%A2&f=false|title=熾仁親王日記|publisher=高松宮家|others=熾仁親王 ; 高松宮家|year=1935|volume=2 (慶応4至明治14年)|pages=7, 11, 27, 45, 83, 202|chapter=|ref={{sfnref|熾仁親王日記|1935}}|access-date=2019-06-09|和書}}</ref>
[[File:Kairakuen_Kobuntei.jpg|left|thumb|Kobuntei villa in Mito city]]
Between 1869 and 1873 (second and sixth years of [[Meiji (era)|Meiji]]), Yoshiko resided in the [[Kobuntei Villa]] in [[Kairaku-en]] garden, which her late husband opened. Her stepson [[Tokugawa Akitake|Akitake]] invited Yoshiko to live in his mansion at Koume, Tokyo, which was the {{transliteration|ja|shimo-yashiki}}, or the second official residence of the Mito clan in Edo.{{sfn|Tokugawa Residents|2011|pages=71–77}} While the samurai custom prohibited Yoshiko from living with her only surviving natural son, Yoshinobu, they did exchange letters. Yoshinobu had been adopted to the [[Hitotsubashi family]] when he was eleven <ref>{{cite book|last= Kirino|first= Sakujin|year= 1998|language= ja|title= Kokō no shōgun tokugawa yoshinobu: Mito no ko arisugawanomiya no mago ni umarete |trans-title= Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the solitary Shogun : Born to Mito domain, a grandson of Arisugawa Prince |chapter= §5 {{transliteration|ja|Taikun to ason no hazama de}} [Being a [[Taikun]] and an [[Ason]]]|oclc=675593854}}{{ISBN|4087811573|9784087811575}}</ref> to be entitled as an heir to the shogunate so that he was no longer regarded as Yoshiko's "direct family".{{sfn|Shiba|1998|pages=129–152}}


It took years for Yoshiko to overcome the prejudice among Meiji politicians as being anti-government, and for being the mother of Yoshinobu who had opened fire against the government supporters in Kyoto. Additionally, the Mito clan was radically against opening the country to foreign relations and trades. As the emperor governed the Meiji government, Yoshiko had been distanced from her kin in Kyoto{{Efn|In February 1869, her great-niece Yoshiko (28 March 1851 – 4 January 1895) by her brother's son [[Prince Arisugawa Takahito]] was married with [[Ii Naonori]] (22 May 1848 – 9 January 1904). Naonori's father was Ii Naosuke, who ordered Nariaki's detainment in Mito.<ref>{{cite book|author1= Haga, Noboru |author2= Ichibangase, Yasuko |author3= Nakajima, Kuni |author4= Soda, Koichi| title= Nihon josei jinmei jiten |trans-title= Japan Women's Who's Who| publisher = Nihon Tosho Center| year = 1993}}{{NCID|BN09249637}}</ref>|name=|group=}} before she regained family ties with her grand nephew Prince Taruhito of the Arisugawa family ([[W:ja:有栖川宮熾仁親王|ja]]) (1835 – 1895). After she moved to Tokyo, Prince Taruhito wrote in his diary that after January 1873, Yoshiko invited the Prince to her residence and sent gifts when she heard Taruhito was ill and also when the engagement of Prince Taruhito was publicized in June 1873.{{sfn|Prince Taruhito diary|1935|pages=7, 11, 27, 45, 83, 202}}
Yoshiko recovered her social status when late Nariaki was honored with the rank of Sho-ni-i ([[W:ja:正二位|ja]]) post humously in 1873, and she presented Prince Taruhito a stationary Naruhito had handcrafted.{{Sfn|熾仁親王日記|1935|pp=213}} She tried to support Prince Taruhito when he lost his daughter, by arranging a gathering at Ikeda Yoshinori ([[W:ja:池田慶徳|ja]]), her stepson or Nariaki's fifth son along with other extended family members of Tokugawa of Mito.{{Sfn|熾仁親王日記|1935|pp=221-222}} Princess Ei was among them who was Taruhito's pupil of calligraphy.{{Efn|昭武の正室瑛姫は、中院通富の娘。栄姫とも。}}


Yoshiko recovered her social status when late Nariaki was honored with the rank of {{transliteration|ja|Sho-ni-i}} ([[W:ja:正二位|ja]]) or the Second Rank of Honor, posthumously in 1873 and commemorated the occasion by giving Prince Taruhito a handcrafted stationery.{{Sfn|Prince Taruhito diary|1935|p=213}} When Prince Taruhito lost his first wife Sadako to illness in 1872, Yoshiko mourned the death of her stepdaughter. She offered condolences, arranging an extended family reunion of the children of Nariaki for the deceased, with Prince Taruhito as the guest of honor. The eldest surviving son, [[Ikeda Yoshinori]] ([[W:ja:池田慶徳|ja]]), who was the lord of [[Tottori Domain|Tottori domain]], offered his residence, inviting Akitake (Sadako's natural brother), Atsuyoshi (Yoshiatsu's son), Matsudaira Tadakazu ([[Shimabara Domain|Shimabara domain]]), Tsuchiya Tsugunao ([[Tsuchiura Domain|Tsuchiura domain]]) among others.{{Sfn|Prince Taruhito diary|1935|pp=221-222}} Princess Ei, the wife of Akitake, who was Taruhito's pupil of calligraphy, joined them.{{Efn|Princess Ei was born to aristocrat Nakanoin Michitoyo ([[:w:ja:中院通富|ja]]) and raised in Kyoto like Yoshiko was. They shared the aristocratic culture of Kyoto.}}
Madam Bummei, or her [[posthumous name]] was said to be given by her late husband Nariaki even before his death. Yoshiko kept the attire of imperial household for weeks after her marriage, which she wore and posed for a portrait wearing [[Kosode]] gown and [[hakama]] long skirt. In a letter boxed with that portrait, Nariaki called his wife Yoshiko, not Princess Yoshiko or other names.


Madam Bummei, her [[posthumous name]], was given by her husband Nariaki before his death.
== Footnotes ==


=== Notes ===
== See also ==
{{Notelist}}


* [[Arisugawa]] family
=== Citations ===
*[[Mito Domain|Mito domain]]
{{Reflist|2}}
*[[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]]


== References ==
== Footnotes ==
{{Notelist|colwidth=30em}}


==References==
* 秋元茂陽「十五代徳川慶喜 : 生母吉子」『徳川将軍家墓碑総覧』(2008年)、パレードブックス。
{{reflist}}


=== Sources ===
* 『愛誦集衍義』(1939年)、茨城県教育会 (編)、茨城県教育会。
*{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bfMqC4DpW8C&q=%E8%B2%9E%E8%8A%B3%E9%99%A2&pg=PP17|title=Taruhito Shinnō nikki|trans-title= Prince Taruhito Diary |publisher=Takamatu-no-miya Household|author= Taruhito of Takamatu-no-miya|year=1935|volume=2 |quote= Between [[Keiō|Keio]] 4th and [[Meiji (era)|Meiji]] 14th (1868&ndash;1881)|pages=7, 11, 27, 45, 83, 202, 213, 221–222 |ref={{sfnref|Prince Taruhito diary|1935}}|access-date=2019-06-09}} {{nihongo|2=熾仁親王日記|3=Taruhito Shinnō nikki}}

* {{cite book|last= Akimoto|first= Shigeharu|year= 2008|title=Tokugawa shōgun-ke bohi sōran|trans-title= Headstones of the Tokugawa Shogun family|chapter= Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th shogun : natural mother Yoshiko |page=162|location= [[Osaka]]|publisher= Parēdo|oclc=675728533}}{{isbn|9784434114885|4434114883}}
* 芝葛盛『織仁親王行實』高松宮家、1938年。
* {{cite book|title = Aishō-shū engi|trans-title= My Favorite Waka Poems Anthology |page=18 | editor = Ibaraki Board of Education | location = Mito | publisher = Ibaraki Board of Education | id={{JPNO|44042091}}| doi = 10.11501/1437963 | year = 1939|oclc=673118728|ref={{sfnref|Anthology|1939|p=18}}|last1= 茨城県教育会 }} {{nihongo|2=愛誦集衍義|3=Aishō-shu engi}} Japanese binding
* 「遠山虚舟翁物語並に貞芳院大夫人の御書」『水戸史談 : 故老実歴 附・幾のふの夢』(1905年)、東京 : 中外図書局。
*{{cite book|publisher=Takamatsu-no-miya household|year= 1938|title= Taruhito shinnō gyōjitsu|location= Tokyo |oclc=682955379|ref={{sfnref|Takamatsu-no-miyake|1938}}}}

* {{cite book|last=Takase|first= Shinkei|year= 1905|chapter=Toyama Kyoshu-ou monogatari narabini Teihoin dai-fujin no gosho|trans-title=Kyoshu Toyama Story and the Calligraphy of Great Madam Teihoin |title= Mito shidan: Koro jitsureki fu kino no yume|publisher= Chugai Toshokyoku|oclc=672446921}}
* 西村文則「烈公夫人 貞芳院」『水戸学随筆』(1944年)、東京 : 昭和刊行会。
* {{Cite book|title=Mitogaku zuihitsu |last=Nishimura|first=Bunsoku|location= Tokyo|publisher= Shōwa Kankōkai|year=1944|pages=128–138|chapter= Rekkō fujin Teihō-in|trans-title= Madam Teihō-in, the Widow of the late Lord Rekkō: Essays of Mito Philosophy |doi=10.11501/1038547|id={{JPNO|46001378}}|oclc=39919766}}

* {{Cite journal|last=Shiba|first=Katsurako|date=September 1998|journal= Edo-ki Onna Kou|trans-title= Thoughts about women in Edo era|title= Tokugawa Yoshinobu no haha Teiho-in Yoshiko to oku-jochu Nishimiya Hide|publisher=Katsura bunko| id={{JPNO|00081734}}|issue=9|pages=129–152|doi=10.11501/1835480|issn=1343-6821|oclc=5174478406}} {{nihongo|1=Shogun mother Teiho-in Yoshiko and lady servant Hide Nishimiya|2=徳川慶喜の母貞芳院吉子と奥女中西宮秀}}
* 『徳川昭武の屋敷 慶喜の住まい : 松戸市戸定歴史館企画展』松戸市戸定歴史館。
* {{Cite journal|last= Hirota|first=Yoshitaka|title=(Kenkyu nōto) Meiji zenki no "Kishin no cha no yu": "Taruhito Shinnō Nikki" oyobi "Higashikuze Michitomi Nikki" ni miru kissa bunka no jōkyō |trans-title=Aristocratic Tea ceremony in the Early Meiji Era : Tea Culture in the "Diary of Prince Arisugawa-no-miya Takahito" and the "Diariy of Higashikuze Michitomi" |url=https://irdb.nii.ac.jp/01342/0002273441|access-date= 2019-07-05|journal=Nihon Kenkyu |volume=45 |date=2012-03-30|pages=185–236 |doi=10.15055/00000465|oclc= 998016213}}

* {{Cite book|editor= Matsudoshi Tojō Rekishikan|others= Akitake Tokugawa, Yoshinobu Tokugawa (contributors)|year= 2011|title= Tokugawa akitake no yashiki Yoshinobu no sumai: Matsudoshi Tojō Rekishikan kikakuten|location= Matsudo |publisher= Matsudoshi Tojō History Museum|oclc=796783371|ref={{sfnref|Tokugawa Residents|2011}}|pages=71–77}} - Special exhibition on the residences of Akitake and Yoshinobu.
== Related articles ==

* [[Arisugawa]] family


== Further readings ==
== Further reading ==


*Kawakita, Nobuo (May, 1970) ''Matsudaira Shungaku no shoko kaigi seijiron no saiyo : kokuze kettei hosaku o chushin ni'', "Shigaku" 43 (1), [[Keio University]]. pp.&nbsp;307–318. {{in lang|ja}}. {{ISSN|0386-9334}}, {{NCID|110001215480}}.
* 『覚書幕末の水戸藩』(1974年) [[Yamakawa Kikue|山川菊栄]]、岩波書店。
*Hattori, Kazuma, Ishii, Takashi (1973) ''The Opening of Japan'', Socio-economic History 39 (3), the Socio-economic History Society. pp.&nbsp;323–326. {{in lang|ja}} {{doi|10.20624/sehs.39.3_323}}, {{ISSN|0038-0113}}.
*[[Yamakawa Kikue|Yamakawa, Kikue]]. 1991. ''Oboegaki bakumatsu no Mito-han''. Tōkyō: [[Iwanami Shoten|Iwanami shoten]]. {{oclc|26170316}}
* Yamakawa, Kikue 1992. "[https://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/25960900?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gbv.de%2Fdms%2Fbowker%2Ftoc%2F9780860084778.pdf%26checksum%3Dc054411ab07ed5a382eb27ef33082d57&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Women of the Mito domain: recollections of samurai family life]". and Kate Wildman Nakai. (trans.). Tokyo : University of Tokyo Press. {{in lang|en}}. {{isbn|4130270281|9784130270281|0860084779|9780860084778}}, {{oclc|25960900}}
* ''Kindai eno akebono to kuge daimyō [Aristocrats and Daimyo at the Dawn of Modern Age]''. Artifacts Exhibition Committee, Okubo Toshikane, et al. (ed), (1994). No.18, "[[Kasumi Kaikan]] Shiryo". {{oclc|674005227}}


===Exhibition catalogs===
* 『近代への曙と公家大名』〈霞会館資料第18輯〉 (1994年）、霞会館資料展示委員会 ; 大久保利謙 ほか (編)、霞会館。
* ''Tokugawa, Yoshinobu'' - exhibition booklet (1998)
* 『徳川慶喜』（1998年「徳川慶喜展」パンフレット）。
* Tojō Rekishikan 1992. ''Shōgun no fotogurafī.'' FREE (ed), [[Matsudo]] : Tojo Rekishikan Museum. {{oclc|675182337}} An exhibition catalog.
*''Saigo no shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu: Matsudo shisei shikō 55-shūnen, Meiji 130-shūnen kinen''. Matsudo-shi Tojō Rekishikan, Matsudo-shi (Japan), Matsudo-shi Kyōiku Iinkai, and JAC Project (eds.). 1998. Matsudo: Matsudo-shi Tojō Rekishikan. {{oclc|42073815}} - A catalog for the special exhibition : the reconstructed Messengers' Room and Attendants' Room in the Tojō-tei mansion. Sponsored by Matsudo City and Matsudo Board of Education, held at Matsudo-shi Tojō Rekishikan, 28 April- 21 June 1998.
*''The special exhibition commemorating the 200th birthday anniversary of Kichizaemon : Ukai Kichizaemon Kōkichi to bakumatsu.'' (1998) [[Bisai, Aichi|Bisai]] : Museum of History and Anthropology (aka Bisaishi Rekishi Minzoku Shiryōkan) (ed). - Exhibition catalog no.51. {{oclc|675921057}}
* Bakumatsu Nihon to Tokugawa Nariaki: Heisei 20-nendo tokubetsuten. (2008) Ibaraki Kenritsu Rekishikan (ed). [[Mito, Ibaraki]]: [[Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of History]]. {{oclc|727610501}}


{{Authority control}}
; Exhibition catalogs


{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshiko, Princess}}
* 『将軍のフォトグラフィー : 写真にみる徳川慶喜・昭武兄弟』（1992年）[[Matsudo|松戸市]]戸定歴史館 ; FREE。展覧会カタログ
* 『最後の将軍徳川慶喜 : 松戸市制施行五十五周年・明治百三十周年記念』（1998年）松戸市戸定歴史館 ; 松戸市 ; 松戸市教育委員会 (編)、松戸市戸定歴史館。 「戸定邸使者の間・従者の間復原記念」特別展図録。
* 『鵜飼吉左衛門・幸吉と幕末』〈尾西市歴史民俗資料館特別展図録 no.51〉（1998年）尾西市歴史民俗資料館。吉左衛門生誕200年記念特別展図録。
* 『幕末日本と徳川斉昭』（2008年）[[Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of History|茨城県立歴史館]]。
<nowiki>
[[Category:1893 deaths]]
[[Category:1893 deaths]]
[[Category:1804 births]]
[[Category:1804 births]]
[[Category:Arisugawa-no-miya]]</nowiki>
[[Category:Arisugawa-no-miya]]
[[Category:Japanese princesses]]
[[Category:People of Edo-period Japan]]
[[Category:Tokugawa Yoshinobu family]]
[[Category:Mito Domain]]
[[Category:Nobility from Kyoto]]

Latest revision as of 04:16, 7 September 2024

Princess Yoshiko
吉子女王
A portrait of Japanese noble lady Yoshiko Tokugawa in the late 19th century.
Yoshiko in later life
BornArisugawa-no-miya Tomi
(1804-10-28)October 28, 1804
Died27 January 1893(1893-01-27) (aged 88)
Tokyo
Burial
Zuiryuzan temple, Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture
SpouseTokugawa Nariaki
Issue
  • Yoshiatsu (ja) (her eldest son)
  • Yoshinobu (her third son)
Names
Tokugawa Yoshiko
HouseChiefs of the Tokugawa shogunate as:
Father
MotherAndo Kiyoko
OccupationImperial princess, the first wife of feudal lord Tokugawa Nariaki of Mito Domain

Princess Yoshiko (吉子女王, 28 October 1804 – 27 January 1893) was the younger sister of Prince Tsunahito of the Arisugawa-no-miya cadet branch of the Imperial House of Japan. Yoshiko was married to Tokugawa Nariaki, and was mother to the 10th Lord Yoshiatsu, and the 15th and final Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu.

Personal history

[edit]

Yoshiko, the twelfth and youngest daughter of Prince Taruhito of the Arisugawa-no-miya family, was born of the union of her father and the courtesan Ando Kiyoko. She was called Princess Tomi (登美宮, Tomi no miya) as a child. She later moved to Edo from Kyoto, where her husband renamed her Teihoin (貞芳院) in case she were to be widowed. Upon her death, she was given the posthumous name Madam Bummei (文明夫人, Bummei fujin). She died in 1893 at the age of 88 in Tokyo. Tokugawa Yoshiko rests at the Zuiryusan temple, the official Bodhi temple of the Mito clan in Ibaraki Prefecture.[1]

In 1830, at the age of 27, Yoshiko was engaged to Nariaki, who was 37 but had not yet had his first wife as he had become the head of his clan just the year before. Princess Takako was said to have arranged the marriage, and Emperor Ninkō was recorded as having issued an approving comment on the political and educational pedigrees of the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan. The Mito branch was further renowned for having enthusiastically supported the imperial system for generations, and the emperor gladly approved of the marriage.[2]

When Yoshiko moved to Edo and started leading the life of a samurai wife, she kept the attire of the imperial household for weeks after her marriage. In a portrait she posed for at the time, she wore a kosode and hakama, in the style of centuries past. In a letterbox with that portrait, Nariaki called his wife Yoshiko, instead Princess Yoshiko or other names. Among Nariaki's 37 children with four wives, Yoshiko was the mother of his first son, Yoshiatsu, his seventh son, Yoshinobu, and finally a daughter. A fourth child, born before Yoshinobu, died prematurely.

Yoshiko was known to be fluent in the arts, particularly waka poems, as well as Japanese calligraphy and the Arisugawa family heritage. Embroidery and playing music on the koto and the hichiriki were among her hobbies.[a] After relocating to Mito from Edo, she learned to fish at the river by the castle.[4]

Being an imperial princess and a sister-in-law of the twelfth shogun, Ieyoshi, high-ranking officials including Ii Naosuke and his followers in the Edo government were said to surveil her in case she advised either the shogun or the emperor on political issues.[b] After Nariaki was charged during the Ansei Purge for taking part in anti-shogun movements and detained in Mito for life in 1859, it took her three months to obtain permission and move from Edo to Mito. Widowed the next year, Yoshiko followed samurai custom and cut her hair short and made a pabbajja, retiring from social activities, and was renamed as Teiho-in (貞芳院).

Later life

[edit]
Kobuntei villa in Mito city

Between 1869 and 1873 (second and sixth years of Meiji), Yoshiko resided in the Kobuntei Villa in Kairaku-en garden, which her late husband opened. Her stepson Akitake invited Yoshiko to live in his mansion at Koume, Tokyo, which was the shimo-yashiki, or the second official residence of the Mito clan in Edo.[7] While the samurai custom prohibited Yoshiko from living with her only surviving natural son, Yoshinobu, they did exchange letters. Yoshinobu had been adopted to the Hitotsubashi family when he was eleven [8] to be entitled as an heir to the shogunate so that he was no longer regarded as Yoshiko's "direct family".[4]

It took years for Yoshiko to overcome the prejudice among Meiji politicians as being anti-government, and for being the mother of Yoshinobu who had opened fire against the government supporters in Kyoto. Additionally, the Mito clan was radically against opening the country to foreign relations and trades. As the emperor governed the Meiji government, Yoshiko had been distanced from her kin in Kyoto[c] before she regained family ties with her grand nephew Prince Taruhito of the Arisugawa family (ja) (1835 – 1895). After she moved to Tokyo, Prince Taruhito wrote in his diary that after January 1873, Yoshiko invited the Prince to her residence and sent gifts when she heard Taruhito was ill and also when the engagement of Prince Taruhito was publicized in June 1873.[10]

Yoshiko recovered her social status when late Nariaki was honored with the rank of Sho-ni-i (ja) or the Second Rank of Honor, posthumously in 1873 and commemorated the occasion by giving Prince Taruhito a handcrafted stationery.[11] When Prince Taruhito lost his first wife Sadako to illness in 1872, Yoshiko mourned the death of her stepdaughter. She offered condolences, arranging an extended family reunion of the children of Nariaki for the deceased, with Prince Taruhito as the guest of honor. The eldest surviving son, Ikeda Yoshinori (ja), who was the lord of Tottori domain, offered his residence, inviting Akitake (Sadako's natural brother), Atsuyoshi (Yoshiatsu's son), Matsudaira Tadakazu (Shimabara domain), Tsuchiya Tsugunao (Tsuchiura domain) among others.[12] Princess Ei, the wife of Akitake, who was Taruhito's pupil of calligraphy, joined them.[d]

Madam Bummei, her posthumous name, was given by her husband Nariaki before his death.

See also

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ As Yoshiko's marriage to a feudal lord was to join a lower social rank compared to the imperial household, it meant she would never come back to Kyoto, and visited the palace to bid farewell to her relatives and left a waka poem.[3]

    While the cherry blossoms will be at the peak in the remote place, / let the sweet smell reach above the clouds to the palace. (天ざかるひなにはあれど櫻花／雲の上まで咲き匂はなん
    , Amazakaru hina niwa aredo sakurabana / kumo no ue made saki niowanan)
  2. ^ In July, 1858 (Ansei 5th), the ko-metsuke (junior censor or intelligent survey officer) wrote the following statement to "Tairo" (ja) and Rōjū, the top rank officials.

    "Because for the temperament of Lady Behind the Screen (= Tomi-no-miya Yoshiko),[5] she often writes to those she cares about on various topics, and that extends naturally to the housemaids or homemakers under her supervision, but even concerning controversial political topics related to home affairs or the maritime defenses. While the recent policy of the government was quite reasonable, it is said that she was quite upset with that arrangement.[6] As she is a relative to Prince Nikko the Monk, it seems that both share the same sentiment. It is rumored that she wrote a letter to Kyoto (Imperial court)."

    This letter would be the evidence that not only in homemaking of a feudal household Yoshiko was deeply involved in politics as well as interested in national defense matters.
  3. ^ In February 1869, her great-niece Yoshiko (28 March 1851 – 4 January 1895) by her brother's son Prince Arisugawa Takahito was married with Ii Naonori (22 May 1848 – 9 January 1904). Naonori's father was Ii Naosuke, who ordered Nariaki's detainment in Mito.[9]
  4. ^ Princess Ei was born to aristocrat Nakanoin Michitoyo (ja) and raised in Kyoto like Yoshiko was. They shared the aristocratic culture of Kyoto.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Akimoto 2008, p. 162.
  2. ^ Takamatsu-no-miyake 1938.
  3. ^ Anthology 1939, p. 18.
  4. ^ a b Shiba 1998, pp. 129–152.
  5. ^ "Lady Behind the Screen (御簾中, Go-renchū)" was an honorific originally attached to those of imperial household during Heian period (794 – 1185). As it had propagated among samurai leaders, the Edo government restricted the use under the feudal ranking system, and only the first wives of Shoguns and those of the lords of prominent Three Families or Gosanke were known by that name. Later, the closest Shōgun family household was extended to include Gosankyo, first wives of those lords were also called gorenjū: they were married to the heirs in line of Tokugawa Yoshimune's three sons, who had resided at Shimizu, Tayasu, and Hitotsubashi quarters inside the Edo castle properties.
  6. ^ The "recent policy" an intelligent survey officer mentioned in his letter implied to the Treaty of Amity and Commerce signed with the US the month that letter was sent.
  7. ^ Tokugawa Residents 2011, pp. 71–77.
  8. ^ Kirino, Sakujin (1998). "§5 Taikun to ason no hazama de [Being a Taikun and an Ason]". Kokō no shōgun tokugawa yoshinobu: Mito no ko arisugawanomiya no mago ni umarete [Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the solitary Shogun : Born to Mito domain, a grandson of Arisugawa Prince] (in Japanese). OCLC 675593854.ISBN 4087811573, 9784087811575
  9. ^ Haga, Noboru; Ichibangase, Yasuko; Nakajima, Kuni; Soda, Koichi (1993). Nihon josei jinmei jiten [Japan Women's Who's Who]. Nihon Tosho Center.NCID BN09249637
  10. ^ Prince Taruhito diary 1935, pp. 7, 11, 27, 45, 83, 202.
  11. ^ Prince Taruhito diary 1935, p. 213.
  12. ^ Prince Taruhito diary 1935, pp. 221–222.

Sources

[edit]
  • Taruhito of Takamatu-no-miya (1935). Taruhito Shinnō nikki [Prince Taruhito Diary]. Vol. 2. Takamatu-no-miya Household. pp. 7, 11, 27, 45, 83, 202, 213, 221–222. Retrieved 2019-06-09. Between Keio 4th and Meiji 14th (1868–1881) Taruhito Shinnō nikki (熾仁親王日記)
  • Akimoto, Shigeharu (2008). "Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th shogun : natural mother Yoshiko". Tokugawa shōgun-ke bohi sōran [Headstones of the Tokugawa Shogun family]. Osaka: Parēdo. p. 162. OCLC 675728533.ISBN 9784434114885, 4434114883
  • 茨城県教育会 (1939). Ibaraki Board of Education (ed.). Aishō-shū engi [My Favorite Waka Poems Anthology]. Mito: Ibaraki Board of Education. p. 18. doi:10.11501/1437963. OCLC 673118728. JPNO 44042091. Aishō-shu engi (愛誦集衍義) Japanese binding
  • Taruhito shinnō gyōjitsu. Tokyo: Takamatsu-no-miya household. 1938. OCLC 682955379.
  • Takase, Shinkei (1905). "Toyama Kyoshu-ou monogatari narabini Teihoin dai-fujin no gosho". Mito shidan: Koro jitsureki fu kino no yume [Kyoshu Toyama Story and the Calligraphy of Great Madam Teihoin]. Chugai Toshokyoku. OCLC 672446921.
  • Nishimura, Bunsoku (1944). "Rekkō fujin Teihō-in". Mitogaku zuihitsu [Madam Teihō-in, the Widow of the late Lord Rekkō: Essays of Mito Philosophy]. Tokyo: Shōwa Kankōkai. pp. 128–138. doi:10.11501/1038547. OCLC 39919766. JPNO 46001378.
  • Shiba, Katsurako (September 1998). "Tokugawa Yoshinobu no haha Teiho-in Yoshiko to oku-jochu Nishimiya Hide" [Thoughts about women in Edo era]. Edo-ki Onna Kou (9). Katsura bunko: 129–152. doi:10.11501/1835480. ISSN 1343-6821. OCLC 5174478406. JPNO 00081734. Shogun mother Teiho-in Yoshiko and lady servant Hide Nishimiya (徳川慶喜の母貞芳院吉子と奥女中西宮秀)
  • Hirota, Yoshitaka (2012-03-30). "(Kenkyu nōto) Meiji zenki no "Kishin no cha no yu": "Taruhito Shinnō Nikki" oyobi "Higashikuze Michitomi Nikki" ni miru kissa bunka no jōkyō" [Aristocratic Tea ceremony in the Early Meiji Era : Tea Culture in the "Diary of Prince Arisugawa-no-miya Takahito" and the "Diariy of Higashikuze Michitomi"]. Nihon Kenkyu. 45: 185–236. doi:10.15055/00000465. OCLC 998016213. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  • Matsudoshi Tojō Rekishikan, ed. (2011). Tokugawa akitake no yashiki Yoshinobu no sumai: Matsudoshi Tojō Rekishikan kikakuten. Akitake Tokugawa, Yoshinobu Tokugawa (contributors). Matsudo: Matsudoshi Tojō History Museum. pp. 71–77. OCLC 796783371. - Special exhibition on the residences of Akitake and Yoshinobu.

Further reading

[edit]

Exhibition catalogs

[edit]
  • Tokugawa, Yoshinobu - exhibition booklet (1998)
  • Tojō Rekishikan 1992. Shōgun no fotogurafī. FREE (ed), Matsudo : Tojo Rekishikan Museum. OCLC 675182337 An exhibition catalog.
  • Saigo no shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu: Matsudo shisei shikō 55-shūnen, Meiji 130-shūnen kinen. Matsudo-shi Tojō Rekishikan, Matsudo-shi (Japan), Matsudo-shi Kyōiku Iinkai, and JAC Project (eds.). 1998. Matsudo: Matsudo-shi Tojō Rekishikan. OCLC 42073815 - A catalog for the special exhibition : the reconstructed Messengers' Room and Attendants' Room in the Tojō-tei mansion. Sponsored by Matsudo City and Matsudo Board of Education, held at Matsudo-shi Tojō Rekishikan, 28 April- 21 June 1998.
  • The special exhibition commemorating the 200th birthday anniversary of Kichizaemon : Ukai Kichizaemon Kōkichi to bakumatsu. (1998) Bisai : Museum of History and Anthropology (aka Bisaishi Rekishi Minzoku Shiryōkan) (ed). - Exhibition catalog no.51. OCLC 675921057
  • Bakumatsu Nihon to Tokugawa Nariaki: Heisei 20-nendo tokubetsuten. (2008) Ibaraki Kenritsu Rekishikan (ed). Mito, Ibaraki: Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of History. OCLC 727610501
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