Asahi no kata

Portrait of Asahi-hime, younger sister of Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Asahi no kata (朝日の方) (1543 – February 18, 1590) was a half-sister of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and wife of Tokugawa Ieyasu, two of Japan's greatest feudal warlords. She is also called Suruga Gozen (駿河御膳) and Asahi-hime (朝日姫), though none of these are names, referring to her as "the person of Asahi," "the Lady Suruga," or "Princess Asahi."

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, Hideyoshi expressed interest in marrying her to Ieyasu. 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.

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. Her buddhist name is Nanmeiin.

Family

• Father: Chikuami
• Mother: Ōmandokoro (1513-1592)
• Siblings:
  • Toyotomi Hideyoshi
  • Toyotomi Hidenaga
  • Tomo, married Soeda Jinbae
• Husbands:
  • Saji Hyuga (m.?-1586)
  • Tokugawa Ieyasu (m.1586-1590)

References

• Papinot, Edmond (1910). Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha.