Tokugawa Ieshige

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In this Japanese name, the family name is Tokugawa.
Tokugawa Ieshige
Tokugawa Ieshige.jpg
9th Edo Shogun
In office
Preceded by Tokugawa Yoshimune
Succeeded by Tokugawa Ieharu
Personal details
Born (1712-01-28)January 28, 1712
Died July 13, 1761(1761-07-13) (aged 49)

Tokugawa Ieshige; 徳川 家重 (January 28, 1712 – July 13, 1761) was the ninth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.

The first son of Tokugawa Yoshimune, his mother was the daughter of Ōkubo Tadanao, known as Osuma no kata. His childhood name was Nagatomi-maru. He underwent the genpuku coming-of-age ceremony in 1725. His first wife, Nami-no-miya, was the daughter of Prince Fushimi-no-miya Kuninaga (伏見宮 邦永親王). His second wife, Okō, was the daughter of one of the courtiers who had followed his high-born first wife from the Imperial Court to the Shogunal Court in Edo. This famously good-natured second wife was the mother of Ieharu, who would become Ieshige's heir.[1]

In Enkyō 2, Ieshige was made shogun.[2]

Ieshige suffered from chronic ill health and a severe speech defect. Yoshimune's choice of Ieshige as his heir created considerable controversy within the shogunate as his younger brothers Tokugawa Munetake and Tokugawa Munetada appeared to be far more suitable candidates. Yoshimune continued to insist on his decision, favoring the Confucian principle of primogeniture; and Ieshige continued in the role of formal head of the shogunate. Yoshimune directed affairs after his official retirement in 1745. This attention was designed to ensure that Ieshige was secure in his office. Ieshige remained shogun until 1760.

Uninterested in government affairs, Ieshige left all decisions in the hands of his chamberlain, Ōoka Tadamitsu (1709–1760). He officially retired in 1760 and assumed the title of Ōgosho, appointed his first son Tokugawa Ieharu as the 10th shogun, and died the following year.

Ieshige's second son Tokugawa Shigeyoshi became the founder of the Shimizu Tokugawa clan, which together with the Tayasu and Hitotsubashi (established by Ieshige's younger brothers) became the gosankyō, three cadet branches of the Tokugawa family from which future shoguns might be selected if the main line were to die out. They joined the existing three cadet branches, the gosanke, to which Ieshige's father Yoshimune had been born.

Ieshige's reign was beset by corruption, natural disasters, periods of famine and the emergence of the mercantile class, and his clumsiness in dealing with these issues greatly weakened the rule of Tokugawa.

Ieshige's commemorative memorial at Zōjō-ji.

Ieshige died in 1761. His posthumous title is Junshin-in; and his grave is at the Tokugawa family mausoleum at Zōjō-ji in Shiba. His remains were disinterred and underwent scientific investigation from 1958-1960. It was discovered that his teeth were crooked and badly deformed, confirming historical references to his speech defect.

Eras during Ieshige's rule[edit]

The years in which Ieshige was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.[2]

In popular media[edit]

Ieshige is a minor character in the anime series Mushibugyo, where he befriends the main character Jinbei Tsukishima.


  1. ^ Screech, T. Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822, p. 130.


Military offices
Preceded by
Tokugawa Yoshimune
Edo Shogun:
Tokugawa Ieshige

Succeeded by
Tokugawa Ieharu