Who was this person?
The third Edo shogun. In 1635 he revised the Laws for Military Houses to make alternate attendance (sankin-kōtai) a formal system, tightening control of the lords. After the Shimabara Rebellion he intensified the crackdown on Christianity and banned Portuguese ships, consolidating the so-called "closed country" (sakoku). The shogunate’s structure is considered largely complete under him.
| Name | Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1604 – 1651 |
| Period | Edo period |
| Birthplace | Edo Castle (now Chiyoda, Tokyo) |
| Also known as | Takechiyo (childhood name), Taiyūin |
| Main achievements |
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Born at Edo castle, a son of the second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, and named Takechiyo. He was raised by his wet nurse Kasuga no Tsubone.
His parents favoured his younger brother Kunimatsu (Tadanaga), and a succession dispute arose. Kasuga no Tsubone reportedly appealed to his grandfather Ieyasu, who settled on Takechiyo as heir.
His father Hidetada passed the shogunate to him, and he became the third shogun. He reportedly told the daimyō that he was "a shogun from birth".
His father Hidetada died and he began to rule personally, keeping the daimyō in check with severity—even confiscating the domain of his brother Tadanaga.
He defined offices such as senior councillors and junior councillors, putting the shogunate's system of government in order.
Revising the Laws for Military Houses, he made sankin-kōtai—daimyō alternating years between Edo and their domains—a formal system. He also banned Japanese from going abroad or returning.
At enormous cost he lavishly rebuilt Nikkō Tōshōgū, the shrine to his grandfather Ieyasu, whom he deeply revered.
Christian peasants and others rose in revolt at Shimabara and Amakusa. The shogunate sent a huge army and finally crushed the rising the next year.
Fearing the spread of Christianity, he banned Portuguese ships from coming to Japan.
He moved the Dutch trading post from Hirado to Dejima in Nagasaki. Foreign contact was limited to the Dutch, Chinese, Koreans, Ryukyu and Ainu—the system later called sakoku.
After a great famine, to keep peasants from selling their fields and falling into ruin, he banned the permanent sale of farmland.
He died of illness at Edo castle. In his time the shogunate's system of rule was all but complete.
A. The third Edo shogun. In 1635 he revised the Laws for Military Houses to make alternate attendance (sankin-kōtai) a formal system, tightening control of the lords. After the Shimabara Rebellion he intensified the crackdown on Christianity and banned Portuguese ships, consolidating the so-called "closed country" (sakoku). The shogunate’s structure is considered largely complete under him.
A. Period: Edo period. Born in 1604, died in 1651.
A. Tokugawa Iemitsu was born in Edo Castle (now Chiyoda, Tokyo).
A. A system in which lords spent alternate years in Edo and in their domains, while their wives and heirs lived in Edo. Set out in the 1635 Laws for Military Houses, it curbed the lords’ power and also spurred the growth of highways and post towns.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Tokugawa HidetadaKasuga no TsuboneKatō YoshiakiYagyū MunenoriKobori EnshūSakai TadakiyoTokugawa IetsunaTokugawa Tsunayoshi
Miyamoto MusashiIngenMatsudaira NobutsunaSenhimeNakae TōjuHoshina MasayukiNonaka KenzanKawamura Zuiken
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.