Tokugawa Ieyasu's biography

Nick Fahey

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in January of 1543 in Mikawa, Japan with the name Matsudaira Takechiyo. His father, Matsudaira Hirotada, daimyo of the Mikawa clan, was only 17 and his mother, Odainokata, 15, when Takechiyo was born. Takechiyo was born into an era of constant turmoil between the Imagawa clan and Oda clan. Most of Takechiyo’s family allied with the Oda clan, but his father chose to ally with the Imagawa clan. Because of Hirotada’s alliance with the Imagawa clan, he reached out to Imagawa Yoshimoto, leader of the Imagawa clan for help and protection against the Oda clan. Yoshimoto would agree to help Hirotada only if he sent his son, Takechiyo, to Sunpu as a hostage. Hirotada agrees to this demand and gives his son up. Takechiyo is only six at the time. The leader of the Oda clan, Oda Nobuhide, learns of this plan and kidnaps six-year-old Takechiyo on route to Sunpu. Nobuhide threatens to kill Takechiyo if Hirotada does not sever all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada refuses to break his alliance with the Imagawa, saying that letting his son die will only prove that he is completely loyal to the Imagawa clan. Needless to say, Nobuhide does not follow through with his threat and allows Takechiyo to remain alive. Hirotada dies when Takechiyo is only seven and, soon after, Oda Nobuhide dies of disease, causing the Oda clan to start to fall apart. Yoshimoto took advantage of this weak moment in the Oda clan and sent armies to border forts controlled by the Oda. It was in one of these battles that an Imagawa general bargained with Oda Nobunaga, Oda Nobuhide’s son, and retrieved Takechiyo back as a hostage. 

In 1556, Takechiyo became of age and changed his name to Matsudaira Jirosaburo as was the custom. He then got married at age 16 and again changed his name to Matsudaira Motoyasu. At age 16, Motoyasu is sent into combat for the first time against the Oda clan. He fought his first battle at the Siege of Terabe and then succeeded in a strategic deliverance of supplies to a guarded fort. In 1560, the leader of the Oda clan was a brilliant man named Oda Nobunaga. Partially due to Motoyasu and his forces, Yoshimoto, who was still in the lead of the Imagawa clan, advanced on the Oda clan and engaged Nobunaga’s army in the Battle of Okehazama in 1560. In this battle, Nobunaga launched a surprise attack on Yoshimoto’s army, killing Yoshimoto in the process. As the Imagawa clan was now leaderless, many of the clan’s leaders joined forces with the Oda clan. Motoyasu was among them. 

After his break from the Imagawa clan, Motoyasu set about rebuilding his Matsudaira clan that had become deeply fractured in the fighting. In 1564, Motoyasu defeated the forces of a warlike group of monks within the Mikawa province called the Monto. In 1566 Motoyasu finally changed his name to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu remained an ally of Oda Nobunaga in many battles. At the same time, however, Ieyasu was striving to expand his own territory. He allied with Takeda Shingen in order in take over all the Imagawa territory. When this was accomplished, Ieyasu ended the alliance with Shingen and they began to fight each other. After Ieyasu faced a devastating loss to Shingen, he wisely did not let Shingen take advantage of his loss and retreated. Luckily for Ieyasu, Shingen died in 1573 and was succeeded by Takeda Katsuyori who was thoroughly defeated in a battle against Ieyasu’s and Nobunaga’s combined troops. When Ieyasu’s oldest son is accused in an assassination plot, Ieyasu names his third son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as heir. In 1582, Ieyasu learns of Oda Nobunaga’s death at the hands of Akechi Mitsuhide. Nobunaga is immediately avenged by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who kills Mitsuhide. In 1583, a war for control over Japan breaks out between Hideyoshi and Katsuie. Ieyasu, however, stays out of this conflict. Hideyoshi eventually defeats Katsuie in the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583. Hideyoshi had proven himself as a powerful daimyo.

Tokugawa Ieyasu saw this as an opportunity to draw Hideyoshi into battle with him. However, after fighting for only a short while, the conflict ended in peace negotiations. Ieyasu then helped Hideyoshi attack and defeat the Hojo clan. During these battles, Hideyoshi offered to give Ieyasu the Kanto regions newly won in return for the five provinces already under Ieyasu’s control. Ieyasu accepted and had to move his headquarters to the rich Kanto region along with his soldiers and vassals, causing him to have to reform and pacify the Hojo samurai in the Kanto region. With Ieyasu in the secluded Kanto region, Hideyoshi attempted attacks on Korea as a precursor to his planned invasion of China. These attacks failed and with Hideyoshi in grave condition due to health problems, he got oaths from Tokugawa Ieyasu and four other regents that they would remain loyal to his heir, Toyotomi Hideyori, who was only five at the time of Hideyoshi’s death. After Hideyoshi died, Ieyasu almost immediately began making alliances with other daimyos, angering the other regents. Before long, two major factions appeared: one of daimyos led by Ieyasu and another of everyone opposed to him. In the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu and his allies defeated the opposition led by Ishida Mitsunari. Now Ieyasu held all the power in Japan. With his power, he redistributed land, giving more land to daimyos who were loyal to him and taking land from daimyos who were not. Tokugawa Ieyasu also granted higher status to daimyos who had been loyal to Ieyasu prior to the Battle of Sekigahara. In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu officially received the title of shogun from the figurehead emperor, thus beginning the Tokugawa Shogunate which would last for another 250 years. The Tokugawa Shogunate saw daimyos retaining almost complete dominance over their regions but also maintained their allegiance to Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the system of “alternate attendance” in which daimyos had to spend part of each year at Ieyasu’s court, which allowed close surveillance of the daimyos. Ieyasu was immensely rich and welcomed English and Dutch Protestant traders but rejected Christian missionaries. Tokugawa Ieyasu only officially ruled as shogun for two years before abdicating his title to his son Hidetada. Ieyasu continued to be the effective ruler even after retiring. His last stand was the siege of Osaka in which he destroyed any last remaining shreds of resistance to his rule, ensuring the peace and longevity of the Tokugawa Shogunate for the next two and a half centuries. Tokugawa Ieyasu died in 1616 at the age of 73, perhaps due to cancer or syphilis. He was deified after his death with the name Tosho Daigongen.

Bibliography

"Gale Encyclopedia of Biography: Tokugawa Ieyasu." Answers.com. Answers, n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.answers.com/topic/ieyasu>.

"Japanese History: Edo Period." Japanese History: Edo Period. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2128.html>.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616)." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/ieyasu_tokugawa.shtml>.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu." Samurai Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.samurai-archives.com/ieyasu.html>.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 May 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu>.