Tsunenari Tokugawa

Tsunenari Tokugawa (徳川 恒孝, Tokugawa Tsunenari, born 26 February 1940) is the former 18th generation head of the Tokugawa clan. He is the son of Ichirō Matsudaira and Toyoko Tokugawa. His great-grandfather was the famed Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu and his paternal great-grandfather was Tokugawa Iesato. As a great-grandson of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the last lord of Satsuma Domain, he is also a second cousin of the former Emperor, Akihito.

Tokugawa Tsunenari 徳川恒孝
Head of the Tokugawa House
Reign	18 February 1963 – 1 January 2023[1]
Predecessor	Iemasa Tokugawa
Successor	Iehiro Tokugawa
Born	(1940-02-26) 26 February 1940 (age 84) Tokyo, Japan
Issue	Iehiro Tokugawa 徳川家広
Father	Ichirō Matsudaira
Mother	Toyoko Tokugawa

Tsunenari was active for many years in the shipping company Nippon Yūsen, retiring in June, 2002, and is the head of the nonprofit Tokugawa Foundation.^[2] The nonprofit aims to preserve the remaining cultural treasures of the Tokugawa family, many of which were lost in the Meiji Restoration and World War II U.S. bombings.^[2] In 2007, Tsunenari published a book entitled Edo no idenshi (江戸の遺伝子), released in English in 2009 as The Edo Inheritance, which seeks to counter the common belief among Japanese that the Edo period (throughout which members of his Tokugawa clan ruled Japan as shōguns) was like a Dark Age, when Japan, cut off from the world, fell behind. On the contrary, he argues, the roughly 250 years of peace and relative prosperity saw great economic reforms, the growth of a sophisticated urban culture, and the development of the most urbanized society on the planet.^[3]

Tokugawa stepped down from being the head of the Tokugawa clan on 1 January 2023.^[1] His son, author and translator Iehiro Tokugawa, took over the role.^[1][4]

Family

• Paternal Grandfather: Tsuneo Matsudaira
• Maternal Grandfather (Paternal eighth cousin four times removed): Iemasa Tokugawa
• Father: Ichirō Matsudaira
• Mother: Toyoko Tokugawa
• Aunt: Setsuko, Princess Chichibu
• Wife: Sachiko Terashima
• Son: Iehiro Tokugawa
• Grandcousin: Nagahisa Kuroda, Munefusa Tokugawa, Akihito, Masahito, Prince Hitachi, Yoshitomo Tokugawa

Ancestry

Ancestors of Tsunenari Tokugawa

16. Matsudaira Yoshitatsu 8. Matsudaira Katamori 17. Komori Chiyo 4. Tsuneo Matsudaira 18. Kawamura Genhyō 9. Kawamura Naga 2. Ichirō Matsudaira 20. Nabeshima Naomasa 10. Nabeshima Naohiro 5. Nobuko Nabeshima 22. Hirohashi Taneyasu 11. Hirohashi Nagako 1. Tsunenari Tokugawa 24. Tokugawa Yoshiyori 12. Tokugawa Iesato 6. Iemasa Tokugawa 26. Konoe Tadafusa 13. Konoe Hiroko 27. Shimazu Mitsuko 3. Toyoko Tokugawa 28. Shimazu Hisamitsu 14. Shimazu Tadayoshi 29. Shimazu Chimoko 7. Naoko Shimazu 15. Yamazaki Sumako

Patrilineal descent

Patrilineal descent

Tokugawa's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son. The existence of a verifiable link between the Nitta clan and the Tokugawa/Matsudaira clan remains somewhat in dispute. Descent prior to Keitai is unclear to modern historians, but traditionally traced back patrilineally to Emperor Jimmu Emperor Keitai, ca. 450–534 Emperor Kinmei, 509–571 Emperor Bidatsu, 538–585 Prince Oshisaka, ca. 556–??? Emperor Jomei, 593–641 Emperor Tenji, 626–671 Prince Shiki, ????–716 Emperor Kōnin, 709–786 Emperor Kanmu, 737–806 Emperor Saga, 786–842 Emperor Ninmyō, 810–850 Emperor Montoku 826–858 Emperor Seiwa, 850–881 Prince Sadazumi, 873–916 Minamoto no Tsunemoto, 894–961 Minamoto no Mitsunaka, 912–997 Minamoto no Yorinobu, 968–1048 Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, 988–1075 Minamoto no Yoshiie, 1039–1106 Minamoto no Yoshikuni, 1091–1155 Minamoto no Yoshishige, 1135–1202 Nitta Yoshikane, 1139–1206 Nitta Yoshifusa, 1162–1195 Nitta Masayoshi, 1187–1257 Nitta Masauji, 1208–1271 Nitta Motouji, 1253–1324 Nitta Tomouji, 1274–1318 Nitta Yoshisada, 1301–1338 Nitta Yoshimune, 1331?–1368 Tokugawa Chikasue?, ????–???? (speculated) Tokugawa Arichika, ????–???? Matsudaira Chikauji, d. 1393? Matsudaira Yasuchika, ????–14?? Matsudaira Nobumitsu, c. 1404–1488/89? Matsudaira Chikatada, 1430s–1501 Masudaira Nagachika, 1473–1544 Matsudaira Nobutada, 1490–1531 Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, 1511–1536 Matsudaira Hirotada, 1526–1549 Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1st Tokugawa shōgun (1543–1616) Tokugawa Yorifusa, 1st daimyō of Mito (1603–1661) Matsudaira Yorishige, 1st daimyō of Takamatsu (1622–1695) Matsudaira Yoriyuki (1661–1687) Matsudaira Yoritoyo, 3rd daimyō of Takamatsu (1680–1735) Tokugawa Munetaka, 4th daimyō of Mito (1705–1730) Tokugawa Munemoto, 5th daimyō of Mito (1728–1766) Tokugawa Harumori, 6th daimyō of Mito (1751–1805) Matsudaira Yoshinari, 9th daimyō of Takasu (1776–1832) Matsudaira Yoshitatsu, 10th daimyō of Takasu (1800–1862) Matsudaira Katamori, 9th daimyō of Aizu (1836–1893) Tsuneo Matsudaira (1877–1949) Ichirō Matsudaira (1907–1992) Tsunenari Tokugawa (born 1940)

References

1. Morishita, Kae. "Tokugawa clan's place in history assured, says new family head". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
2. Yoshida, Reiji (15 September 2002). "Where are they now?". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
3. "The Edo Inheritance by Tokugawa Tsunenari". International House of Japan. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
4. Jeffs, Angela (8 November 2008). "Translating in the spirit of samurai". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2 November 2019.

Further reading

• Jones, Clayton (27 May 1990). "Great-Grandson of Last Shogun Accepts Life as Special but Ordinary Businessman". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
• Talmadge, Eric (16 November 2003). "Tokyo Marks Its 400th Year, Rather Quietly". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
• Yoshida, Reiji (4 August 2002). "Salaryman quits to devote time to family name: Tokugawa". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
• Yoshida, Reiji (15 September 2002). "Where are they now?". The Japan Times. Retrieved 7 December 2023.

External links

• Homepage of the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation
• Climate Witness: Tsunenari Tokugawa, Japan (WWF)

Preceded by Tokugawa Iesato	Tokugawa family head February 18, 1963 – January 1, 2023	Succeeded by Tokugawa Tsunenari