Tsunenari Tokugawa Explained

Tokugawa Tsunenari
Birth Date:	26 February 1940
Birth Place:	Tokyo, Japan
Succession:	Head of the Tokugawa House
Reign:	18 February 1963 – 1 January 2023^[1]
Predecessor:	Iemasa Tokugawa
Successor:	Iehiro Tokugawa
Issue:	Iehiro Tokugawa 徳川家広
Father:	Ichirō Matsudaira
Mother:	Toyoko Tokugawa

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.

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. 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

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.

1. Descent prior to Keitai is unclear to modern historians, but traditionally traced back patrilineally to Emperor Jimmu
2. Emperor Keitai, ca. 450–534
3. Emperor Kinmei, 509–571
4. Emperor Bidatsu, 538–585
5. Prince Oshisaka, ca. 556–???
6. Emperor Jomei, 593–641
7. Emperor Tenji, 626–671
8. Prince Shiki, ????–716
9. Emperor Kōnin, 709–786
10. Emperor Kanmu, 737–806
11. Emperor Saga, 786–842
12. Emperor Ninmyō, 810–850
13. Emperor Montoku 826–858
14. Emperor Seiwa, 850–881
15. Prince Sadazumi, 873–916
16. Minamoto no Tsunemoto, 894–961
17. Minamoto no Mitsunaka, 912–997
18. Minamoto no Yorinobu, 968–1048
19. Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, 988–1075
20. Minamoto no Yoshiie, 1039–1106
21. Minamoto no Yoshikuni, 1091–1155
22. Minamoto no Yoshishige, 1135–1202
23. Nitta Yoshikane, 1139–1206
24. Nitta Yoshifusa, 1162–1195
25. Nitta Masayoshi, 1187–1257
26. Nitta Masauji, 1208–1271
27. Nitta Motouji, 1253–1324
28. Nitta Tomouji, 1274–1318
29. Nitta Yoshisada, 1301–1338
30. Nitta Yoshimune, 1331?–1368
31. Tokugawa Chikasue?, ????–???? (speculated)
32. Tokugawa Arichika, ????–????
33. Matsudaira Chikauji, d. 1393?
34. Matsudaira Yasuchika, ????–14??
35. Matsudaira Nobumitsu, c. 1404–1488/89?
36. Matsudaira Chikatada, 1430s–1501
37. Masudaira Nagachika, 1473–1544
38. Matsudaira Nobutada, 1490–1531
39. Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, 1511–1536
40. Matsudaira Hirotada, 1526–1549
41. Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1st Tokugawa shōgun (1543–1616)
42. Tokugawa Yorifusa, 1st daimyō of Mito (1603–1661)
43. Matsudaira Yorishige, 1st daimyō of Takamatsu (1622–1695)
44. Matsudaira Yoriyuki (1661–1687)
45. Matsudaira Yoritoyo, 3rd daimyō of Takamatsu (1680–1735)
46. Tokugawa Munetaka, 4th daimyō of Mito (1705–1730)
47. Tokugawa Munemoto, 5th daimyō of Mito (1728–1766)
48. Tokugawa Harumori, 6th daimyō of Mito (1751–1805)
49. Matsudaira Yoshinari, 9th daimyō of Takasu (1776–1832)
50. Matsudaira Yoshitatsu, 10th daimyō of Takasu (1800–1862)
51. Matsudaira Katamori, 9th daimyō of Aizu (1836–1893)
52. Tsuneo Matsudaira (1877–1949)
53. Ichirō Matsudaira (1907–1992)
54. Tsunenari Tokugawa (born 1940)

Further reading

• News: Jones . Clayton . 1990-05-27 . Great-Grandson of Last Shogun Accepts Life as Special but Ordinary Businessman . 2023-12-07 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
• News: Talmadge . Eric . 2003-11-16 . Tokyo Marks Its 400th Year, Rather Quietly . 2023-12-07 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
• News: Yoshida . Reiji . 2002-08-04 . Salaryman quits to devote time to family name: Tokugawa . 2023-12-07 . The Japan Times . en . subscription.
• News: Yoshida . Reiji . 2002-09-15 . Where are they now? . 2023-12-07 . The Japan Times . en . subscription.

External links

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

Notes and References

1. News: Kae . Morishita . Tokugawa clan’s place in history assured, says new family head . 2023-12-07 . The Asahi Shimbun . en.
2. Web site: Where are they now?. Yoshida. Reiji. 2002-09-15. The Japan Times. en-US. 2019-11-02.
3. "The Edo Inheritance by Tokugawa Tsunenari". International House of Japan. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
4. Web site: Translating in the spirit of samurai. Jeffs. Angela. 2008-11-08. The Japan Times. en-US. 2019-11-02.