The fourth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, the eldest son of the third shōgun Iemitsu, great-grandson of Ieyasu.
Tokugawa Ietsuna (Kanō Yasunobu, 1613-1685)
The eldest son of Iemitsu, Tokugawa Ietsuna (徳川家綱, 1641-1680) succeeded his father at the age of 10. He was assisted by regents, all...
A prominent administrator of the early Tokugawa shogunate, also known as Chie Izu (知恵伊豆, “The Clever Izu”).
Born to Ōkōchi Hisatsuna, a senior retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu of modest background, Nobutsuna (松平信綱, 1596-1662) was adopted as the heir of his uncle, Matsudaira Masatsuna, in 1601. He was...
Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, 1604-1651) was the third shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, the eldest legitimate son of the second shōgun, grandson of Ieyasu.
Tokugawa Iemitsu
Born under his childhood name Tokugawa Takechiyō (徳川竹千代) to his father Tokugawa Hidetada and a younger sister of Lady...
Second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu
Born at the castle of Hamamatsu, Tokugawa Hidetada (徳川秀忠, 1579-1632) served as the general of one of his father's armies in the campaign that led to the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and the sieges of Ōsaka Castle (1614-15).
In...
Also called Sakuma Zōzan, Shōzan (佐久間象山, 1811-1864) was a progressive samurai intellectual of the Bakumatsu period.
Born in Matsushiro, the castle town of the Matsushiro domain (松代藩 Matsushiro-han, modern-day Nagano Prefecture), Shozan studied Chinese learning (漢学) under his father, a...
British architect, urban planner, and teacher
Conder (1852-1920) was the leading foreign designer of public and private buildings in Meiji Japan. The progressive and eclectic appearance of Meiji Period Tōkyō is to a large extent attributed to his buildings, typically designed in red brick with...
Motonari and his three arrowsA Sengoku daimyō and military leader in the Chūgoku Region of western Japan.
Mōri family crestMōri Motonari (毛利元就, 1497-1571), the second son of Mōri Hiromoto (d. 1556), became head of the Mōri clan of Aki Province (安芸国 Aki no kuni) or Geishū (芸州, modern-day...
A samurai with a vision
A pro-imperial activist in the Bakumatsu Period who helped forge the alliance between Satsuma and Chōshū that would eventually topple the Tokugawa shogunate.
Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本龍馬, 1836-1867) was born to a rural samurai (郷士 gōshi or 郷侍 gōzamurai) family in the castle town...
Master swordsman and accomplished painter
Master swordsman and painter of the Edo period (1600-1868), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke, Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Genshin (新免武蔵守藤原玄信), and under his artistic name Niten.
Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵 1584-1645), born in either...
Gamo Ujisato (1556-1595)
Also known under his childhood name Tsuruchiyo (鶴千代), as Utahide (賦秀) and under his Christian name Leão, Gamo Ujisato (蒲生氏郷 1556-1595) was a daimyō of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and son of Gamō Katahide (蒲生 賢秀, 1534-1584), lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi...
Senhime (千姫, 1597-1666) or Lady Sen was the daughter of the third Tokugawa shōgun Hidetada (徳川秀忠, 1579-1632) and the wife of Toyotomi Hideyori (豊臣秀頼, 1593-1615), himself son of the national unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Her mother Tatsuhime and Hideyori’s mother Yodogimi were sisters, while her...
Legendary Asuka statesman and devout follower of Buddhism
As regent for Empress Suiko (推古天皇 Suiko-tennō, 554-628), Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子 Shōtoku Taishi, 572-622) exercised political leadership, instituting such measures as the Kan’i Jūnikai (冠位十二階, Twelve Level Cap and Rank System) and the...
Court scholar, poet, and prominent Heian figure
Sugawara no Michizane (菅原道真, 845-903) was a leading court scholar, poet, and political figure of the Heian Period (794-1185) who challenged the powerful Fujiwara family and was sent into exile where he died in disgrace.
The Sugawara descended from...
Lord of Hikone and ill-fated Tokugawa regent
Ii Naosuke (井伊直弼, 1815-1860) was the fourteenth daimyō of the Hikone Domain (modern-day Shiga Prefecture) and as tairō (大老, “regent”) of the Tokugawa shogunate the de-facto ruler of Japan for almost two years (1858-60). During his short rule, Ii...
Mito lord and reactionary reformerTokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, 1800-1860) was the ninth daimyō of the Mito domain (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture) and father of the fifteenth and last Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu. An active reformer in the domain’s government and a leader in the sonnō jōi...
Mito daimyō and an iconic drama character
Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川 光圀, 1628-1701) was the second lord of the Mito Domain, one of the Tokugawa Gosanke (徳川御三家), the three highest-ranking branches of the Tokugawa clan, located in present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. He was a grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu...
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