Tokuhime (Tokugawa)

Note that Toku-hime refers to the daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, born in 1565; Gotokuhime refers to the daughter of Oda Nobunaga, born in 1559

Tokuhime (督姫: 1565 – March 3, 1615) (Hime means "princess", "lady") was a princess during the Sengoku and Edo periods of Japanese history. She was the second daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu; her mother was Lady Nishigori (西郡の方), one of Ieyasu's concubines. Toku-hime was also known as Ofū, Tomiko, Harima-gozen, and Ryōshō-in.

Life

In 1582, the death of Oda Nobunaga in the Incident at Honnōji left Kai and Shinano Provinces without an overlord, and the struggle between Ieyasu and Hōjō Ujinao began. However, at that time, the two had nearly equal strength, and thinking that a serious war would weaken even the winner, they sought peace. As part of the accord, Ieyasu agreed to give Toku to Ujinao to be his wife.

In 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked the Hōjō stronghold at Odawara Castle in the Subjugation of Odawara, eradicating the Hōjō as a power. At that time, Ujinao appealed to his father-in-law Ieyasu, who prevailed upon Hideyoshi to spare Ujinao and Toku, sending them to Mount Kōya. In the following year, Ujinao died. Because Toku did not have any children by Ujinao, she returned to Ieyasu.

In 1594, Hideyoshi arranged for Toku to marry Ikeda Terumasa. They gave birth to five sons, including Ikeda Toshitaka, Ikeda Tadatsugu and Ikeda Tadakatsu. Tadatsugu became the lord of Okayama Castle at age five, following the death of Kobayakawa Hideaki.