Gosanke

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"Sanke" redirects here. For the German post card, see Sanke card.
Maru-ni-mitsuba'aoi ("Circle Around Three Hollyhock Leaves"), the Tokugawa clan's crest (mon).

The Tokugawa Gosanke (徳川御三家, literally "three houses of the Tokugawa"), also called simply Gosanke or even Sanke, were three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu and Yorifusa and allowed to provide a shogun in case of need.[1] The three houses were called Owari House of Tokugawa, Kii House of Tokugawa and Mito House of Tokugawa. However in the Edo Period the term gosanke could also refer to various other combinations of Tokugawa houses, including (1) the shogunal, Owari and Kii houses and (2) the Owari, Kii, and Suruga houses (all with the court position of dainagon). Even after the abolition of the Edo period system of administrative domains (han), the three continue to exist.

History

After he established his shogunate, Ieyasu proceeded to put members of his family in key positions. Ninth son Yoshinao was nominated daimyo of Nagoya (Owari province), tenth son Yorinobu daimyo of Wakayama (Kii province) and eleventh son Yorifusa daimyo of Mito (Hitachi province).[1] From this allocation of fiefs came the names of the houses they founded, officially called Owari House of Tokugawa (尾張徳川家, Owari Tokugawa-ke), Kii House of Tokugawa (紀伊徳川家, Kii Tokugawa-ke), and Mito House of Tokugawa (水戸徳川家, Mito Tokugawa-ke)). Ieyasu gave them the right to supply a shogun in order to ensure the presence of successors to the Tokugawa shogunate in case the main line should become extinct.[2] This in fact happened when the seventh shogun died heirless in 1716, as well as when the thirteenth shogun died heirless in 1858.

The three houses had the highest rank among the shinpan, the daimyo who were relatives of the shogun. After the Meiji Restoration, under the kazoku system, the heads of the three houses became marquesses. In 1929 the head of the Mito House was elevated from marquess to duke.

Owari House

The senior one was the Owari branch. The first of this line was Tokugawa Yoshinao, ninth son of Ieyasu. He and his heirs were daimyo of the Owari Domain (Owari Han), with its headquarters at Nagoya Castle. The fief had a rating of 619,500 koku, a koku being the quantity of rice necessary to feed one person for a year (about 180 liters)[3], and was the largest of the three. Before the abolition of the shogunate and of the han system, the house was headed successively by 17 men. Its seniority notwithstanding, the Owari were the only one not to provide a shogun.[2]

Kii House

Second in seniority was Kii or Kishū House. The founder was Tokugawa Yorinobu, the tenth son of Ieyasu. Yorinobu was daimyo of the Kishū Han with its castle at Wakayama and a rating of 555,000 koku.[3] He entered Wakayama in 1619 when the previous daimyo was transferred. Fourteen members of the Tokugawa clan headed the fief during the Edo Period. It was the only family to directly produce successors to the shogun, once in 1716 with Tokugawa Yoshimune and again in 1858 with Tokugawa Iemochi.

The fifth Tokugawa daimyo of Kii was Yoshimune, who later became shogun and appointed a relative to head the Kii Han. Yoshimune established three new houses, the gosankyō, installing two sons and a grandson as their heads. The gosanke provided the model for the gosankyō. However, while Yoshimune granted lands to the gosankyō, the lands were not consolidated into coherent han, but instead were scattered in various places; the total holdings were also smaller than those of the gosanke. Eventually, one of the gosankyō houses, the Hitotsubashi house, produced two shoguns, once in 1787 (Tokugawa Ienari) and again in 1866 (Tokugawa Yoshinobu).

Mito House

Third in seniority among the Gosanke was the Mito branch. Its founder was Tokugawa Yorifusa, the eleventh son of Ieyasu. Their fief was the Mito Han in Hitachi Province, with its castle in Mito and lands rated initially at 250,000 koku, and later (1710) at 350,000.[3] Eleven men headed the house, including Tokugawa (Mito) Mitsukuni. The Mito House was not allowed to provide a shogun, but only his vice.[3] It did manage however to produce one when one of its sons, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, was adopted by the Hitotsubashi (one of the Kii House's three Gosankyō) in 1848 and became the last shogun as a member of that house.

Genealogy of the Gosanke heads

Owari House

  1. Yoshinao
  2. Mitsutomo
  3. Tsunanari
  4. Yoshimichi
  5. Gorōta
  6. Tsugutomo
  7. Muneharu
  8. Munekatsu
  9. Munechika
  10. Naritomo
  11. Nariharu
  12. Naritaka
  13. Yoshitsugu
  14. Yoshikumi
  15. Mochinaga
  16. Yoshinori
  17. Yoshikatsu

The Owari House today

The 22nd head of the Owari House is Mr. Tokugawa Yoshitaka (徳川 義崇) (born 1961), who in 2005 succeeded his late father, becoming director of the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya.[2] A Tokyo resident, he commutes to Nagoya during weekends.[2] His main activities are the museum and realty management.[2]

Kii House

  1. Tokugawa Yorinobu (1601–1671, r. 1619-1667)
  2. Mitsusada (1626–1705, r. 1667-1698)
  3. Tsunanori (1665–1705, r. 1698-1705)
  4. Yorimoto (1680–1705, r. 1705)
  5. Yoshimune (1684–1751 , r. 1705-1716) (later became shogun with the same name)
  6. Munenao (1682–1757, r. 1716-1757)
  7. Munemasa (1720–1765, r. 1757-1765)
  8. Shigenori (1746–1829, r. 1765-1775)
  9. Harusada (1728–1789, r. 1775-1789)
  10. Harutomi (1771–1852, r. 1789-1832)
  11. Nariyuki (1801–1846, r. 1832-1846)
  12. Narikatsu (1820–1849, r. 1846-1849)
  13. Yoshitomi (1846–1866, r. 1849-1858) (later became shogun with the name Iemochi)
  14. Mochitsugu (1844–1906, r. 1858-1869)

The Kii House today

The 19th head of the Kii House is Ms Tokugawa Kotoko (徳川宜子) (born in 1956).[2] Although she isn't married and has no children, she was chosen as head of the clan because there were no other direct descendants of the clan.[2] An architect[4], she owns and operates her own construction company in Ginza, Tokyo.[2] Unlike the other two, the Kii House does not have a museum of its own, and has given its properties of historical value to museums as the Wakayama Prefectural Museum.[2]

Mito House

  1. Yorifusa
  2. Mitsukuni
  3. Tsunaeda
  4. Munetaka
  5. Munemoto
  6. Harumori
  7. Harutoshi
  8. Narinobu
  9. Nariaki
  10. Yoshiatsu
  11. Akitake

The Mito House today

The 15th head of the Mito House is Mr. Tokugawa Narimasa (徳川斉正) (born in 1958).[2] From July 2009 he is also the director of Mito's ja:Shōkōkan Tokugawa Museum (彰考館徳川博物館).[2] He presently works for Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.[2] A Tokyo resident, he commutes to Mito during weekends.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten, Tokugawa Gosanke, Tokugawa Owari-ke, Tokugawa Kii-ke, and Tokugawa Mito-ke
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Asahi Simbun
  3. ^ a b c d Iwanami Kōjien Japanese Dictionary
  4. ^ See her page at the site of the Architect Studio Japan.

References

  • Asahi Shimbun, October 1, 2009, evening issue, page 1. Kafū sorezore Tokugawa Gosanke
  • Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version
  • Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten (岩波日本史辞典), CD-Rom Version. Iwanami Shoten, 1999-2001.
  • Papinot, E. (1910). "Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan." 1972 Printing. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Tokyo, ISBN 0-8048-0996-8.
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