Tokugawa Iesada

Tokugawa Iesada
13th Tokugawa Shogun
In office 1853–1858
Monarchs	Emperor Ninkō Emperor Kōmei
Preceded by	Tokugawa Ieyoshi
Succeeded by	Tokugawa Iemochi
Personal details
Born	(1824-05-06)6 May 1824
Died	14 August 1858(1858-08-14) (aged 34)
Spouse	Princess Atsu

Tokugawa Iesada (徳川 家定 (May 6, 1824 – August 14, 1858) was the 13th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan who held office for only 5 years, from 1853 to 1858. He was physically weak and therefore unfit to be shogun in this period of great challenges. His reign marks the beginning of the Bakumatsu period.

Reign

Having risen to power soon after the Black Ships episode, he is held to have been responsible for the Unequal Treaties (Convention of Kanagawa, Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty, Harris Treaty, Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce) which broke the sakoku and opened the Japanese frontliners to foreign influences. Kōmei, the reigning Emperor of Japan emperor at the time, was a major opponent of his policies. This strengthened the Sonnō jōi movement.

He was married to Princess Atsu, the adopted daughter of the daimyo of Satsuma Shimazu Nariakira.

Ii Naosuke rose to the rank of tairō under him.

Iesada died childless in 1858, which caused factions within the bakufu to clash over the succession. Tokugawa Nariaki of Mito, Satsuma and others wanted to see Tokugawa Yoshinobu as his successor, while the Ōoku and shogunate officials like Ii Naosuke supported Tokugawa Iemochi, and succeeded. These quarrels ended in the Ansei Purge.

Eras of Iesada's bakufu

The years in which Iesada was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.

• Kaei (1848–1854)
• Ansei (1854–1860)

Western Encounters

Townsend Harris had an audience with him during the negotiations for the Harris Treaty.

In fiction

Tokugawa Iesada is featured in the 2008 NHK Taiga drama Atsuhime, which chronicles the life of his wife. He is portrayed by Masato Sakai.

References

• Jansen, Marius B. and John Whitney Hall, eds. (1989). The Cambridge History of Japan: The nineteenth century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10-ISBN 0-521-22356-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-521-22356-0
• Mogues, Alfred de. Recollections of Baron Gros's Embassy to China and Japan in 1857-58. London: Richard Griffin and Company. 1860. OCLC 6019667
• Ravina, Mark. (2004). The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori. Hobokin, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. 10-ISBN 0-471-08970-2; 13-ISBN 978-0-471-08970-4; OCLC 51898842
• Totman, Conrad. (1967). Politics in the Tokugawa bakufu, 1600-1843. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. OCLC 279623