Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu (previously spelled Iyeyasu); 徳川家康 (January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616.

Biography

Early life (1543-1556)

Tokugawa Ieyasu was born on January 31, 1543 in the Mikawa province. Originally named Matsudaira Takechiyo, he was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada (1526-1549), the lord of Mikawa and Dai-no-kata, the daughter of a neighboring samurai lord Mizuno Tadamasa. Oddly, his mother and father were step-brother and step-sister to each other. They were just 17 and 15 years old when Ieyasu was born. Two years later, Dai-no-kata was sent back to her family and the couple never lived together again. Both husband and wife remarried and both had children so Ieyasu ended up with 11 half-brothers and sisters.

The Matsudaira family was split: one side wanted to be a vassal of the Imagawa clan, while the other side preferred the Oda. As a result, much of Ieyasu's early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and Imagawa clans were fought. This family feud was the reason behind the murder of Hirotada's father (Takechiyo's grandfather), Matsudaira Kiyoyasu (1511-1536). Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family, Ieyasu's father, Hirotada, favored the Imagawa clan.

In 1548, when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, for help to repel the invaders. Yoshimoto agreed to help under the condition that Hirotada send his son Ieyasu (Takechiyo) to Sumpu as a hostage. Hirotada agreed. Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sumpu. Ieyasu was just six years old at the time.

Nobuhide threatened to execute Ieyasu unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan. Despite this refusal, Nobuhide chose not to kill Ieyasu but instead held him for the next three years at the Manshoji Temple in Nagoya.

In 1549, at the age of 24, Ieyasu's father Hirotada died of natural causes. At about the same time, Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic. The deaths dealt a heavy blow to the Oda clan. An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhide's eldest son and the new head of the Oda, was living. With the castle about to fall, Imagawa Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobuhide's second son). Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa clan. Nobunaga agreed and so Ieyasu (now nine) was taken as a hostage to Sumpu. Here he lived a fairly good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until he was 15.

Rise to power (1556-1584)

In 1556, Ieyasu came of age, and, following tradition, changed his name to Matsudaira Jirosaburo Motonobu. One year later, at the age of 16, he married his first wife and changed his name again to Matsudaira Kurando Motoyasu. Allowed to return to his native Mikawa, the Imagawa ordered him to fight the Oda clan in a series of battles. Ieyasu won his first battle at the Siege of Terabe and later succeeded in delivering supplies to a border fort through a bold night attack.

In 1560 the leadership of the Oda clan had passed to the brilliant leader Oda Nobunaga and Yoshimoto, leading a large Imagawa army (perhaps 20,000 strong) attacked the Oda clan territory. Ieyasu with his Mikawa troops captured a fort at the border and then stayed there to defend it. As a result, Ieyasu and his men were not present at the Battle of Okehazama where Yoshimoto was killed by Oda Nobunaga's surprise assault.

With Yoshimoto dead, Ieyasu decided to ally with the Oda clan. A secret deal was needed because Ieyasu's wife and infant son, Hideyasu were held hostage in Sumpu by the Imagawa clan. In 1561, Ieyasu openly broke with the Imagawa and captured the fortress of Kaminojo. Ieyasu was then able to exchange his wife and son for the wife and daughter of the ruler of Kaminojo castle.

For the next few years Ieyasu set about reforming the Matsudaira clan and pacifying Mikawa. He also strengthened his key vassals by awarding them land and castles in Mikawa. They were: Honda Tadakatsu, Ishikawa Kazumasa, Koriki Kiyonaga Sakai Tadatsugu, and Sakikabara Yasumasa.

In 1564, Ieyasu defeated the military forces of the Mikawa Monto within Mikawa province. The Monto were a warlike group of monks that were ruling Kaga province and had many temples elsewhere in Japan. They refused to obey Ieyasu's commands and so he went to war with them, defeating their troops and pulling down their temples. In one battle Ieyasu was nearly killed when he was struck by a bullet which did not penetrate his armor. Both Ieyasu's Mikawa troops and the Monto forces were using the new gunpowder weapons (muskets) which the Portuguese had introduced to Japan just 20 years earlier.

In 1567 Ieyasu changed his name yet again, his new surname was Tokugawa and his personal name was now Ieyasu. In so doing, he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. No proof has actually been found for this claimed descent.

Ieyasu remained an ally of Oda Nobunaga and his Mikawa soldiers were part of Nobunaga's army which captured Kyoto in 1568. At the same time Ieyasu was expanding his own territory. He and Takeda Shingen, the head of the Takeda clan in Kai Province made an alliance for the purpose of conquering all the Imagawa territory. In 1570, Ieyasu's troops captured Totomi province while Shingen's troops captured Suruga province (including the Imagawa capital of Sumpu).

Ieyasu ended his alliance with Takeda and sheltered their former enemy, Imagawa Ujizane; he also allied with Uesugi Kenshin of the Uesugi clan—an enemy of the Takeda clan. Later that year, Ieyasu led 5,000 of his own men supporting Nobunaga at the Battle of Anegawa against the Asai and Asakura clans.

In October 1571, Takeda Shingen, now allied with the Hojo clan, attacked the Tokugawa lands of Totomi. Ieyasu asked for help from Nobunaga, who sent him some 3,000 troops. Early in 1572 the two armies met at the Battle of Mikatagahara. Nobunaga's troops fled early and the Takeda army, under the expert direction of Shingen, hammered at Ieyasu's remaining troops till they were broken. Ieyasu fled with just 5 men to a nearby castle. This was a major loss for Ieyasu but Shingen was unable to exploit his victory because Ieyasu quickly gathered a new army and refused to fight Shingen again on the battlefield.

Fortune smiled on Ieyasu a year later when Takeda Shingen died at a siege early in 1573. Shingen was succeeded by his less capable son Takeda Katsuyori. In 1575 the Takeda army attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa province. Ieyasu appealed to Oda Nobunaga for help and the result was that Nobunaga personally came at the head of his very large army (about 30,000 strong). The Oda-Tokugawa force of 38,000 won a great victory on June 28, 1575 at the Battle of Nagashino, though Takeda Katsuyori survived the battle and retreated back to Kai province.

For the next seven years, Ieyasu and Katsuyori fought a series of small battles. Ieyasu's troops managed to wrest control of Suruga province away from the Takeda clan.

In 1579, Ieyasu's wife, and his eldest son, Tokugawa Nobuyasu, were accused of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate Nobunaga. Ieyasu's wife was executed and Hideyasu was forced to commit seppuku. Ieyasu then named his third and favorite son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as heir, since his second son was adopted by another rising power: Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the future ruler of all Japan.

The end of the war with Takeda came in 1582 when a combined Oda-Tokugawa force attacked and conquered Kai province. Takeda Katsuyori, as well as his eldest son Takeda Nobukatsu, were defeated at the Battle of Temmokuzan and then committed seppuku.

In late 1582, Ieyasu was near Osaka and far from his own territory when he learned that Oda Nobunaga had been assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide. Ieyasu managed the dangerous journey back to Mikawa, avoiding Mitsuhide's troops along the way, as they were trying to find and kill him. One week after he arrived in Mikawa, Ieyasu's army marched out to take revenge on Mitushide. But they were too late, Hideyoshi—on his own—defeated and killed Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki.

The death of Oda Nobunaga meant that some provinces, ruled by Nobunaga's vassels, were ripe for conquest. The leader of Kai province made the mistake of killing one of Ieyasu's aides. Ieyasu promptly invaded Kai and took control. Hojo Ujimasa, leader of the Hojo clan responded by sending his much larger army into Shinano and then into Kai province. No battles were fought between Ieyasu's forces and the large Hojo army and, after some negotiation, Ieyasu and the Hojo agreed to a settlement which left Ieyasu in control of both Kai and Shinano provinces, while the Hojo took control of Kazusa province (as well as bits of both Kai and Shinano province).

At the same time (1583) a war for rule over Japan was fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie. Ieyasu did not take a side in this conflict, building on his reputation for both caution and wisdom. Hideyoshi defeated Katsuie at the Battle of Shizugatake—with this victory, Hideyoshi became the single most powerful daimyo in Japan.

Ieyasu and Hideyoshi (1584-1598)

In 1584, Ieyasu decided to support Oda Nobuo, the eldest son and heir of Oda Nobunaga, against Hideyoshi. This was a dangerous act and could have resulted in the annihilation of the Tokugawa.

Tokugawa troops took the traditional Oda stronghold of Owari, Hideyoshi responded by sending an army into Owari. The Komaki campaign was the only time any of the great unifiers of Japan fought each other: Hideyoshi vs. Ieyasu. In the event, Ieyasu won the only notable battle of the campaign, the Battle of Nagakute. After months of fruitless marchs and feints, Hideyoshi settled the war through negotiation. First he made peace with Oda Nobuo and then he offered a truce to Ieyasu. The deal was made at the end of the year; as part of the peace terms Ieyasu's second son, O Gi Maru, became an adopted son of Hideyoshi.

In 1585 Ieyasu's long time aide, Ishikawa Kazumasa, chose to join the pre-eminent Daimyo of Japan and so he moved to Osaka to be with Hideyoshi. However, only a few other Tokugawa retainers followed this example.

Hideyoshi was understandably distrustful of Ieyasu, and five years passed before they fought as allies. Ieyasu and his troops did not participate in Hideyoshi's successful invasions of Shikoku and Kyushu.

In 1590 Hideyoshi attacked the last independent daimyo in Japan, Hojo Ujimasa. The Hojo clan ruled the eight provinces of the Kanto region in north-eastern Japan. Hideyoshi ordered them to submit to his authority and they refused. Ieyasu, though a friend and occasional ally of Ujimasa, joined his large force of 30,000 samurai with Hideyoshi's enormous army of some 160,000. Hideyoshi attacked several castles on the borders of the Hojo clan with most of his army laying siege to the castle at Odawara. Hideyoshi's army captured Odawara after six months (oddly for the time period, deaths on both sides were few). During this siege, Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu a radical deal. He offered Ieyasu the eight Kanto provinces which they were about to take from the Hojo in return for the five provinces that Ieyasu currently controlled (including Ieyasu's home province of Mikawa). Ieyasu accepted this proposal. Bowing to the overwhelming power of Hideyoshi's army, the Hojo accepted defeat, the top Hojo leaders killed themselves and Ieyasu marched in and took control of their provinces, so ending the clan's 450 year reign.

Ieyasu now gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Totomi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassels to the Kanto region. He himself occupied the castle town of Edo in Kanto. This was possibly the most risky move Ieyasu ever made—to leave his home province and rely on the uncertain loyalty of the formerly Hojo samurai in Kanto. In the event, it worked out brilliantly for Ieyasu. He reformed the Kanto provinces, controlled and pacified the Hojo samurai and improved the underlying economic infrastructure of the lands. Also, because Kanto was somewhat isolated from the rest of Japan, Ieyasu was able to maintain a unique level of autonomy from Hideyoshi's rule. Within a few years, Ieyasu had become the second most powerful Daimyo in Japan. There is a Japanese proverb which likely refers to this event "Ieyasu won the Empire by retreating." (A. L. Sadler, p. 164).

In 1592, Hideyoshi invaded Korea as a prelude to his plan to attack China (see Hideyoshi's attack on Korea for more information about this campaign). The Tokugawa samurai never took part in this campaign. Early in 1593, Ieyasu was summoned to Hideyoshi's court in Nagoya, as a military advisor. He stayed there, off and on for the next five years. Despite his frequent absences, Ieyasu's sons, loyal retainers and vassals were able to control and improve Edo and the other new Tokugawa lands.

In 1593, Hideyoshi fathered a son and heir, Toyotomi Hideyori. In 1598, with his health clearly failing, Hideyoshi called a meeting that would determine the Council of five regents who would be responsible for ruling on behalf of his son after his death. The five that were chosen as regents (tairo) for Hideyori were Maeda Toshiie, Mori Terumoto, Ukita Hideie, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu was the most powerful of the five.

The Battle of Sekigahara (1598-1603)

Hideyoshi, after three more months of increasing sickness, died on August 18 1598. He was nominally succeeded by his young son Hideyori but as he was just five years old, real power was in the hands of the regents. Over the next two years Ieyasu (Tokugawa) made alliances with various daimyo, especially those who had no love for Hideyoshi. Happily for Ieyasu, the oldest and most respected of the regents died after just one year. With the death of Regent Toshiie in 1599, Ieyasu led an army to Fushimi and took over Osaka Castle, the residence of Hideyori. This angered the three remaining regents and plans were made on all sides for war.

Opposition to Ieyasu centered around Ishida Mitsunari, a powerful daimyo but not one of the regents. Ishida plotted Ieyasu's death and news of this plot reached some of Ieyasu's generals. They attempted to kill Ishida but he fled and gained protection from none other than Ieyasu himself. It is not clear why Ieyasu protected a powerful enemy from his own men but Ieyasu was a master strategist and he may have concluded that he would be better off with Ishida leading the enemy army rather than one of the regents, who would have more legitimacy (A. L. Sadler, p. 187).

Nearly all of Japan's daimyos and samurai now split into two factions—the "eastern camp" supported Ieyasu while the "western camp" supported Ishida Mitsunari. Ieyasu's allies were the Date clan, the Mogami clan, the Sataki clan and the Maeda clan. Mitsunari allied himself with the three other regents: Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Kagekatsu as well as many daimyos from the eastern end of Honshu.

In June 1600, Ieyasu and his allies defeated the Uesugi clan. Ieyasu then led the majority of his army west towards Kyoto. In late summer, Ishida's forces captured Fushimi.

In Shinano Province, Ieyasu stationed 36,000 Tokugawa men commanded by Tokugawa Hidetada. Ieyasu knew that the Kobayakawa clan, led by Kobayakawa Hideaki, was planning to defect from the Ishida side, and that the Mori clan was also thinking of joining his side. Hidetada's army was placed to make sure these clans sided with the Tokugawa.

This battle was the biggest and likely the most important battle in Japanese history. It began on October 21, 1600 with a total of 160,000 men facing each other. The Battle of Sekigahara ended with a complete Tokugawa victory. The Western bloc was crushed and over the next few days Ishida Mitsunari and many other western nobles were captured and killed. Tokugawa Ieyasu was now the de facto ruler of Japan.

Immediately after the victory at Sekigahara, Ieyasu redistributed land to the vassals who had served him. Ieyasu left some western daimyos un-harmed, such as the Shimazu clan, but others were completely destroyed. Toyotomi Hideyori (the son of Hideyoshi) was allowed to become a common citizen and for the next 10 years he lived a quiet life in Osaka Castle while Ieyasu ruled Japan. In later years the vassals who had pledged allegiance to Ieyasu before Sekigahara became known as the fudai daimyos, while those who pledged allegiance to him after the battle (in other words, after his power was unquestioned) were known as tozama daimyos. Tozama daimyos were considered inferior to fudai daimyos.

Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1603-1605)

In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of 'shogun' from Emperor Go-Yozei. Ieyasu was 60 years old. He had outlasted all the other great men of his times: Oda Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Shingen. He was the shogun and he used his remaining years to create and solidify the Tokugawa shogunate, the third shogunal government (after the Minamoto and the Ashikaga). The Tokugawa Shogunate would rule Japan for the next 250 years.

Following a well established Japanese pattern, Ieyasu abdicated his official position as Shogun 1605. His successor was his son and heir, Tokugawa Hidetada. This was done (as Karel van Wolferen argues) in part to avoid being tied up in ceremonial duties, and in part to make it harder for his enemies to attack the real power center (The Enigma of Japanese Power, Karel van Wolferen, p. 28). The abdication of Ieyasu had no effect on his rule; he controlled Japan for the rest of his life.

Retired Shogun Ieyasu (1605-1616)

Ieyasu, acting as the Cloistered Shogun (Ogosho) was the effective ruler of Japan, remaining so until his death. Ieyasu retired to Sumpu, but he also supervised the building of Edo Castle, a massive construction project which lasted for the rest of Ieyasu's life. The end result was the largest castle in all of Japan, the costs for building the castle being borne by all the other daimyos, while Ieyasu reaped all the benefits. The castle still stands today in the center of Tokyo, now called the Imperial Palace.

Ieyasu also supervised diplomatic affairs with the Netherlands and Spain, and chose to distance Japan from them starting in 1609, though giving the Dutch the exclusive right to a trading post. From 1605 till his death, Ieyasu consulted with an English pilot in Dutch employ, William Adams, who played some role in forming the Shogun's policy regarding Spain and the Catholic Church.

In 1611, Ieyasu, at the head of 50,000 men, visited Kyoto to witness the coronation of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. In Kyoto, Ieyasu ordered the remodeling of the imperial court and buildings, and forced the remaining western daimyo to sign an oath of fealty to him. In 1613, he composed the Kuge Shohatto, a document which put the court daimyo under strict supervision, leaving them as mere ceremonial figureheads. In 1614, he signed the Christian Expulsion Edict which banned Christianity, expelled all Christians and foreigners, and banned Christians from practicing their religion. As a result, many Christian Japanese fled to the Spanish Philippines.

In 1615, he prepared the Buke Shohatto, a document setting out the future of the Tokugawa regime.

Siege of Osaka

The climax of Ieyasu's life was the siege of Osaka Castle (1614-1615). The last remaining threat to Ieyasu's rule was Hideyori, the son and rightful heir to Hideyoshi. He was now a young man, living in Osaka Castle. Many samurai who opposed Ieyasu rallied around Hideyori, claiming he was the rightful ruler of Japan. Ieyasu used a minor fight between Hideyori supporters and his samurai as pretext to kill the last of Hideyoshi's family. Initially, the Tokugawa forces were repulsed by Hideyori's supporters, but Ieyasu had massive resources to call upon. The Tokugawa, with a huge army led by Shogun Hidetada, laid siege to Osaka castle. The siege dragged on for more than a year. Finally in late 1615, Osaka Castle fell and nearly all the defenders were killed including Hideyori, his mother (Hideyoshi's widow, Yodogimi), and his infant son. His wife, Senhime (a granddaughter of Ieyasu), was allowed to live. With the Toyotomi finally extinguished, no threats remained to Tokugawa domination of Japan.

In 1616, Ieyasu fell ill and died in his bed at the age of 73. He was buried in Nikko Toshogu.

Ieyasu as a person

Lord Ieyasu had a number of qualities that enabled him to rise to greatness. He was both careful and bold — at the right times, and at the right places. He was calculating and subtle, and several times he switched alliances when he thought he would benefit from the change. He allied with Takeda Shingen then he switched alliances and was responsible for both Shingen's death and his son's death. He allied with the Hojo clan, then he joined Hideyoshi's army of conquest which destroyed the Hojo clan and he himself took over their lands. In this he was like other Japanese feudal lords of his time. This was an era of violence, sudden death and betrayal. He was not very well liked, and he was not personally popular. But he was feared and he was respected for his leadership and his cunning. For example he wisely kept his soldiers out of Hideyoshi's disastrous war in Korea.

He was capable of great loyalty; once he allied with Oda Nobunaga, he never went against Nobunaga, and both leaders profited from their long alliance. He was known for being loyal towards his personal friends and vassals whom he rewarded. However, he also remembered those who wronged him in the past. It is said that Ieyasu executed a man who came into his power because he had insulted him when Ieyasu was young.

Ieyasu protected many former Takeda retainers from the wrath of Oda Nobunaga, who was known to harbor a bitter grudge towards the Takeda. He managed to successfully transform many of the retainers of the Takeda, Hojo, and Imagawa clans—all whom he defeated himself or helped to defeat—into loyal followers.

Ieyasu has been known for being heartless. He also personally ordered his men to execute Hideyori's infant son, Kunimatsu. He ordered the execution of every soldier that could be found who defended Osaka castle. Tens of thousands of samurai are said to have been killed, their heads stuck on planks of wood which lined the road from Kyoto all the way to Fushimi. His lack of compassion was not especially uncommon for his time and can be attributed to his upbringing amidst wars, assassinations, and continuous violence. A quote from Ieyasu as portrayed in the film "Rikyu" can roughly sum up his outlook on life: "Life means that I can live to see tomorrow."

In his personal relationships, Ieyasu manifested the same extremes of temperament he showed towards strangers. He had nineteen wives and concubines, by whom he had seventeen children: 7 sons and 10 daughters. He is said to have cared for his children and grandchildren, establishing three of them, Yorinobu, Yoshinao, and Yorifusa as the regional lords of Kii, Owari, and Mito provinces, respectively. At the same time, he could be ruthless when crossed: he ordered the executions of his first wife and his eldest son.

His amorous relations with women were no obstacle to dalliances with boys, in the style of the Japanese shudo tradition of pederasty. In this he was no different from the majority of the Tokugawa lords: out of ten who reached adulthood, eight were known to have had male affairs. (Crompton, p.439) One of his beloveds was Ii Manchiyo, a scion of a powerful clan who were among his chief supporters. Manchiyo was not alone to be honored thus, as one of the criticisms raised against him was that he spent too much time sporting with boys. (Leupp, p.54) Indeed, the eighteenth century Osakan scholar Nakai Shuan described Ieyasu as "a sage who could not control his sex life." (Leupp, p.145)

Ieyasu's favourite pastime was hawking. He regarded it as excellent training for a warrior. "When you go into the country hawking, you learn to understand the military spirit and also the hard life of the lower classes. You exercise your muscles and train your limbs. You have any amount of walking and running and become quite indifferent to heat and cold, and so you are little likely to suffer from any illness." (A. L. Sadler, p. 344). Ieyasu swam often; even late in his life he is reported to have swum in the moat of the castle of Edo.

Later in life he took to scholarship and religion, patronizing famous scholars like Hayashi Razan.

Two of his famous quotes:

"Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou stumble not. Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the natural lot of mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou has passed through. Forbearance is the root of quietness and assurance forever. Look upon the wrath of the enemy. If thou knowest only what it is to conquer, and knowest not what it is like to be defeated, woe unto thee; it will fare ill with thee. Find fault with thyself rather than with others."

"The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. Patience means restraining one's inclinations. There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, love, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience."

He claimed that he fought, as a warrior or a general, in 90 battles.

In some sources Ieyasu is known to have the bad habit of biting his nails when nervous, especially before and during battle.

He was interested in various kenjutsu skills, was a patron of the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu school and also had them as his personal sword instructors.

Tokugawa Ieyasu in popular culture

The history of Tokugawa's rise to power is fictionalized in James Clavell's novel Shogun. Clavell uses the name Toranaga to refer to the Tokugawa throughout his Asian Saga. Note that the book does not directly follow historical events or situations.
Kagemusha, a film by Akira Kurosawa tells a fictionalized account of the events leading up to the Battle of Nagashino
In the video game Kessen the game is about Ieyasu famous battles in Sekigahara against Ishida Mitsunari and later Sanada Yukimura. The game is dramatic and half fictional. Ieyasu is portrayed as an heroic Warrior albeit sometimes arrogant.
Ieyasu appears as an evil possessed character in the samurai anime Samurai Deeper Kyo. Here, he's voiced by Koyasu Takehito.
Tokugawa Ieyasu appears in the film "Rikyu," which focuses on the life of tea master Sen no Rikyu but features Ieyasu briefly.
Tokugawa Ieyasu appears in the video game Samurai Warriors where he is an unplayable leader who controls the Hattori ninja clan a vassals. Events in the game are largely fictionalized. In the upcoming Samurai Warriors 2, he is a playable character wielding a spear with a cannon hidden inside.
Tokugawa Ieyasu is also an enemy NPC in Capcom's Sengoku Basara/Devil Kings. He's potrayed as a little man who takes pride on his general Honda Tadakatsu (or creation, since Tadakatsu is potrayed as a giant robot there). In Devil Kings, Ieyasu is renamed as Irdene.
Tokugawa Ieyasu is the name of the ruler of Japoness in the Saber Marionette anime and manga franchise.
Tokugawa is the Japanese leader in the computer games Civilization III and Civilization IV
The manga Mister Zipangu, which, while focusing mainly on the relationship between Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, features a young Matsudaira Takechiyo (Tokugawa Ieyasu), as well.
The main character of a series of novels translated in English as Mirage of Blaze (also adapted into a manga, anime, and OAV) is a reincarnated Japanese feudal lord who has some magic power over spirits. In the anime, the main character performs a spell, the magic focus of which is Tokugawa's skull.
Ieyasu appears in Philip José Farmer's Riverworld novel The Fabulous Riverboat as a leader who allies with King John to steal Mark Twain's riverboat.
In Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, the main character, Soki, is the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Tokugawa is a Final Boss in the loosely Sengoku Period-based arcade shoot-em-up Vasara, and mentioned in Momochi's ending in the sequel Vasara 2.
Tetsuo Hara (from Fist of the north star fame) made a fictional manga about a body double of Tokugawa Ieyasu called Kagemusha No Tokugawa. Also Tokugawa appears in another manga made by the same artist called Hana No Keiji.
Tokugawa Ieyasu is an AI character in Age of Empires II.

The writer Andrew Adams, in his book about Ninjas, claims that Ieyasu made extensive use of Ninjas for spying and as personal guards (Ninja—The Invisible Assassins, pages 43-46). Ieyasu was well known both for his foresight and his pragmatism, so using Ninjas would not have been out of character for him. However, like many stories about spies, proof is impossible.

References

The Maker of Modern Japan by A. L. Sadler (1937). Charles E. Tuttle Company.—The first biography of Ieyasu in English.

Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1600-1843 by Conrad D. Totman (1988)—Explains how the Shogunate was run.

A History of Japan, 1334-1615 by George Sansum (1961)—A classic history of Japan (part 2 of 3 volumes)

The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 4 edited by James L. McClain (1991)—the new standard history of Japan.