Tokugawa Yorinobu

Who They Were

Tokugawa Yorinobu (徳川頼宣, とくがわ よりのぶ) was a samurai and daimyo of the early Edo period. He was the 10th son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, born to Ieyasu's concubine Kageyama-dono. Yorinobu lived from April 28, 1602, to February 19, 1671, spanning the end of the Azuchi–Momoyama period and most of the Edo period that followed.

Yorinobu is best known as the 1st lord of Kishu and the founder of the Kii branch of the Tokugawa clan. His domain, Wakayama Domain, became one of the three major collateral houses of the Tokugawa family, alongside the domains of Mito and Owari. These branches were established to support the main shogunal line and provide heirs if needed.

Life and Career

Yorinobu was born under the name Nagatomimaru (長福丸). On December 8, 1603, he received the fief of Mito, rated at 200,000 koku, a measure of rice production used to gauge a domain's wealth. Mito had previously belonged to his older brother, Takeda Nobuyoshi. In October 1604, his stipend was increased to 250,000 koku.

He came of age on September 12, 1606, taking the name Yorimasa and receiving the court rank of junior 4th, lower grade (ju-shi-i-ge), along with the title of Hitachi no Suke. On January 6, 1610, he was transferred to a 500,000 koku fief spanning Suruga and Tōtōmi Provinces, founding Sunpu Domain centered on Sunpu Castle. It was at this point that he took the name Yorinobu.

Yorinobu participated in the Siege of Osaka, the 1614–1615 campaign in which the Tokugawa forces destroyed the last major opposition to their rule. After nearly a decade in Suruga, he was transferred on August 27, 1619, to the 550,000 koku Wakayama Domain. This transfer followed the relocation of the previous rulers, the Asano clan, to Hiroshima in Aki Province. Yorinobu thus became the founder of the Kii branch of the Tokugawa family.

His wife, Yōrin-in (1601–1666), was the daughter of Katō Kiyomasa, a prominent daimyo of the preceding era. By the end of his life, Yorinobu had achieved the court rank of junior 2nd (ju-ni-i) and held the title of dainagon, or "major counselor."

Why They Matter

Yorinobu's significance lies in his role as the founder of the Kii branch, one of the three collateral houses (gosanke) of the Tokugawa clan. These branches were created to ensure the stability of the shogunate by providing potential successors to the main line. The Kii branch would later produce Tokugawa Yoshimune, who became the 8th shogun in 1716, drawing on the lineage Yorinobu established.

His transfer to Wakayama Domain in 1619 was part of the broader Tokugawa strategy of placing trusted family members in strategically important regions. Wakayama, located on the Kii Peninsula south of Osaka, was a significant coastal domain. Yorinobu's administration there helped consolidate Tokugawa control over western Japan in the decades following the Siege of Osaka.

The Name in Japanese

The name is written 徳川頼宣 in kanji.

• Kana reading: とくがわ よりのぶ
• Romaji: Tokugawa Yorinobu

Breaking down the characters:

• 徳 (とく, toku): "virtue" or "morality." This character is also used in the name of the Tokugawa clan itself and carries the sense of moral excellence.
• 川 (かわ, kawa): "river." Combined with 徳, it forms the surname Tokugawa, which originally derived from a place name in what is now Tochigi Prefecture.
• 頼 (より, yori): "to rely on" or "to trust." In names, it often conveys the idea of being dependable or turning to someone for support.
• 宣 (のぶ, nobu): "to proclaim" or "to declare." This character appears frequently in samurai names of the period, including those of several Tokugawa family members.

The given name Yorinobu follows a common pattern of combining a character from the father's name with another character. Here, 頼 was a character used in names within the Tokugawa circle, while 宣 was a standard element in the names of daimyo of the era.

Legacy

Yorinobu had four children. His successor was Tokugawa Mitsusada, who inherited Wakayama Domain. Another son, Matsudaira Yorizumi, founded the Iyo-Saijo Domain. His daughters included Inaba-hime, who married Ikeda Mitsunaka of the Tottori Domain, and Matsuhime, who married Matsudaira Nobuhira of the Yoshii Domain.

After his death, Yorinobu was referred to by the posthumous title Nanryū-in. In 1915, he was posthumously promoted to the court rank of senior 2nd (shō-ni-i), a recognition of his historical importance within the Tokugawa lineage. The Kii branch he founded continued to hold Wakayama Domain throughout the Edo period, and its members remained among the most powerful daimyo in Japan until the end of the shogunate in 1868.