Tokugawa Iemochi
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Tokugawa Iemochi; 徳川 家茂 (July 17, 1846–August 29, 1866) was the 14th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office 1858 to 1866.
Iemochi, known in his childhood as Kikuchiyo, was the eldest son of the 11th generation Wakayama domain lord Tokugawa Nariyuki, and was born in the domain's residence in Edo (modern-day Minato-ku in Tokyo).
In 1847, at age 1, he was adopted as the heir of the 12th generation daimyo Tokugawa Narikatsu, and succeeded him in 1849, taking the name Tokugawa Yoshitomi following his coming of age in 1851.
However, in 1858 he was named as the successor to the main Tokugawa house due to the 13th shogun, Iesada, being heirless. It was upon assuming the office of shogun that he changed his name to Iemochi. As part of the Kobu-Gattai ("Union of Court and Bakufu") movement, Iemochi was married to Imperial Princess Kazu-no-Miya Chikako daughter of Emperor Ninkō, and younger sister of Emperor Kōmei, but his early death, at the age of 21, put an end to the short marriage. The cause of death is widely reported as beriberi, a disease caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency.
His successor, Yoshinobu, would be the last Tokugawa shogun, seeing an end to the shogunate following the Meiji Restoration.
[edit] References
- Rekishi Dokuhon Jan. 2006 issue: Tokugawa Shōgun-ke to Matsudaira Ichizoku
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Tokugawa Iesada |
Tokugawa Shogun 1858-1866 |
Succeeded by Tokugawa Yoshinobu |
