Atsuhime (person)

Atsuhime, the wife of the thirteenth shogun Tokugawa Iesada (1824-1858).

Atsu-hime was born the daughter of Shimazu Tadatake (島津忠剛), the head of a branch of the powerful Shimazu family, that of the lords of the Satsuma fief of southern Kyushu. She was adopted by the lord of the fief, Shimizu Nariakira and given the name Atsu. Adopting the daughter of a branch house or a high-ranking retainer for use in marriage politics was not an unusual practice in Japan; it was much used by Tokugawa Ieyasu, among others. In Atsu's case, Nariakira intended to marry her to the shogun Tokugawa Iesada. However, Nariakira's purpose was not to become the grandfather of the future shogun. Iesada had already buried two wives and was still childless. His successor had to be chosen from amoung the heads of several Tokugawa branch houses. The most natural one was his cousin, the young lord of Kii Iemochi (1846-1866). However, Yoshinobu (1837-1913), originally of the Mito Tokugawa clan, but adopted into the Hitotsubashi branch, was also a strong candidate. The latter was supported by those, including Nariakira, who believed the shogunate needed a strong leader who could make necessary reforms, especially in view of the foreign threat typified by the visit of Matthew Perry in 1853. It was hoped that Atsu could be influential in getting Yoshinobu named as successor. The "outer lords," (Tozama Daimyo) including the Shimazu, had been shut out of the shogunate administration since the beginning, but from the shogunate side it was hoped that this marriage would strenghten the weakening shogunate with this powerful clan.



Atsuhime (篤姫), literally Princess Atsu, is the 47th NHK Taiga drama. It began on January 6, 2008 and aired throughout 2008 with some 50 episodes. The story chronicles the life of Tenshōin, based on Tomiko Miyao's 1984 novel Tenshō-in Atsuhime (天璋院篤姫).

Source: Wikipedia, Samurai Archives