Ii Yachiyo

• Born: 1846

Japanese: 井伊 八千代 (Ii Yachiyo)

Ii Yachiyo was a daughter of Ii Naosuke, lord of Hikone han, by a concubine named Shizu. Yachiyo is known for her extensive involvement in tea culture, hosting her first tea gathering at the age of nine, and on numerous occasions in subsequent years. She served frequently as a formal guest in Ii household tea gatherings (often as the second guest, after her father Naosuke), and occasionally as host, with her mother, tea instructor Katagiri Sôtetsu, and/or prominent Ii family retainers as the guests.

She was married on 1858/4/21 to Matsudaira Yoritoshi (1834-1903), heir to Takamatsu domain. After this, she no longer appears in records of Ii family tea gatherings. However, it seems quite likely that she continued her engagement with tea, likely serving as host or as an honored guest for tea gatherings held in Yoritoshi's household.

References

• Rebecca Corbett, Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan, University of Hawaii Press (2018), 140-144.