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Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Fifteenth and last [[Tokugawa bakufu|Tokugawa shogun]]
*''Japanese:'' 徳川慶喜 ''Tokugawa Yoshinobu, or Tokugawa Keiki''
*''Born: [[1837]]''
*''Died: [[1913]]''
''Reigned: [[1866]]-[[1867]]
Yoshinobu was the seventh son of [[Tokugawa Nariaki]] 斉昭, head of the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]]. He was adopted as heir of the [[Hitotsubashi Tokugawa clan]].
When it became clear that the shogun [[Tokugawa Iesada]] was not going to produce an heir, Yoshinobu was proposed as heir by a group who believed that in the turbulant age (now known as the [[Bakumatsu Period|bakumatsu]]), a mature man was needed as shogun. The group included [[Shimazu Nariakira]] of [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]], who married his adopted daughter [[Atsu-hime]] to the shogun in an attempt to influence him. Yoshinobu's supporters even tried to get backing from the imperial court, involving it for the first time in a Tokugawa family matter (Reishauer p. 208). However, the young [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] of the [[Kii Tokugawa clan]] was named as heir just before Iesada died in [[1858]]. The next year, during the [[Ansei Purge]], Yoshinobu was ordered into domiciliary confinement. But in [[1862]] he was made the guardian of the young Iemochi, and upon the latter's death in [[1866]] became shogun.
Yoshinobu embarked on reform of the administration with the advice of the [[France|French]] envoy [[Leon Roches|Léon Roches]]. There were also several attempts to form a council of leading [[daimyo]] which would be involved in government. Since until then only the hereditary Tokugawa vassal daimyo (fudai daimyo) had been involved in the administration, this was a major change. However, these plans fell through. Then [[Tosa han]] proposed that the shogun return his political authority to the emperor and head a council of daimyo under the emperor. The shogun would also continue to control the Tokugawa estate. Keiki announced this "Return of Power" ([[Taisei Hokan|Taisei Hôkan]] 大政奉還) in Kyoto on [[1867]]/10/14 and was again entrusted with the government of the nation. But nothing really happened.
Two months later, forces of Satsuma, [[Choshu han|Chôshû]], and several other han announced a Restoration of the Monarchy ([[Osei Fukko|Ôsei Fukko]] 王政復古) and the [[Boshin War]] started. Yoshinobu was defeated in the [[Battle of Toba-Fushimi]] and returned to Edo. When the anti-shogunate forces marched on the city, he decided to surrender, and troops entered the city peacefully on [[1868]]/4/11. Yoshinobu was confined in Mito for a while, but later settled in [[Sunpu]] (Shizuoka-ken), the city where [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Ieyasu]] had retired to. He was made duke (Kôshaku 公爵) in 1902.
==References==
*Fairbank, John K., [[Edwin Reischauer|Edwin O. Reischauer]], and Albert M. Craig, ''East Asia: The Modern Transformation,'' Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1965.
*''[[Kojien Dictionary|Kôjien Dictionary]]''
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]
Fifteenth and last [[Tokugawa bakufu|Tokugawa shogun]]
*''Japanese:'' 徳川慶喜 ''Tokugawa Yoshinobu, or Tokugawa Keiki''
*''Born: [[1837]]''
*''Died: [[1913]]''
''Reigned: [[1866]]-[[1867]]
Yoshinobu was the seventh son of [[Tokugawa Nariaki]] 斉昭, head of the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]]. He was adopted as heir of the [[Hitotsubashi Tokugawa clan]].
When it became clear that the shogun [[Tokugawa Iesada]] was not going to produce an heir, Yoshinobu was proposed as heir by a group who believed that in the turbulant age (now known as the [[Bakumatsu Period|bakumatsu]]), a mature man was needed as shogun. The group included [[Shimazu Nariakira]] of [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]], who married his adopted daughter [[Atsu-hime]] to the shogun in an attempt to influence him. Yoshinobu's supporters even tried to get backing from the imperial court, involving it for the first time in a Tokugawa family matter (Reishauer p. 208). However, the young [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] of the [[Kii Tokugawa clan]] was named as heir just before Iesada died in [[1858]]. The next year, during the [[Ansei Purge]], Yoshinobu was ordered into domiciliary confinement. But in [[1862]] he was made the guardian of the young Iemochi, and upon the latter's death in [[1866]] became shogun.
Yoshinobu embarked on reform of the administration with the advice of the [[France|French]] envoy [[Leon Roches|Léon Roches]]. There were also several attempts to form a council of leading [[daimyo]] which would be involved in government. Since until then only the hereditary Tokugawa vassal daimyo (fudai daimyo) had been involved in the administration, this was a major change. However, these plans fell through. Then [[Tosa han]] proposed that the shogun return his political authority to the emperor and head a council of daimyo under the emperor. The shogun would also continue to control the Tokugawa estate. Keiki announced this "Return of Power" ([[Taisei Hokan|Taisei Hôkan]] 大政奉還) in Kyoto on [[1867]]/10/14 and was again entrusted with the government of the nation. But nothing really happened.
Two months later, forces of Satsuma, [[Choshu han|Chôshû]], and several other han announced a Restoration of the Monarchy ([[Osei Fukko|Ôsei Fukko]] 王政復古) and the [[Boshin War]] started. Yoshinobu was defeated in the [[Battle of Toba-Fushimi]] and returned to Edo. When the anti-shogunate forces marched on the city, he decided to surrender, and troops entered the city peacefully on [[1868]]/4/11. Yoshinobu was confined in Mito for a while, but later settled in [[Sunpu]] (Shizuoka-ken), the city where [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Ieyasu]] had retired to. He was made duke (Kôshaku 公爵) in 1902.
==References==
*Fairbank, John K., [[Edwin Reischauer|Edwin O. Reischauer]], and Albert M. Craig, ''East Asia: The Modern Transformation,'' Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1965.
*''[[Kojien Dictionary|Kôjien Dictionary]]''
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]