Changes

* ''Birth: [[1836]]/12/19''

* ''Birth: [[1835]]/12/19''

* ''Death: [[1883]]/11/12''

* ''Death: [[1883]]/11/12''

* ''Birth Name'': [[島津]]敬子 ''(Shimazu Sumiko)''

* ''Birth Name'': [[島津]]一子 ''(Shimazu Sumiko)''

* ''Married Name'': 徳川篤姫 ''(Tokugawa Atsu-hime)''

* ''Other Names'': [[近衛]]敬子 ''(Konoe Sumiko)'', [[藤原]]敬子 ''(Fujiwara Sumiko)''

* ''Married Name'': [[徳川]]篤姫 ''(Tokugawa Atsu-hime)''

* ''Retired Name'': 天璋院 ''(Tenshô-in)''

* ''Retired Name'': 天璋院 ''(Tenshô-in)''

[[Image:Tensyouin.jpg|right|thumb|Atsuhime]]

[[Image:Tensyouin.jpg|right|thumb|Atsuhime]]

The wife of the thirteenth shogun [[Tokugawa Iesada]] ([[1824]]-[[1858]]).  

Atsu-hime <ref>"Hime," often translated "princess," is a title used with the personal name of a woman of high rank, such as the daughter of a daimyo.</ref> was a daughter of the [[Imaizumi clan|Imaizumi]] [[Shimazu clan]], and,　for about two years, the wife of the thirteenth shogun, [[Tokugawa Iesada]] ([[1824]]-[[1858]]).  

Atsu-hime <ref>"Hime," often translated "princess," is a title used with the personal name of a woman of high rank, such as the daughter of a daimyo.</ref> 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 han|Satsuma fief]] of southern Kyushu. She was adopted by the lord of the fief, [[Shimazu 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 [[Tokugawa Iemochi | Iemochi]] ([[1846]]-[[1866]]). However, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]] ([[1837]]-[[1913]]), originally of the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]], but adopted into the [[Hitotsubashi Tokugawa clan| 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.

Born the daughter of [[Shimazu Tadatake]] (島津忠剛), in the Imaizumi mansion in Ibusuki, [[Satsuma province]], she was initially named Katsuko, or Okatsu. She was adopted by the lord of the fief, [[Shimazu Nariakira]], in [[1853]], given the name Atsu, and brought to Kagoshima. She lived at [[Kagoshima castle]] only very briefly, however, before moving to Kyoto the same year, being adopted into the [[Konoe family]] and renamed Konoe or Fujiwara Sumiko, and then relocating, yet again, to the [[Satsuma Edo mansion|Shimazu clan mansion]] at Shiba in Edo.

 

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 among the heads of several Tokugawa branch houses. The most natural one was his cousin, the young lord of [[Wakayama han|Kii]] [[Tokugawa Iemochi|Iemochi]] (aka Yoshitomi, [[1846]]-[[1866]]). However, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]] ([[1837]]-1913), originally of the [[Mito Tokugawa clan]], but adopted into the [[Hitotsubashi Tokugawa clan|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 to be named as successor. The "outer lords" (''[[tozama]] daimyô''), including the Shimazu, had been shut out of the shogunate administration since the beginning, but from the shogunate's perspective it was hoped that this marriage would strengthen the weakening shogunate by allying it to this powerful clan.

   

   

As the wife of the shogun was supposed to be from the imperial family or from a high-ranking imperial noble ([[Kuge]]) family, Atsu was adopted by the [[Minister of the Right]], [[Konoe Tadahiro]].<ref>A similar route had been chosen when a woman from the Shimazu family ([[Kodai-In, wife of Shogun Ienari|Kôdai-In]] 広大院) married the 11th shogun [[Tokugawa Ienari]]. In that case, they had been engaged before he was chosen as shogun. One of Kôdai-In's names was Atsu-hime.</ref> Her wedding [[palanquin]], today in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, bore the Tokugawa and Konoe [[kamon|family crests]], part of the elaborate [[gold leaf]] decorations on a black lacquered exterior; meanwhile, painted panels on the inside depicted scenes from the [[Genji monogatari|Tale of Genji]].<ref>"[http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=26995&int_modo=1 The Princess Atsuhime's Wedding Palanquin Revealed in the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery]. ArtDaily.org. 3 November 2008.</ref> Then in the 11th month of 1856, she entered Edo Castle as the wife of the shogun. The next year she was formally given the title of Mi-dokoro, the wife of the shogun.   

As the wife of the shogun was supposed to be from the imperial family or from a high-ranking imperial noble (''[[kuge]]'') family, Atsu was adopted by the [[Minister of the Right]], [[Konoe Tadahiro]].<ref>A similar route had been chosen when a woman from the Shimazu family ([[Kodai-in (1773-1844)|Kôdai-in]]) married the 11th shogun [[Tokugawa Ienari]]. In that case, they had been engaged before he was chosen as shogun. Kôdai-in was coincidentally also known as Atsu-hime.</ref> Her wedding [[palanquin]], today in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, bore the Tokugawa and Konoe [[kamon|family crests]] as part of elaborate [[gold leaf]] decorations on a black lacquered exterior; painted panels on the inside depicted scenes from the [[Genji monogatari|Tale of Genji]].<ref>"[http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=26995&int_modo=1 The Princess Atsuhime's Wedding Palanquin Revealed in the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery]. ArtDaily.org. 3 November 2008.</ref> In the 11th month of [[1856]], she entered [[Edo castle]] as the wife of the shogun. The next year she was formally given the title of Midokoro, the wife of the shogun.   

[[Image:Atsuhime portrait.jpg|left|thumb|Atsuhime]]

[[Image:Atsuhime portrait.jpg|left|thumb|Atsuhime]]

However, Atsu was not able to exercise the influence that had been hoped. Iesada died in the 7th month of [[1858]], naming as his heir the young lord of Kii. Two months after her husband's death Atsu-hime retired and took the name Tenshô-in, and at the end of the year was given Third Degree rank. She remained living in Edo castle during the shogunate of Iemochi and that of Yoshinobu, who became shogun in 1866.

However, Atsu was not able to exercise the influence that had been hoped. Iesada died in the 7th month of [[1858]], naming as his heir the young lord of Kii. Two months after her husband's death, Atsu-hime retired and took the name Tenshô-in, and at the end of the year she was given Third Degree rank. Her adoptive father Shimazu Nariakira died that same year; with both Iesada and Nariakira gone, Atsu-hime was freed from obligations, or expectations, to support Tokugawa Yoshinobu as the choice for shogunal heir. Iemochi became shogun instead; Atsushime continued living in Edo castle throughout Iemochi's reign, and that of Yoshinobu, who succeeded him as shogun in [[1866]].

 

During this time, the Satsuma clan joined forces with the [[Choshu han|Chôshû clan]] in support of the imperial restoration against the shogunate, and events eventually erupted into the [[Boshin War]] ([[1868]]), ending with the overthrow of the shogunate. At the end of the war, Tenshô-in (Atsu), who was from Satsuma, and Seikan-In-no-Miya (静寛院宮) (formerly [[Kazu-no-Miya]] 和宮), the widow of Shogun Iemochi and the daughter of [[Emperor Ninko| Emperor Ninkô]], successfully interceded with the victors for the continuance of the Tokugawa family. After the fall of Edo Casle, Tenshô-in and the rest of the Tokugawa family were deprived of their rank.  After vacating Edo Castle at the age of 34 on 10d 4m 1868, she moved into the Hitotsubashi mansion and stayed there until the 28d 7m, then settling in the mansion of the Kii Tokugawa in the Akasaka (赤坂) district of Edo/Tokyo. She then moved to Ushigometoyama (牛込戸山) in Tokyo on 11d 8m 1870.  Yet in [[1872]], to better help supervise the raising and education of Yoshinobu's heir Yasuda Kamenosuke (安田亀之助) ([[Tokugawa Iesato]] 徳川家達), she moved back to Akasaka, settling in Fukuyoshi-chô (福吉町), where she remained until Iesato went to study abroad in England in [[1877]]. After that, she moved into the main Tokugawa residence in Sendagaya, in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Tenshôin suffered from Parkinson’s disease, which eventually took her life at the age of 49 in [[1883]]. Upon her death her rank was restored.  

==Notes==

==Notes==