Ofuri-no-kata (d. 1640)

The Jishô-in Mausoleum at the Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum

• Died: 1640/8/21
• Other Names: 自証院 (Jishou-in)
• Japanese: お振の方 (Ofuri no kata)

Ofuri-no-kata was a concubine of Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu.

She was the daughter of Oka Shigemasa, a retainer to Gamô Hideyuki, and entered the Ôoku in 1626. In 1637, she gave birth to Chiyohime.

Following Ofuri's death in 1640, she was given the posthumous Buddhist name Jishô-in. In 1652, Chiyohime had a mausoleum constructed to serve as the site of memorial services for her mother. Originally located within the temple Jishô-ji in Ichigaya (in Edo), the Jishô-in Mausoleum now stands in the Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum. It was built by the Kôra family, leading carpenters for the shogunate, who were also involved in the construction of Edo castle and Nikkô Tôshôgû.

The Jishô-in Mausoleum (Jishô-in Otama-ya) is one of the few early Edo period mausolea of this style to survive, and so is a valuable example of that style.

References

• Plaques on-site at Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum.
• "お振の方(2)," Digital-ban Nihon jinmei daijiten デジタル版 日本人名大辞典, Kodansha, 2009.