Tokugawa Ieharu ( 20 June 1737 – 17 September 1786) was the tenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, and held office from 1760 to 1786.
Ieharu was the eldest son of Tokugawa Ieshige, and succeeded his father upon his abdication in 1760. His childhood name was Takechiyo (竹千代).
Ieharu died in 1786. He was given the Buddhist name Shunmyoin and buried at Kan'ei-ji.
Family Father: Tokugawa Ieshige Mother: Oko no Kata (d. 1728) later Shinshin'in Wife: Iso no Miya Tomoko (1738–1771) Concubines: Omiyo no Kata Ochiho no Kata (1737–1791) later Renkoin Oshina no Kata (d. 1778) later Yoren-in Child: Chiyohime (1756–1757) by Tomoko Manjuhime (1761–1773) (born by Tomoko but after she died adopted by Ieharu's concubine, Omaki no Kata) Tokugawa Takechiyo later Tokugawa Iemoto (1762–1779) born by Ochiho no Kata Tokugawa Teijiro (1762–1763) born by Oshina no Kata Adopted: Tokugawa Ienari Tanehime (1765–1794), daughter of Tokugawa Munetake and married Tokugawa Harutomi of Kishū Domain
Events of Ieharu's reign Tenmei gannen (天明元年) or Tenmei 1 (1781): The new era name of Tenmei (meaning "Dawn") was created to mark the enthronement of Emperor Kōkaku. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in An'ei 11, on the 2nd day of the 4th month. According to Nihon Ōdai Ichiran, Ieharu was appointed Udaijin (Minister of the Right) of the Emperor's Kugyō, which was quite rare and considered a great favour. Tenmei 2 (1782): Great Tenmei Famine begins. Tenmei 2 (1782): An analysis of silver currency in China and Japan "Sin sen sen pou (Sin tchuan phou)" was presented to the emperor by Kutsuki Masatsuna (1750–1802), also known as Kutsuki Oki-no kami Minamoto-no Masatsuna, hereditary daimyō of Oki and Ōmi with holdings in Tanba and Fukuchiyama -- related note at Tenmei 7 below.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 420 Tenmei 3 (1783): Mount Asama (浅間山, Asama-yama) erupted in Shinano, one of the old provinces of Japan (Tenmei eruption). Isaac Titsingh's published account of the Asama-yama eruption (1820) was the first of its kind in the West.Screech, T. (2006), Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822, pp. 146–148. The volcano's devastation makes the Great Tenmei Famine even worse. Tenmei 4 (1784): Country-wide celebrations in honor of Kūkai (also known as Kōbō-Daishi, founder of Shingon Buddhism) who died 950 years earlier. Tenmei 4 (1784): The son of the shōguns chief counselor was assassinated inside Edo Castle. The comparatively young wakadoshiyori, , was the son of the senior wakadoshiyori Tanuma Tonomo-no-kami Okitsugu. The younger Tanuma was killed in front of his father as both were returning to their litter after a meeting of the Counselors of State had broken up. The involvement of senior figures in the bakufu was suspected; however, none but the lone assassin himself, Sano Masakoto, was punished. The result was that Tanuma-initiated, liberalizing reforms within the bakufu and relaxation the strictures of sakoku were blocked.Screech, pp. 148–151, 163–170, 248. Tenmei 6, on the 8th day of the 9th month (17 September 1786): Death of Tokugawa Ieharu. He is buried in Edo. Tenmei 7 (1787): Kutsuki Masatsuna published Seiyō senpu (Notes on Western Coinage), with plates showing European and colonial currency – related note at Tenmei 2 above.Screech, T. (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829, pp. 123, 125. – see online image of 2 adjacent pages from library collection of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Kyoto Junior College of Foreign Languages
Eras of Ieharu's reign The years in which Ieharu was shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō. Hōreki (1751–1764) Meiwa (1764–1772) An'ei (1772–1781) Tenmei (1781–1789)
Ancestry
Notes
References Hall, John Whitney. (1955) Tanuma Okitsugu: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Screech, Timon. (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829. London: Reaktion Books. Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. Titsingh, Isaac. (1822). Illustrations of Japan. London: Ackerman. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. Totman, Conrad. (1967). Politics in the Tokugawa bakufu, 1600–1843. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
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