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Oeyo

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Oeyo (於江与), Gō (江), Ogō (小督) or Satoko (達子) : 1573 – September 15, 1626) was a prominently-placed female figure in the Azuchi–Momoyama period and early Edo period. She was a daughter of Oichi and the sister of Yodo-dono and Ohatsu. When she rose to higher political status during the Tokugawa shogunate, she took the title of "Ōmidaidokoro". Following the fall of the Council of Five Elders, Oeyo and her sisters were key figures in maintaining a diplomatic relationship between the two most powerful clans of their time, Toyotomi and Tokugawa. Due to her great contributions to politics at the beginning of the Edo period she was posthumously inducted into the Junior First Rank of the Imperial Court, the second highest honor that could be conferred by the Emperor of Japan.

Ōmidaidokoro

於江与

Oeyo
Oeyo.jpg
Portrait of Oeyo
Born
Ogo (小督)

1573
DiedOctober 26, 1626(1626-10-26) (aged 52–53)
Edo Castle, Musashi, Japan
SpouseSaji Kazunari
Toyotomi Hidekatsu
Tokugawa Hidetada
Parents
FamilyJapanese Crest mitumori Kikkou ni Hanabishi.svg Azai clan
Goshichi no kiri inverted.svg Toyotomi clan
Tokugawa family crest.svg Tokugawa clan
HonoursJunior First Rank (従一位, 1626)

Oeyo married three times, first to Saji Kazunari, her cousin, then to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's nephew, Toyotomi Hidekatsu. She had a daughter with Hidekatsu named Toyotomi Sadako later married Kujō Yukiie. Her third and last husband Tokugawa Hidetada became the second Tokugawa shōgun. She was also the mother of his successor Iemitsu, the third shōgun. She had Senhime, Tamahime, Katsuhime, Hatsuhime, Takechiyo (Iemitsu), and Tadanaga. Hatsuhime was adopted by Oeyo's sister Ohatsu, who is the wife of Kyōgoku Takatsugu.

Surviving record books from merchants of luxury goods provide insight into patterns of patronage and taste amongst the privileged class of women like Oeyo and her sisters.[1]

GenealogyEdit

Oeyo, also known as Ogō, was the third and youngest daughter of the Sengoku-period daimyō Azai Nagamasa. Her mother, Oichi was the younger sister of Oda Nobunaga.[2] Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the adoptive father and protector of Oeyo in the period before her marriage.[3]

Oeyo's oldest sister, styled Yodo-dono, Cha-Cha in birth name, was a prominent concubine of Hideyoshi who gave birth to his heir, Toyotomi Hideyori.[2]

Oeyo's middle sister, Ohatsu was the wife of Kyōgoku Takatsugu and the mother of Kyōgoku Tadataka.[2]

FamilyEdit

by HidekatsuEdit

by HidetadaEdit

TimelineEdit

BurialEdit

After Hidetada resigned the government to his eldest son in 1623, Oeyo took a Buddhist name, Sūgen'in (崇源院) or Sogenin. Her mausoleum can be found at Zōjō-ji in the Shiba neighborhood of Tokyo.[4]

 
Mausoleum of Sugenin taken in Meiji Era

HonoursEdit

Taiga dramaEdit

NHK's 2011 Taiga drama, Gō: Himetachi no Sengoku, is based on the life of Oeyo who is played by the actress Juri Ueno.[5][6]

Notable DescendantsEdit

Together with Odai no Kata (Ieyasu's mother) and Lady Saigo (mother of Hidetada), Oeyo was the matriarch who stabilized the Tokugawa shogunate. Her descendants became shoguns, aristocrats and other prominent political figures. It is speculated that her son, Iemitsu, was the last direct male descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu, thus ending the patrilineality of the shogunate for the third generation.


NotesEdit

  1. ^ Hickman, Money L. et al. (2002). Japan's Golden Age: Momoyama, p. 283.
  2. ^ a b c "The silk coloured portrait of wife of Takatsugu Kyogoku," Archived 2011-05-06 at the Wayback Machine Digital Cultural Properties of Wakasa Obama; Oichinokata Archived 2012-09-08 at archive.today, Gifu prefecture website.
  3. ^ a b Wilson, Richard L. (1985). Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743), p. 40.
  4. ^ Tanabe Yasushi. "On the Sogenin's Mansoleum at Zojoji Temple" (崇源院靈牌所造營考). Transactions of the Institute of Japanese Architects (建築学会論文集). No. 19360331, pp.317-323.
  5. ^ 大河ドラマ 第50作 江（ごう） 姫たちの戦国 Archived 2009-07-11 at the Wayback Machine; "Atsuhime"-Autorin für NHKs 2011er Taiga-Drama gewählt (citing Tokyograph), Archived 2011-05-06 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ J-Dorama.

ReferencesEdit

  • Hickman, Money L., John T. Carpenter and Bruce A. Coats. (2002). Japan's Golden Age: Momoyama. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09407-7; OCLC 34564921
  • Wilson, Richard L. (1985). Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743) (PhD thesis/dissertation). Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas. OCLC 19111312
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