Tokugawa Iemitsu (previously spelled Iyemitsu); 徳川 家光 (August 12, 1604 — June 8, 1651) was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty who reigned from 1623 to 1651. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and thus the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 – Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... // Events January 1 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland in Scone. ... Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate For other uses, see Shogun (disambiguation). ... The Tokugawa shogunate or Tokugawa bakufu (徳川幕府) (also known as the Edo bakufu) was a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family until 1868. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... // Events January 1 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland in Scone. ... Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada Tokugawa Hidetada May 2, 1579—March 14, 1632) was the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. ... Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu The Tokugawa clan crest Tokugawa Ieyasu (previously spelled Iyeyasu); 徳川 家康 (January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. ...

Early Life (1604-1617)

Tokugawa Iemitsu was born around 1604 (his exact birthdate is unknown). He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada and grandson of the last great unifier of Japan, the first Tokugawa Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was the first member of the Tokugawa family born after Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun. Events January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 – Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. ... Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada Tokugawa Hidetada May 2, 1579—March 14, 1632) was the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. ... Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu The Tokugawa clan crest Tokugawa Ieyasu (previously spelled Iyeyasu); 徳川 家康 (January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. ...

Not much is known of Iemitsu's early life, even his childhood name is unknown. He had two sisters, Senhime and Masako, and a brother, who would become a rival, Tadanaga. Iemitsu was his father's favorite. Senhime or Princess Sen (千姫) was the eldest daughter of the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada and his wife Oeyo. ... Tokugawa Masako (1607-1678) daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada married to the Emperor Go-Mizunoo in 1620 When the Emperor Go-Mizunoo abdicated in 1629, their daughter Imperial Princess Kazu-no-miya Okiko (Tokugawa Ieyasu’s great granddaughter) became the Meisho Empress (reigned 1629-43) Barocca of Totalwar. ... Tokugawa Tadanaga (徳川忠長: 1606–1633) was a grandson of Ieyasu (the first), son of Hidetada (the second) and younger brother of Iemitsu (the third Tokugawa shogun of Japan). ...

The seeds of Iemitsu's potent xenophobia were perhaps laid by his grandfather and father, Hidetada.

Heir of the Tokugawa (1617-1623)

Iemitsu came of age in 1617 and dropped his childhood name in favor of Tokugawa Iemitsu. He also was installed officially as the heir to the Tokugawa shogunate. The only person to contest this position was his older brother Tokugawa Tadanaga, who felt entitled to the position because of his age. A fierce rivalry began to develop between the brothers. Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed I (1603-1617) to Mustafa I (1617-1623). ... Tokugawa Tadanaga (徳川忠長: 1606–1633) was a grandson of Ieyasu (the first), son of Hidetada (the second) and younger brother of Iemitsu (the third Tokugawa shogun of Japan). ...

Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu: The Hidetada Regency (1623-1632)

In 1623, when Iemitsu was nineteen, Hidetada abdicated the post of shogun in his favor. Hidetada continued to rule as Ogosho, or Retired Shogun. Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ...

In 1626 Shogun Iemitsu and Retired Shogun Hidetada visited Emperor Go-Mizunoo, Empress Masako (Hidetada's brother and Iemitsu's sister), and Imperial Princess Meisho in Kyoto. Shogun Iemitsu made lavish grants of gold and money to the court nobles and the court itself. Yet relations with Go-Mizunoo deteriorated after Iemitsu's and Masako's wet nurse, a commoner, visited the court. Go-Mizunoo, embarrassed by this 'defilement,' abdicated, and Meisho became empress. The shogun was now the uncle of the sitting monarch. Events September 30 - Nurhaci, chieftain of the Jurchens and founder of the Qing Dynasty dies and is succeeded by his son Hong Taiji. ... This article is about the city Kyoto. ...

In 1632 Hidetada died, whereupon Iemitsu assumed real power. Worried that his brother Tadanaga would assassinate him, however, he ruled carefully until his brother's death in 1633. See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ...

Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu (1632-1651)

Hidetada left his advisors, all veteran daimyo, to act as regents for Iemitsu. In 1633, after his brother's death, he dismissed these men. In place of his father's advisors, Iemitsu appointed his childhood friends. With their help Iemitsu created a strong, centralized administration. This made him unpopular with many daimyo, but Iemitsu simply removed his opponents. Such was the power of the early shoguns. Daimyo Matsudaira Katamori visits the residence of a retainer. ... Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ...

Continuing his campaign to strengthen Tokugawa rule, Iemitsu reaffirmed the ban on Christianity by ordering that every family register at a shrine or temple in 1633. Christians were then persecuted, and many fled to the Spanish Philippines or went underground. Instrumentalist concerns motivated Iemitsu rather than spiritual zest: camaraderie among Christians might foster dissent; also, several Kyushu daimyo who opposed Tokugawa rule were Christian. In 1635, Shogun Iemitsu set up the (Sankin Kotai) or Hostage System, wherein the families of daimyo would live in Edo as hostages and daimyo were required to 'attend' on the shogun one out of every two years. Events February 13 - Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. ... Kyushu region, Japan Kyushu (九州 kyÅ«shÅ«) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... Events February 10 - The Académie française in Paris is expanded to become a national academy for the artistic elite. ... Sankin kōtai (参勤交代) was a policy of the shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history. ...

In 1637 a rebellion arose against Iemitsu's anti-Christian policies in Shimabara; it is known as the Shimabara Rebellion. Thousands were killed in the shogunate's suppression of the revolt and countless more were executed afterwards. This was the last serious threat to the shogunate in the first two and a half centuries of Tokugawa rule. Events February 3 - Tulipmania collapses in Netherlands by government order February 15 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor December 17 - Shimabara Rebellion erupts in Japan Pierre de Fermat makes a marginal claim to have proof of what would become known as Fermats last theorem. ... Shimabara Castle Feeding carp (nishikigoi) along the streets of Shimabara Shimabara (島原市; -shi) is a city located in Nagasaki, Japan. ... Ruins of the Hara fortress The Shimabara Rebellion (ja: 島原の乱, shimabara no ran) was an uprising of Japanese peasants, many of them Christians, during the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1637-1638. ...

In 1639 Iemitsu officially closed off Japan from the rest of the world, limiting trade to the Dutch and English merchants ensconced on the island of Deshima in Nagasaki and the proxy trade with China carried out by Ryukyu Kingdom under the control of the Shimazu. Events January 14 - Connecticuts first constitution, the Fundamental Orders, is adopted. ... Look up English, english in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... View of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay Scale model of Dutch trading post on display in Dejima (2003) Edo-era boundaries of Dejima island (outlined in red) within the modern city of Nagasaki. ... Nagasaki (Japanese: 長崎市, Nagasaki-shi  , long peninsula) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. ... The Ryukyu Islands (琉球列島 Ryūkyū-rettō) are an island group, the southern portion belonging to Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and the northern part belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. ... Grave of Satsuma clan at Mount Koya. ...

In 1643 Empress Meisho abdicated the throne. She was succeeded by her younger half-brother (Go-Mizunoo's son by a consort) Emperor Go-Komyo, who disliked the shogunate for its violent and barbaric ways. He repeatedly made insulting comments about Iemitsu and his eldest and heir, Tokugawa Ietsuna. // Events January 21 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga February 6 - Abel Tasman discovers the Fiji islands. ... Emperor Go-Kōmyō (後光明天皇) (April 20, 1633 - October 30, 1654) was the 110th imperial ruler of Japan. ... Tokugawa Ietsuna (徳川 家綱, 1641-1680) was the fourth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. ...

In 1651 Shogun Iemitsu died at the age of 47, being the first Tokugawa shogun whose reign ended with death and not abdication. He was succeeded by his eldest son and heir, Tokugawa Ietsuna. // Events January 1 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland in Scone. ...