Tsunenari Tokugawa

Tsunenari Tokugawa (徳川 恒孝) is the former 18th generation head of the Tokugawa clan. He is the son of Ichirō Matsudaira and Toyoko Tokugawa. His great-grandfather was the famed Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu and his paternal great-grandfather was Tokugawa Iesato. As a great-grandson of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the last lord of Satsuma Domain, he is also a second cousin of the former Emperor, Akihito.

Tsunenari was active for many years in the shipping company Nippon Yūsen, retiring in June, 2002, and is the head of the nonprofit Tokugawa Foundation. The nonprofit aims to preserve the remaining cultural treasures of the Tokugawa family, many of which were lost in the Meiji Restoration and World War II U.S. bombings. In 2007, Tsunenari published a book entitled Edo no idenshi (江戸の遺伝子), released in English in 2009 as The Edo Inheritance, which seeks to counter the common belief among Japanese that the Edo period (throughout which members of his Tokugawa clan ruled Japan as shōguns) was like a Dark Age, when Japan, cut off from the world, fell behind. On the contrary, he argues, the roughly 250 years of peace and relative prosperity saw great economic reforms, the growth of a sophisticated urban culture, and the development of the most urbanized society on the planet.

Tokugawa stepped down from being the head of the Tokugawa clan on 1 January 2023. His son, author and translator Iehiro Tokugawa, took over the role.

Family

 * Paternal Grandfather: Tsuneo Matsudaira
 * Maternal Grandfather (Paternal eighth cousin four times removed): Iemasa Tokugawa
 * Father: Ichirō Matsudaira
 * Mother: Toyoko Tokugawa
 * Aunt: Setsuko, Princess Chichibu
 * Wife: Sachiko Terashima
 * Son: Iehiro Tokugawa
 * Grandcousin: Nagahisa Kuroda,Munefusa Tokugawa,Akihito, Masahito, Prince Hitachi, Yoshitomo Tokugawa

Patrilineal descent
Tokugawa's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.

The existence of a verifiable link between the Nitta clan and the Tokugawa/Matsudaira clan remains somewhat in dispute.


 * 1) Descent prior to Keitai is unclear to modern historians, but traditionally traced back patrilineally to Emperor Jimmu
 * 2) Emperor Keitai, ca. 450–534
 * 3) Emperor Kinmei, 509–571
 * 4) Emperor Bidatsu, 538–585
 * 5) Prince Oshisaka, ca. 556–???
 * 6) Emperor Jomei, 593–641
 * 7) Emperor Tenji, 626–671
 * 8) Prince Shiki, ????–716
 * 9) Emperor Kōnin, 709–786
 * 10) Emperor Kanmu, 737–806
 * 11) Emperor Saga, 786–842
 * 12) Emperor Ninmyō, 810–850
 * 13) Emperor Montoku 826–858
 * 14) Emperor Seiwa, 850–881
 * 15) Prince Sadazumi, 873–916
 * 16) Minamoto no Tsunemoto, 894–961
 * 17) Minamoto no Mitsunaka, 912–997
 * 18) Minamoto no Yorinobu, 968–1048
 * 19) Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, 988–1075
 * 20) Minamoto no Yoshiie, 1039–1106
 * 21) Minamoto no Yoshikuni, 1091–1155
 * 22) Minamoto no Yoshishige, 1135–1202
 * 23) Nitta Yoshikane, 1139–1206
 * 24) Nitta Yoshifusa, 1162–1195
 * 25) Nitta Masayoshi, 1187–1257
 * 26) Nitta Masauji, 1208–1271
 * 27) Nitta Motouji, 1253–1324
 * 28) Nitta Tomouji, 1274–1318
 * 29) Nitta Yoshisada, 1301–1338
 * 30) Nitta Yoshimune, 1331?–1368
 * 31) Tokugawa Chikasue?, ????–???? (speculated)
 * 32) Tokugawa Arichika, ????–????
 * 33) Matsudaira Chikauji, d. 1393?
 * 34) Matsudaira Yasuchika, ????–14??
 * 35) Matsudaira Nobumitsu, c. 1404–1488/89?
 * 36) Matsudaira Chikatada, 1430s–1501
 * 37) Masudaira Nagachika, 1473–1544
 * 38) Matsudaira Nobutada, 1490–1531
 * 39) Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, 1511–1536
 * 40) Matsudaira Hirotada, 1526–1549
 * 41) Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1st Tokugawa shōgun (1543–1616)
 * 42) Tokugawa Yorifusa, 1st daimyō of Mito (1603–1661)
 * 43) Matsudaira Yorishige, 1st daimyō of Takamatsu (1622–1695)
 * 44) Matsudaira Yoriyuki (1661–1687)
 * 45) Matsudaira Yoritoyo, 3rd daimyō of Takamatsu (1680–1735)
 * 46) Tokugawa Munetaka, 4th daimyō of Mito (1705–1730)
 * 47) Tokugawa Munemoto, 5th daimyō of Mito (1728–1766)
 * 48) Tokugawa Harumori, 6th daimyō of Mito (1751–1805)
 * 49) Matsudaira Yoshinari, 9th daimyō of Takasu (1776–1832)
 * 50) Matsudaira Yoshitatsu, 10th daimyō of Takasu (1800–1862)
 * 51) Matsudaira Katamori, 9th daimyō of Aizu (1836–1893)
 * 52) Tsuneo Matsudaira (1877–1949)
 * 53) Ichirō Matsudaira (1907–1992)
 * 54) Tsunenari Tokugawa (born 1940)