Yodo-dono

Yodo-dono (淀殿) or Yodogimi (淀君) (1569 – June 4, 1615), also known as Lady Chacha (茶々), was a Japanese historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She was the concubine and the second wife of Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As the mother of his son and successor Hideyori, she acted as Hideyori's guardian in the restoration of the Toyotomi clan after the fall of the Council of Five Elders, and alongside her son, led the last anti-Tokugawa shogunate resistance in the siege of Osaka.

She was the daughter of Oichi and sister of Ohatsu and Oeyo. When her two younger sisters became prominent members linked to the Tokugawa clan, Oichi's three daughters were vital to maintaining a diplomatic relationship between the two most powerful clans of the time, Toyotomi and Tokugawa. Her sister, Oeyo, was the wife of the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, and matriarch of the successive shoguns' lineage, thus receiving the political title Omidaidokoro.

Due to the attempt to exalt the Tokugawa Shogunate, Yodo-dono was frequently portrayed as a "wicked and wanton" woman who planned the Toyotomis' death. After the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, she took the tonsure, becoming a Buddhist nun and taking the name Daikōin (大広院). She was the founder of the temple Yogen-in (養源院).

Her time period being that of large turmoil and overhaul, Yodo-dono had an interest toward both politics and administration. The great wealth and changing fortunes of her family affected Yodo-dono's life as well. Surviving record books from luxury goods merchants provide insight into patterns of patronage and taste amongst the privileged class of women like Yodo-dono and her sisters.

Genealogy
Yodo-dono, also called Chacha (茶々) in her youth, was the eldest of three daughters of the Sengoku period daimyō Azai Nagamasa. Her mother, Oichi was the younger sister of Oda Nobunaga.

After Nagamasa's death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the adoptive father and protector of Chacha. Her status changed when she became his concubine, and again when she became the mother of his heir.

Lady Okurakyo no tsubone (Ono Harunaga's mother), Lady Aeba no tsubone (the second daughter of her grandaunt, Kaitsu-dono), and Otsubone (a wife of Sawaki Yoshiyuki and brother of Maeda Toshiie) were Chacha's wet nurses.

Yodo-dono's middle sister, Ohatsu, was the wife of Kyōgoku Takatsugu and the mother of Kyōgoku Tadataka.

Yodo-dono's youngest sister, Oeyo, also known as Ogō, was the principal wife of Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada and the mother of his successor Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Early years
In 1570, Chacha's father, Nagamasa, broke his alliance with Oda Nobunaga and there was a three-year period of fighting until 1573 when Nobunaga's army surrounded Nagamasa at Odani Castle. Nobunaga, however, requested the safe return of his sister, Oichi. Chacha, along with her mother and her two sisters, left the castle with her. Odani castle fell, and amongst those who died were Nagamasa and Manpukumaru, Chacha's only brother.

Nobunaga's death in 1582 caused open hostilities between Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi over the issue of succession. Katsuie's forces were defeated at the Battle of Shizugatake, and he was forced to retreat to Kitanosho castle. With Hideyoshi's army laying siege to his home, Katsuie set the castle ablaze; he and Oichi perished in it.

Before Oichi died, she passed Chacha, Oeyo, and Ohatsu to the care and protection of Hideyoshi. She was skilled with Waka poetry and was regarded as the highest ranked princess of the Azai family. She treated her sisters and other relatives well though it is said that she was also a passionate speaker regarding the Toyotomi's future.

Concubine of Hideyoshi
In 1588, Yodogimi became pregnant. Hideyoshi, who did not yet have a son, was greatly pleased. Hideyoshi's younger brother Toyotomi Hidenaga remodeled the Yodo castle in March 1589. After this, Hideyoshi gave Yodo castle to Chacha. Hideyoshi's wife Nene was said to have been unable to conceive, and thus Lady Yodo inherited many of her privileges. She had two sons with Hideyoshi, Tsurumatsu (d. 1591) and Hideyori (b.1593), who became Hideyoshi's designated successor. After giving birth to Hideyori, she gave the important posts of guarding him to Okurakyo no Tsubone and Aeba no Tsubone.

In 1594, the family moved to Fushimi Castle, but tragedy fell when Hideyoshi died in 1598. As a result, the Toyotomi clan lost much of its influence and importance. Yodo-dono founded the temple Yogen-in (養源院) in memory of her father Azai Nagamasa and her mother Oichi, and she contributed to the restoration of temples in Koya-san Mountain and others. Yodo-dono then moved to Osaka Castle with her son Hideyori and plotted the restoration of the Toyotomi clan. She intervened in politics as Hideyori's guardian and became the de facto head of Osaka Castle.

Sekigahara Campaign (1600)
After the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, Hideyori became the successor of Hideyoshi and Yodo-dono became the mother of paramount. Hideyori, still a child, could not manage the retainer, and the conflict between front generals and administrative staff became serious. Tokugawa Ieyasu stirred up the conflicts of both parties and supported the front generals.

In 1600, news spread that Ishida Mitsunari, one of the former Five Commissioners, along with Otani Yoshitsugu, was planning a rebellion against Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was leading an expedition toward Aizu. In response to this, Yodo-dono and the three commissioners, Masuda Nagamori, Nagatsuka Tadashi, and Maeda Gensaku, urgently sent a letter to Ieyasu to hasten his journey to Kyoto to quell the crisis.

Subsequently, when Mori Terumoto entered Osaka Castle as the overall commander of the Ishida faction (Western Army) and the three commissioners also aligned with this decision, Yodo-dono maintained a stance of vigilance on behalf of the Toyotomi family. She did not allow actions such as issuing the warrant of approval for Hideyori, which the Ishida side had hoped for, or Hideyori's deployment. Although she acknowledged the movements of the Ishida faction, she refrained from active participation.

Ieyasu used the letters from Yodo-dono and others as evidence to convince other feudal lords that Ishida and Otani's actions constituted a rebellion. Later, the three commissioners signed the "Internal Council Oath" condemning Ieyasu, but the absence of a document to retract the earlier letter from Yodo-dono also compelled Ieyasu to maintain the noble cause "for the sake of Hideyori."

After the victory of the Tokugawa side (Eastern Army) in the Battle of Sekigahara on September 15, Ieyasu sent Ono Harunaga to Osaka Castle to express his belief that Yodo-dono and Hideyori were not involved with the Western Army. In response, Yodo-dono expressed her gratitude. Following Mori Terumoto's withdrawal from Osaka Castle, Ieyasu entered the castle. When Yodo-dono entertained Ieyasu and offered her sake cup, she insisted that he pass it on to Hideyori. Ieyasu publicly declared himself as Hideyori's surrogate father.

Even though Yodo-dono did not actively participate in the Battle of Sekigahara it is said that more than 2,000 Toyotomi vassals participated in the battle and relations between Tokugawa-Toyotomi declined. Ieyasu distributed the Toyotomi family area as a prize for Sekigahara, and the Toyotomi family had less control. After the Battle of Sekigahara, she confronted Ieyasu who started to construct a military government in Edo, and refused his requirement for Hideyori to show his vassalage and go to the capital, Kyoto City.

In 1601, Yodo-dono's "depression" intensified, and she suffered from chest pains, eating disorders, and headaches. Gensaku Makunaose prescribed medicine for her as documented in "Gensakudo Sanpoyakuroku".

Formation of the Tokugawa Shogunate
In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu was named as Shogun by the emperor, Yodo-dono began to actively resist the Tokugawa. Hideyori still kept Osaka castle and married with Princess Senhime, the daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada who was the son of Ieyasu, there was no room for two rulers. Even though having secured the Osaka castle and inherited huge amount of property from Hideyoshi, former retainers of Hideyori now supported Edo Shogunate and Hideyori's position became quite weak.

In 1605, on May 8, Ieyasu, through the mediation of Kodai-in (Nene), demanded that Hideyori demonstrate his allegiance to the Tokugawa clan by paying homage. Although Yodo-dono, in her effort to preserve the Toyotomi clan's status, expressed her regret despite territorial reductions, she declined the meeting. However, Ieyasu sent his sixth son, Matsudaira Tadatoki, to Osaka, seeking reconciliation and harmony.

In 1611, Hideyori finally left Osaka, meeting with Ieyasu for two hours at Nijō Castle. Ieyasu was surprised by Hideyori's behavior, contrary to popular belief that the boy was just "useless". This belief had been spread by Katagiri Katsumoto, Hideyori's personal guardian since 1599 assigned by Ieyasu, and who had the intention of dissuading any aggression against the heir.

Incident of Hoko-ji Bell
In 1614, the Toyotomi clan rebuilt Osaka Castle. At the same time, the head of the clan sponsored the rebuilding of Hōkō-ji in Kyoto. These temple renovations included the casting of a great bronze bell, with inscriptions that read "May the state be peaceful and prosperous" (国家安康 kokka ankō), and "May noble lord and servants be rich and cheerful" (君臣豊楽 kunshin hōraku). The shogunate interpreted "kokka ankō" (国家安康) as shattering Ieyasu's name (家康) to curse him, and also interpreted "kunshin hōraku" (君臣豊楽) to mean "Toyotomi's force (豊臣) will rise again," which meant treachery against the shogunate. Tensions began to grow between the Tokugawa and the Toyotomi clans, and only increased when Toyotomi began to gather a force of rōnin and enemies of the shogunate in Osaka. Ieyasu, despite having passed the title of Shōgun to his son in 1605, nevertheless maintained significant influence.

After the Hoko-ji Temple Bell Incident, Yodo-dono sent Lady Okurakyo, Lady Aeba and Katagiri Katsumoto to Sunpu to see Tokugawa Ieyasu. In this meeting, Ieyasu hatched a plot to induce a split among the people of the Toyotomi family. On one hand, Ieyasu proposed, humbly, a generous demand towards Lady Okurakyo. On the other hand, Ieyasu made severe demands on Katagiri Katsumoto, who represented the moderates and had been separately asking Ieyasu to save the Toyotomi family.

Katagiri Katsumoto overthrow
Despite Katagiri Katsumoto's attempts to mediate the situation, Ieyasu found the ideal pretext to take a belligerent attitude against Yodo-dono and Hideyori. The situation worsened in September of that year, when the news reached Edo that a large number of rōnin were grouping in Osaka at the invitation of Hideyori. Katsumoto proposed that Yodo-dono be sent to Edo as a hostage with the desire to avoid hostilities; she either flatly refused, or ultimately accepted but was denied by Hideyori. Suspecting Katsumoto of trying to betray the Toyotomi clan, Yodo-dono finally banished him, Oda Urakusai, and several other servants accused of treason from Osaka castle. Following their banishment they entered the service of the Tokugawa clan and any possibility of reaching an agreement with the shogunate was dissolved. This led to the beginning of the siege of Osaka.

Siege of Osaka


Tokugawa Ieyasu, who seized control from Hideyori after the death of Hideyoshi, now viewed Hideyori as an obstacle to his unification of Japan. In 1614, Ieyasu laid siege to Osaka Castle. Yodo-dono defended the castle with her son, actively participating in the siege. When the Tokugawa army bombed her room and killed two of her maids, Yodo-dono emerged from her mansion with a group of armed and armored women. Later she told the warriors to make a peace treaty. She met with Lady Acha, who was accompanied by Honda Masazumi and Ohatsu (Yodo-dono's younger sister); the peace treaty was accepted by both sides.

However, in 1615, Ieyasu broke the truce and once again attacked Osaka Castle. Subsequently, Yodo-dono and her son Hideyori committed suicide in the flames of Osaka castle, ending the Toyotomi legacy. There are no eyewitness accounts or records detailing her final moments, and her body was never found. This has given rise to a multitude of legends and theories about what happened to her after the fall of the Toyotomi clan. Some legends suggest that Yodo-dono and Hideyori managed to escape and survive. Speculations about her escape route vary, with some claiming she sought refuge with the Shimazu clan in Satsuma Province, while others suggest she may have fled as far as Utsunomiya in Ueno Province.

Family

 * Father: Azai Nagamasa (1545-1573)
 * Mother: Oichi (1547-1583)
 * Adopted mother: Nene (d. 1624)
 * Husband: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) (Hideyoshi also is her adopted father)
 * Sons:
 * Toyotomi Tsurumatsu (1589–1591)
 * Toyotomi Hideyori (1593-1615)
 * Adopted Daughter:
 * Toyotomi Sadako (1592–1658), daughter of Oeyo later married Kujō Yukiie

Cultural references
A fictional character based on Yodo-dono appears in James Clavell's Shōgun. This contrived protagonist is Lady Ochiba, who dislikes Toranaga (Tokugawa Ieyasu) because he presumably suspected her son was not fathered by the Taikō (Toyotomi Hideyoshi). However, she admires and trusts the Taikō's widow, Yodoko (Nene), who urges both her and Toranaga to marry so that Japan would remain united, and when the heir, Yaemon (Toyotomi Hideyori) comes of age, he can safely take control. In James Clavell's later novels it is revealed that, just as in real history, Toranaga eventually besieged Ochiba and Yaemon in their castle, prompting them to commit suicide.

In the 2011 Taiga drama, Gō: Hime-tachi no Sengoku, Cha-cha was portrayed by Japanese actress Rie Miyazawa.

In board games, she appears as one of the characters of the expansion Rising Sun of the card game Samurai Sword by Emiliano Sciarra.