Tokugawa Tadanaga

Japanese: 徳川忠長 - とくがわ・ただなが

Year of death: December 6, 10 of Kan'ei (January 5, 1634)
Year of birth: May 7, 1606 (June 12, 1606)
Lord of Suruga Province's Sunpu Domain (Shizuoka City) in the early Edo period. Third son of the second Tokugawa Shogun Hidetada. Younger brother of the third Shogun Iemitsu. His mother was Hidetada's wife, Sugen'in (Oeyo). Born in Edo Castle in 1606 (Keicho 11). Childhood name Kunimatsu. Hidetada and his wife favored the intelligent Tadanaga, and there were rumors that he would become the next Shogun. Feeling a sense of crisis, Iemitsu's wet nurse, Kasuga no Tsubone, appealed to Ieyasu in Sunpu, and Ieyasu instructed Iemitsu to be the heir. In 1618 (Genna 4), he was given Kai Province as his territory. In the same year, he came of age and was appointed as a councilor with the rank of Junior Fourth Rank. In 1624 (Kan'ei 1), he became Lord of Sunpu Domain and was given a fief of 550,000 koku in Suruga and Totomi Provinces. In August of the third year, he was appointed as a provisional Dainagon with the rank of Junior Second Rank, and was known to the world as the Suruga Dainagon. Tadanaga's behavior began to become unruly around the year 5, and in the year 8, he began to exhibit unusual behavior, such as killing his retainers and feeding a young girl who served him to Chinese dogs. It was rumored that Tadanaga was also behind the frequent street murders that occurred in Edo. At the end of March, the attendant chief retainer Asakura Nobumasa appealed for seppuku, and Hidetada had Tadanaga live in seclusion in Kaitani Village, the territory of the attendant chief retainer Torii Tadafusa. In September of the year 10, when Iemitsu, who had been ruling the country since Hidetada's death in January of the previous year, fell seriously ill, rumors spread among the public that the feudal lords who supported Tadanaga were planning a rebellion. Feeling a sense of crisis, Iemitsu moved Tadanaga to Takasaki, the territory of Ando Shigenaga, after he recovered from his illness, and dispatched Abe Shigetsugu to order him to commit suicide. The place of his suicide was Daishinji Temple in Takasaki. <References> Yamamoto Hirofumi, "Kan'ei Era"

(Hirofumi Yamamoto)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：寛永10.12.6(1634.1.5)
生年：慶長11.5.7(1606.6.12)
江戸前期の駿河国駿府藩(静岡市)藩主。徳川2代将軍秀忠の3男。3代将軍家光の弟。母は秀忠の正室崇源院(於江与)。慶長11(1606)年江戸城に生まれる。童名国松。秀忠夫妻が才智にめぐまれた忠長を寵愛したため,次期将軍になるとの風評があり,危機感をいだいた家光の乳母春日局は,駿府の家康に嘆願し,家康の指示で家光が世子と決定した。元和4(1618)年甲斐国を領地として与えられた。同6年元服し,従四位下参議に叙任。寛永1(1624)年駿府藩主となり,駿河,遠江両国55万石を領した。3年8月には従二位権大納言に叙任されたので,世に駿河大納言と称された。5年ごろから忠長の行動が荒れ,8年に入ると,家臣を手討ちにしたり,仕えていた少女を唐犬に食わせたりという異常な行動が目立ち始め,江戸で頻発していた辻斬りも忠長の仕業であると噂された。3月末,付家老朝倉宣正の切腹を上訴したことから,秀忠は忠長を付家老鳥居忠房の領地甲斐谷村に蟄居させた。10年9月,前年1月の秀忠の死後親政を行っていた家光が重病に陥ると,世間には忠長与党の大名が反乱を起こそうとしているという噂が飛び交った。ために危機感をいだいた家光は,病気回復後,忠長を安藤重長の領地上野高崎に移し,阿部重次を派遣して自害を命じた。自害の場所は高崎の大進寺。<参考文献>山本博文『寛永時代』

(山本博文)

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