Tsukiyama-dono (Sena Hime) (2/2)What was the final moment of Tokugawa Ieyasu's legal wife?

According to Ieyasu's wishes, his wife, Tsukiyama-dono, was informed of the punishment, and on August 29th, Tsukiyama-dono returned to the Tokugawa family's residence in Koyabu Village (near present-day Tomitsuka, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu City) near Lake Sanaru in Shikichi District, Totomi Province. Fearing for his future, Tokinaka Okamoto and Shigemasa Nonaka forced him to commit suicide. However, Tsukiyama-dono refused to commit suicide, so he was beheaded and murdered at their own discretion. Yoshifusa Ishikawa acted as the prosecutor, and the head was delivered to Nobunaga at Azuchi Castle. Nobuyasu committed suicide at Futamata Castle on September 15th.

Tsukiyama-dono's body was buried at Takamatsuyama Sairai Zen-in Temple in Hirosawa, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu City. The neck mound was moved to Yudenji Temple in Okazaki City, and later to Yabashira Shrine around the Tenpo era. Her Buddhist name is Sairaiin Tonomasa Iwa Hidesada Daionee.

Various theories surrounding the Nobuyasu suicide incident

The rift between Nobuyasu and Tokuhime seems to have been true, as recorded in Matsudaira Ietada's ``Ietada Diary.'' However, it is true that there remains some doubt as to whether Nobunaga would try to kill his son-in-law, Nobuyasu, just because of a disagreement or misbehavior. On the other hand, during this period, Nobunaga enjoyed sumo wrestling and watching kemari, and there is no indication that he forced such a tense relationship on his ally Ieyasu.
It is also a mystery why Ieyasu gave 2,000 koku of land to Tokuhime, who is said to have started the incident, after the establishment of the Edo Shogunate.

Furthermore, even though Tsukiyama-dono was Ieyasu's legal wife, I doubt that she had the power to engage in diplomacy with the Takeda clan behind the scenes. Moreover, it is said that Nobunaga only mentioned Nobuyasu's punishment and said nothing about Tsukiyama-dono. Despite this, Ieyasu killed Tsukiyama-dono in connivance with him, and the reality is that there is something puzzling about this. Furthermore, Tadatsugu Sakai continued to hold the position of a senior vassal of the Tokugawa family, and three years later, when Shinano was conquered, he became the supreme leader of the new territory.
In the original work, the part that Ietada wrote in his diary about ``a person with whom Ieyasu had such a quarrel that he intervened'' was corrupted and read ``I'm fixing things in the middle of the day.'' There is also a theory that Nobuyasu had a falling out with ``Gokamon'' (Yasutada Matsudaira, Toshikatsu Hisamatsu, Yasumoto Matsudaira) rather than ``Goshinzo'' (Tokuhime).

There is also a possibility that it is ``Gozen-sama'' (=Tsukiyama-dono), or ``Gozen-sama'', that is, Odai, Ieyasu's birth mother. As for Odai, his older brother Nobumoto Mizuno was killed in December 1575 by Kazumasa Ishikawa, who obeyed Nobunaga's orders and followed Ieyasu's wishes, and Kazumasa was Nobuyasu's guardian. Because of this, there is a possibility that his relationship with Nobuyasu had deteriorated. Kazumasa ran away from the Tokugawa family in later years. However, since Nobuyasu's name comes before ``go'', some believe that the theories of ``Gokamon'' and ``Gozen-sama'' are unreasonable, and the truth remains in the dark.

There is a theory that the tomb of Nobuyasu that Ieyasu built was a simple one and was never even reburied, but Ieyasu later built Kiyotaki-dera Temple in Hamamatsu for Nobuyasu. It was designated as Nobuyasu's family temple, and a mausoleum, memorial hall, burial chamber, hojo, fudo-do hall, Sanmon gate, bell tower, etc. were constructed. It was named ``Shinkozan Choan-in Kiyotaki-dera''. Additionally, graves have been erected in various locations.

Father-son discord theory

In recent years, a theory has emerged that the cause was not because Ieyasu was requested by Nobunaga, but because of the conflict between Ieyasu and Nobuyasu. In "Azuchi Nikki" (the most ancient and reliable of the "Nobunaga Koki" books) and "Todaiki", Nobunaga did not say, "Kill Nobuyasu," but instead gave consideration to the internal situation of the Tokugawa family. He answered, ``Do what Ieyasu wants.''

In other words, Ieyasu buried Tsukiyama-dono and Nobuyasu due to his own circumstances. Furthermore, the reason for Nobuyasu's death was ``rebelliousness'' (rebellion), and it can be interpreted that a problem arose between Ieyasu and Nobuyasu, so Ieyasu sent Tadatsugu to consult Nobunaga, the father of his wife.

Furthermore, according to the "Ietada Diary", on September 22, 1578, the year before the incident, Ieyasu told the Mikawa Province that it was no longer necessary to invade Okazaki (where Nobuyasu was located). It is recorded that instructions were issued.
Furthermore, when Ieyasu expelled Nobuyasu from Okazaki Castle, he forbade communication between Nobuyasu and the Okazaki clan, solidified Okazaki Castle with his own hatamoto, and had Ietada and the Okazaki clan issue a letter of initiation vowing not to tip off Nobuyasu. , indicating that there was a serious conflict between Ieyasu and Nobuyasu.

Furthermore, in the Daisankawashi, Ieyasu's child-rearing theory is stated as follows: ``When he was young, Nobuyasu raised his parents thinking that all he had to do was to raise them safely. As a result, the relationship between father and son became strained, leading to tragedy.'' It is also written in ``Todaiki'' that Nobuyasu not only disobeyed Ieyasu's orders, but also disrespected Nobunaga and was seen by his parents and retainers. It is said that it was limited, which suggests that the cause was a rift between parent and child due to Nobuyasu's personality.

Okazaki Castle

Okazaki Castle was a castle located in the Okazaki domain of Mikawa Province (present-day Kousei-cho, Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture), and was also the birthplace of Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is also called Ryujo.

From the Sengoku period to the Azuchi-Momoyama period, it was the castle of the Matsudaira clan, and during the Edo period, it was the domain office of the Okazaki clan. Okazaki Castle was originally written as "Okazaki Castle". In addition, the Mikawa Province Famous Places Zue describes that ``Okazaki has been a famous place since Kyoroku (1528 (1st year of Kyoroku) to 1531 (4th year of Kyoroku)), and before that it was known as Sugogo.'' I am.

In March 1959, the castle tower was reconstructed. In March 2010, the east corner turret was rebuilt, and it is a two-story wooden structure called a watchtower-style double turret. The roof is made of real tiles.

On May 24, 2022 (Reiwa 4), the city renewed the exhibition at Okazaki Castle in time for the broadcast of the 2023 taiga drama ``What's Wrong with Ieyasu?'' Renovation work began on June 16 of the same year, renovating the exhibits on the 1st to 4th floors and the observation deck on the 5th floor, painting the exterior walls, adding more toilets, and replacing the lighting with LED lights.

Reopening on January 21, 2023. The Mikawa Samurai Yakata Ieyasu Pavilion, which was also renovated to coincide with the broadcast of the Taiga Drama, has been renovated as the ``What to do with Ieyasu Okazaki Taiga Drama Pavilion.''