Tokugawa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tokugawa (Shinjitai (modern Japanese) spelling: 徳川; Kyūjitai (historical Japanese) spelling: 德川) is a surname in Japan. It originated with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who took the surname in 1567. He and his fourteen successors were shoguns during the Edo period of Japanese history. Some of his sons also bore the Tokugawa surname, and three cadet branches of his line, the Owari, Kii, and Mito Tokugawa, continued as daimyo through the Edo period. Descendants of Ieyasu who were not permitted to take the Tokugawa name normally bore the Matsudaira surname.

There is a family currently in the United States (Southern California) that bears the name Tokugawa — Tokugawa Ieyzazel-Jaysan (Jayson). His mother, because of mixed marriage bore the name Matsudaira instead of being allowed to continue with the Tokugawa surname.

See Tokugawa clan for details.

Tokugawa also refers to:

• the Edo period, called Tokugawa era or Tokugawa period in some books
• the Tokugawa shogunate