Mitsukuni is very popular among Japanese people because he was depicted as a hero in a TV drama, Mito Komon. He was the lord of the Mito clan. Komon is his position’s name in the Imperial Court.
Mitsukuni was the third son of Yorifusa Tokugawa. Yorifusa was the eleventh son of Ieyasu Tokugawa, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Mitsukuni's mother was Ohisa. She was a mistress of Yorifusa. She also gave birth to Yorishige in 1622.
Yorifsa's second son, Kamemaru, passed away when he was three years old. His mother was not Ohisa.
Yorifusa was not married to anybody, but he had many mistresses and had 26 children.
There were three important branches in the Tokugawa family: the Owari clan, the Kii clan and the Mito clan. Yorifusa was the first lord of the Mito clan. Yorifusa's older brothers, Yoshinao governed the Owari clan while Yorinobu governed the Kii clan.
When Ohisa was pregnant with Yorishige, Yorifusa's older brothers didn't have a child. To keep the peace between the two brothers, Yorifusa ordered Ohisa to kill the baby.
However, Ieyasu's mistress Eishoin helped Ohisa and her baby. Eishoin became the adoptive mother of Yorishige. He was raised by a noble in Kyoto.
When Ohisa was pregnant with Mitsukuni, Yorifusa ordered to kill the baby without showing clear reasons.
Yorifusa's vassal, Miki and his wife helped Ohisa. She secretly delivered Mitsukuni. Miki's family raised Mitsukuni in Mito.
These days, some scholars believed that Yorifusa’s order was not to kill the baby, but to protect the baby from conflicts between mistresses.
As a matter of fact, Miki's wife, Musa was a nanny of Yorifusa.
Musa used to serve the Empress of the Goyozei Emperor. Musa was a highly educated woman.
Her sister was a nanny of Yorifusa, but she passed away when Yorifusa was young.
Yoriusa missed her so much. Ieyasu explained the situation to the Goyozei Emperor. Then Musa came to Sumpu to take care of Yorifusa. Musa looked like her sister. Yorifusa became attached to Musa.
In short, Yorifusa asked his nanny to take care of his baby.
photo: Higo Hosokawa Garden