When was Tokugawa Ieyasu born?

On the 26th day of the 12th month of Tenbun 11 at Okazaki Castle in Mikawa, which falls in January 1543 on the Western calendar.

When did the Edo shogunate begin?

In 1603, when Ieyasu was appointed shogun and set up his government in Edo.

Tokugawa Ieyasu: from hostage to shogun

He grew up as a hostage of another clan and went on to found the Edo shogunate, which lasted more than 260 years. Here is his life, based on Japanese reference dictionaries.

Tenbun 11, 12th month, 26th day (January 1543) Born at Okazaki Castle, Mikawa
c.1549–1560 Hostage of the Imagawa clan at Sunpu
1560 After Okehazama, returns to Okazaki and becomes independent
1561 Makes peace with Oda Nobunaga
1572 Defeated by Takeda Shingen at Mikatagahara
1590 Moves to Edo after the Odawara campaign
1600 Wins at Sekigahara
1603 Appointed shogun
1605 Hands the title to his son Hidetada, ruling on as retired shogun
1614 Winter Siege of Osaka · 1615 Summer Siege (the Toyotomi clan falls)
1616 Dies at Sunpu Castle, aged 75 by the traditional count

From hostage to independence

As a child Ieyasu lived at Sunpu as a hostage of the Imagawa clan. When Imagawa Yoshimoto was killed at Okehazama in 1560, he returned to Okazaki and became independent, making peace with Oda Nobunaga in 1561.

Defeat, then Edo

He was badly beaten by Takeda Shingen at Mikatagahara in 1572. In 1590, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Odawara campaign, he moved east and entered Edo, one of the beginnings of today’s Tokyo.

Sekigahara and the shogunate

He won at Sekigahara in 1600 and became shogun in 1603, founding the shogunate in Edo. He passed the title to Hidetada in 1605 but kept ruling, destroyed the Toyotomi clan in the sieges of Osaka in 1614 and 1615, and died at Sunpu Castle in 1616.

Sources: Nipponica, Sekai Daihyakka Jiten, Britannica Japan, Yamakawa Japanese History Dictionary, Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, Nihon Jinmei Daijiten (via Kotobank). The conversion to January 1543 is ours.

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