Can you give some infos about Motonari's wives and concubines? Also, Ieyasu's wives and concubines too?
All of the women Motonari was involved with are fairly obscure, so there isn’t much on them as they’re only mentioned briefly in texts about Motonari, but here’s what we have for them:
Myokyu (妙玖 - almost definitely a posthumous name) was Motonari’s first wife. She is the mother of Mori Takamoto, Mori Motoharu, Kobayakawa Takakage and two daughters. She was born in 1499 and the daughter of a man named Kikkawa Kunitsune and was married to Motonari in 1522 to secure good relations with the Kikkawa. Despite the political reasons behind their marriage, Myokyu is believed to be Motonari’s favorite and loved dearly by her children and after her death her family grieved deeply over her (Motonari seems to have written letters which state things along the lines of “If only Myokyu were here” or “If only Myokyu were alive”, etc). She died in the autumn of 1545 at Koriyama Castle at the age of either 46 or 47. It appears that as long as she was alive, Motonari took no concubines.
Nomi-no-Kata (乃美大方 - real name unknown) was the second woman Motonari was involved with, but exactly how is uncertain. She is either his concubine or second wife following the death of Myokyu. Not much is known about her other than she might have been a daughter of the Kobayakawa clan. She mothered Motonari’s 4th, 5th, and 6th sons and died in 1601.
Naka-no-maru (中の丸 - real name unknown) is another woman whose actual relationship to Motonari is unknown, as if she was a wife or a concubine is unknown. The time of which she joined the Mori household is unknown as well. She may or may not have bore him one son, but she allegedly saw over Terumoto’s education and continued to support him after Motonari’s death.
The final concubine/wife is an unnamed woman who was a daughter of the Miyoshi clan. Other than that she gave Motonari his other three sons, nothing else is known about her.
As for Ieyasu, he had some 19 wives/concubines so we won’t go into all of them. Most of them he became involved with after he became Shogun and otherwise aren’t incredibly noteworthy, so we’ll just discuss the famous ones here:
Senahime (瀬名姫), also called Lady Tsukiyama (築山殿 - “Tsukiyama-dono”) was Ieyasu’s first wife, the mother of Matsudaira Nobuyasu and Kamehime, and the niece of Imagawa Yoshimoto. She is believed to have married Ieyasu for political purposes around the year 1557. Tales often depict her as an arrogant, eccentric, selfish, and jealous woman who never concerned herself with politics or the warring states, and was only set on taking care of herself. She was allegedly very devoted to Ieyasu, but was also possessive of him and intent on being the only recipient of his affections. This was apparently so bad that Ieyasu had affairs behind her back instead of taking official concubines because he feared provoking her wrath. Senahime’s son, Nobuyasu, would eventually marry a daughter of Oda Nobunaga’s, whom we know as Tokuhime. Senahime showed disfavor towards Tokuhime upon learning she failed to bear children for Nobuyasu, and so she conspired to have her replaced with a woman from the Takeda. Getting wind of this, Tokuhime sent a letter to her father saying that Ieyasu’s wife was conspiring with the Takeda, and Nobunaga in turn relayed this information to Ieyasu. On September 19, 1579, Ieyasu ordered Senahime to be executed by beheading. Due to his loyalty to his mother, Nobuyasu was imprisoned for about a month afterwards, later being ordered to commit seppuku lest he attempt to avenge Senahime’s death.
Choshoin (長勝院) was a concubine of Ieyasu’s and a handmaiden of Senahime’s. Ieyasu had an affair with her (without Senahime’s knowledge) and Choshoin bore him a son, Yuki Hideyasu (although it’s believed she in fact gave birth to twins, and the other became head priest of a temple under Choshoin’s father’s care). Choshoin herself didn’t do anything of note, but the circumstances around her relationship with Ieyasu is interesting because it was done without the consent of Senahime - normally this probably wouldn’t matter, but Ieyasu was allegedly so afraid of provoking his wife that not only did he take concubines behind her back, but was also very slow to acknowledge Hideyasu as his child. Even then, he’s said to not have favored Hideyasu much at all. Anecdotal tales say that Senahime found out about her husband’s affair while Choshoin was still pregnant, and on a cold night had her tied naked to a tree. She was found by one of Ieyasu’s vassals, Honda Shigetsugu, and then taken into his protection.
Asahihime (朝日姫) was the second legal wife of Ieyasu. She was also Hideyoshi’s half-sister (Omandokoro’s daughter). She was originally married to a farmer in Owari, but after Hideyoshi gained influence he had her divorce him and remarry to Ieyasu as his second wife. She’s moreso well-known because of who she was related to as opposed to anything she actually did, but there is a story that says when her mother was sent to Okazaki Castle to “visit” so Ieyasu would agree to meet with Hideyoshi (as in he wanted a potential hostage), there was heresay amongst the Tokugawa’s officers that Hideyoshi sent a random old woman and claimed her as his mother as he’d never send the real thing. Asahihime is the reason this rumor was proven wrong, as she recognized her mother and hugged her while crying happily. She is said to have been prone to sickness and died in February of 1590.
Saigo-no-Tsubone/Lady Saigo (西郷局), sometimes called Oai-no-Kata (お愛の方 - literally “lady of love” or “beloved lady”) is Ieyasu’s most famous and beloved concubine. She is the mother of his heir and second Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Hidetada. She served as his confidant and her input greatly influenced Ieyasu’s actions and decisions. She was a highly benevolent woman, who used her position and wealth for good and charitable purposes. Ieyasu first started confiding in her following the battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, although they are believed to have met a few years before. He also sought her counsel around the time of the Battle of Nagashino and Komaki-Nagakute. Upon properly becoming a member of Ieyasu’s “court”, she relocated to Hamamatsu Castle where she was met with antagonizing resentment from the other women he was involved with. Ieyasu’s other courtesans were allegedly jealous of her for already being his favorite, and thus undermining their efforts to be given a chance to bear his heir. After she gave birth to Hidetada, she officially became Ieyasu’s first consort. Her position was cemented and she was left with no competition after Ieyasu’s legal wife, Senahime, was executed. Upon the ordered suicide of Senahime’s son with Ieyasu, Nobuyasu, Hidetada also became first in line as Ieyasu’s heir. Lady Saigo died on July 1, 1589 and relatively young (37 years) of mysterious causes and theories of her cause of death vary. Some suggest it was simply illness and there are theories that she was poisoned by a handmaiden who remained loyal to the late Senahime. Lady Saigo is famous as Ieyasu’s beloved concubine not because of her beauty (though she is claimed to have been so), but because of her benevolent and charitable nature and the advice she offered. She’s truly a very harsh contrast to the likes of Senahime or a certain woman who was famous for greatly influencing her clan, Chacha.
- “Toyotomi Hideyoshi”, Owada Tetsuo
-“Tokugawa Ieyasu: Shogun”, Conrad Totman
-“Tokugawa Mitsuyo to nyōbō-tachi”, Michiko Nakashima
-“The Maker of Modern Japan”, A.L. Sadler
-“Mori Motonari”, Misaka Keiji
-“Mori Motonari no subete”, Kawai Masaharu
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