Arai Hakuseki
Tokugawa Ietsugu was born in 1709 in Edo, being the eldest son of "shōgun" Tokugawa Ienobu and concubine, Gekkōin. At that time, his father was "shōgun", and was being advised by his long-time Confucian advisor, Arai Hakuseki, who held considerable influence in the "shōgun"s court at Edo. At the time Ietsugu was born, his father, Ienobu, was 48. His childhood name was Nabematsu (鍋松). Arai had traced the Tokugawa family's bloodline back to the Minamoto family, the founders of the first shogunate. Thus, Ietsuga also was called Minamoto no Ietsugu. He was only three years old when his father died, upon which he became "shōgun" Ietsugu. He married Yoshiko no Miya (1714–1758) in 1715, daughter of Emperor Reigen at that time he was only 4 years and Yoshiko no Miya was only one year old.