Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868 . Ieyasu seized power in 1600 , received appointment as shogun in 1603 , abdicated from office in 1605 , but remained in power until his death in 1616 . His given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu , according to the historical pronunciation of " we " . Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō - gū with the name . Early life ( 1542 – 1556 ) . Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in Okazaki Castle in Mikawa on the 26th day of the twelfth month of the eleventh year of Tenbun , according to the Japanese calendar . Originally named Matsudaira Takechiyo ( 松平 竹千代 ) , he was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada ( 松平 広忠 ) , the daimyo of Mikawa of the Matsudaira clan , and Odainokata ( 於大の方 ) , the daughter of a neighboring samurai lord , Mizuno Tadamasa ( 水野 忠政 ) . His mother and father were step - siblings . They were just 17 and 15 years old , respectively , when Ieyasu was born . Two years later , Odainokata was sent back to her family and the couple never lived together again . As both husband and wife remarried and both went on to have further children , Ieyasu in the end had 11 half - brothers and sisters . The Matsudaira family was split in 1550 : one side wanted to be vassals of the Imagawa clan , while the other side preferred the Oda . As a result , much of Ieyasu ' s early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and Imagawa uji ( clans ) were fought . This family feud was the reason behind the murder of Ieyasu ' s paternal grandfather , Matsudaira Kiyoyasu ( 松平 清康 ) . Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family , Ieyasu ' s father , Hirotada , favored the Imagawa clan . In 1548 , when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa , Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto , the head of the Imagawa clan , for help to repel the invaders . Yoshimoto agreed to help under the condition that Hirotada send Ieyasu to Sunpu as a hostage . Hirotada agreed . Oda Nobuhide , the leader of the Oda clan , learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sunpu . Ieyasu was just six years old at the time . Nobuhide threatened to execute Ieyasu unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan . Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan . Despite this refusal , Nobuhide chose not to kill Ieyasu but instead held him for the next three years at the Manshoji Temple in Nagoya . In 1549 , when Ieyasu was 7 , his father Hirotada died of natural causes . At about the same time , Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic . The deaths dealt a heavy blow to the Oda clan . An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro , Nobuhide ' s eldest son and the new head of the Oda , was living . With the castle about to fall , Imagawa Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga ( Oda Nobuhide ' s second son ) . Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa clan . Nobunaga agreed , and so Ieyasu ( now nine ) was taken as a hostage to Sunpu . Here he lived a fairly good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until 1556 when he was age 15 years old . Rise to power ( 1556 – 1584 ) . In 1556 he came of age , and , following tradition , changed his name from Matsudaira Takechiyo to Matsudaira Jirōsaburō Motonobu ( 松平 次郎三郎 元信 ) . One year later , at the age of 16 ( according to East Asian age reckoning ) , he married his first wife and changed his name again to Matsudaira Kurandonosuke Motoyasu ( 松平 蔵人佐 元康 ) . Allowed to return to his native Mikawa , the Imagawa ordered him to fight the Oda clan in a series of battles . Motoyasu fought his first battle at the Siege of Terabe and later succeeded in delivering supplies to a border fort through a bold night attack . By 1560 the leadership of the Oda clan had passed to the brilliant leader Oda Nobunaga . Yoshimoto , leading a large Imagawa army ( perhaps 20 , 000 strong ) attacked the Oda clan territory . Motoyasu with his Mikawa troops captured a fort at the border and then stayed there to defend it . As a result , Motoyasu and his men were not present at the Battle of Okehazama where Yoshimoto was killed by Oda Nobunaga ' s surprise assault . With Yoshimoto dead , Motoyasu decided to ally with the Oda clan . A secret deal was needed because Motoyasu ' s wife and infant son , Nobuyasu , were held hostage in Sunpu by the Imagawa clan . In 1561 , Motoyasu openly broke with the Imagawa and captured the fortress of Kaminojo . Motoyasu was then able to exchange his wife and son for the wife and daughter of the ruler of Kaminojo castle . In 1563 Nobuyasu was married to Nobunaga ' s daughter Tokuhime . For the next few years Motoyasu set to reform the Matsudaira clan and pacifying Mikawa . He also strengthened his key vassals by awarding them land and castles in Mikawa . They were : Honda Tadakatsu , Ishikawa Kazumasa , Koriki Kiyonaga , Hattori Hanzō , Sakai Tadatsugu , and Sakakibara Yasumasa . Motoyasu defeated the military forces of the Mikawa Monto within Mikawa province at the Battle of Azukizaka . The Monto were a warlike group of monks that were ruling Kaga Province and had many temples elsewhere in Japan . They refused to obey Motoyasu ' s commands and so he went to war with them , defeating their troops and pulling down their temples . In one battle , Motoyasu was nearly killed when he was struck by a bullet which did not penetrate his armor . Both Motoyasu ' s Mikawa troops and the Monto forces were using the new gunpowder weapons which the Portuguese had introduced to Japan just 20 years earlier . In 1567 , Motoyasu changed his name yet again , his new family name was " Tokugawa " and his given name was now " Ieyasu . " By so doing , he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan . No proof has actually been found for this alleged descent from Seiwa " tennō , " the 56th Emperor of Japan . Ieyasu remained an ally of Oda Nobunaga and his Mikawa soldiers were part of Nobunaga ' s army which captured Kyoto in 1568 . At the same time Ieyasu was expanding his own territory . He and Takeda Shingen , the head of the Takeda clan in Kai Province made an alliance for the purpose of conquering all the Imagawa territory . In 1570 , Ieyasu ' s troops captured Tōtōmi Province while Shingen ' s troops captured Suruga province ( including the Imagawa capital of Sunpu ) . Ieyasu ended his alliance with Takeda and sheltered their former enemy , Imagawa Ujizane ; he also allied with Uesugi Kenshin of the Uesugi clan — an enemy of the Takeda clan . Later that year , Ieyasu led 5 , 000 of his own men supporting Nobunaga at the Battle of Anegawa against the Azai and Asakura clans . In October 1571 , Takeda Shingen , now allied with the Hōjō clan , attacked the Tokugawa lands of Tōtōmi . Ieyasu asked for help from Nobunaga , who sent him some 3 , 000 troops . Early in 1573 the two armies met at the Battle of Mikatagahara . The Takeda army , under the expert direction of Shingen , hammered at Ieyasu ' s troops until they were broken . Ieyasu fled with just 5 men to a nearby castle . This was a major loss for Ieyasu , but Shingen was unable to exploit his victory because Ieyasu quickly gathered a new army and refused to fight Shingen again on the battlefield . Fortune smiled on Ieyasu a year later when Takeda Shingen died at a siege early in 1573 . Shingen was succeeded by his less capable son Takeda Katsuyori . In 1575 , the Takeda army attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa province . Ieyasu appealed to Nobunaga for help and the result was that Nobunaga personally came at the head of his very large army ( about 30 , 000 strong ) . The Oda - Tokugawa force of 38 , 000 won a great victory on June 28 , 1575 , at the Battle of Nagashino , though Takeda Katsuyori survived the battle and retreated back to Kai province . For the next seven years , Ieyasu and Katsuyori fought a series of small battles . Ieyasu ' s troops managed to wrest control of Suruga province away from the Takeda clan . In 1579 , Ieyasu ' s wife , and his eldest son , Matsudaira Nobuyasu , were accused by Nobunaga of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate Nobunaga , whose daughter Tokuhime ( 1559 – 1636 ) was married to Nobuyasu . Ieyasu ' s wife was executed and Nobuyasu was forced to commit seppuku . Ieyasu then named his third and favorite son , Tokugawa Hidetada , as heir , since his second son was adopted by another rising power : Toyotomi Hideyoshi , the future ruler of all Japan . The end of the war with Takeda came in 1582 when a combined Oda - Tokugawa force attacked and conquered Kai province . Takeda Katsuyori , as well as his eldest son Takeda Nobukatsu , were defeated at the Battle of Temmokuzan and then committed seppuku . In late 1582 , Ieyasu was near Osaka and far from his own territory when he learned that Nobunaga had been assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide . Ieyasu managed the dangerous journey back to Mikawa , avoiding Mitsuhide ' s troops along the way , as they were trying to find and kill him . One week after he arrived in Mikawa , Ieyasu ' s army marched out to take revenge on Mitsuhide . But they were too late , Hideyoshi — on his own — defeated and killed Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki . The death of Nobunaga meant that some provinces , ruled by Nobunaga ' s vassals , were ripe for conquest . The leader of Kai province made the mistake of killing one of Ieyasu ' s aides . Ieyasu promptly invaded Kai and took control . Hōjō Ujimasa , leader of the Hōjō clan responded by sending his much larger army into Shinano and then into Kai province . No battles were fought between Ieyasu ' s forces and the large Hōjō army and , after some negotiation , Ieyasu and the Hōjō agreed to a settlement which left Ieyasu in control of both Kai and Shinano provinces , while the Hōjō took control of Kazusa province ( as well as bits of both Kai and Shinano province ) . At the same time ( 1583 ) a war for rule over Japan was fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie . Ieyasu did not take a side in this conflict , building on his reputation for both caution and wisdom . Hideyoshi defeated Katsuie at Battle of Shizugatake — with this victory , Hideyoshi became the single most powerful daimyo in Japan . Ieyasu and Hideyoshi ( 1584 – 1598 ) . In 1584 , Ieyasu decided to support Oda Nobukatsu , the eldest son and heir of Oda Nobunaga , against Hideyoshi . This was a dangerous act and could have resulted in the annihilation of the Tokugawa . Tokugawa troops took the traditional Oda stronghold of Owari , Hideyoshi responded by sending an army into Owari . The " Komaki Campaign " was the only time any of the great unifiers of Japan fought each other : Hideyoshi vs . Ieyasu . The campaign proved indecisive and after months of fruitless marches and feints , Hideyoshi settled the war through negotiation . First he made peace with Oda Nobukatsu , and then he offered a truce to Ieyasu . The deal was made at the end of the year ; as part of the terms Ieyasu ' s second son , O Gi Maru , became an adopted son of Hideyoshi . Ieyasu ' s aide , Ishikawa Kazumasa , chose to join the pre - eminent daimyo and so he moved to Osaka to be with Hideyoshi . However , only a few other Tokugawa retainers followed this example . Hideyoshi was understandably distrustful of Ieyasu , and five years passed before they fought as allies . The Tokugawa did not participate in Hideyoshi ' s successful invasions of Shikoku and Kyūshū . In 1590 Hideyoshi attacked the last independent daimyo in Japan , Hōjō Ujimasa . The Hōjō clan ruled the eight provinces of the Kantō region in eastern Japan . Hideyoshi ordered them to submit to his authority and they refused . Ieyasu , though a friend and occasional ally of Ujimasa , joined his large force of 30 , 000 samurai with Hideyoshi ' s enormous army of some 160 , 000 . Hideyoshi attacked several castles on the borders of the Hōjō clan with most of his army laying siege to the castle at Odawara . Hideyoshi ' s army captured Odawara after six months ( oddly for the time period , deaths on both sides were few ) . During this siege , Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu a radical deal . He offered Ieyasu the eight Kantō provinces which they were about to take from the Hōjō in return for the five provinces that Ieyasu currently controlled ( including Ieyasu ' s home province of Mikawa ) . Ieyasu accepted this proposal . Bowing to the overwhelming power of the Toyotomi army , the Hōjō accepted defeat , the top Hōjō leaders killed themselves and Ieyasu marched in and took control of their provinces , so ending the clan ' s reign of over 100 years . Ieyasu now gave up control of his five provinces ( Mikawa , Tōtōmi , Suruga , Shinano , and Kai ) and moved all his soldiers and vassals to the Kantō region . He himself occupied the castle town of Edo in Kantō . This was possibly the riskiest move Ieyasu ever made — to leave his home province and rely on the uncertain loyalty of the formerly Hōjō samurai in Kantō . In the event , it worked out brilliantly for Ieyasu . He reformed the Kantō provinces , controlled and pacified the Hōjō samurai and improved the underlying economic infrastructure of the lands . Also , because Kantō was somewhat isolated from the rest of Japan , Ieyasu was able to maintain a unique level of autonomy from Hideyoshi ' s rule . Within a few years , Ieyasu had become the second most powerful daimyo in Japan . There is a Japanese proverb which likely refers to this event : " Ieyasu won the Empire by retreating . " In 1592 , Hideyoshi invaded Korea as a prelude to his plan to attack China ( see Japanese invasions of Korea [ 1592 – 1598 ] for more information about this campaign ) . The Tokugawa samurai never took part in this campaign . Early in 1593 , Ieyasu was summoned to Hideyoshi ' s court in Nagoya ( in Kyūshū , different from the similarly spelled city in Owari Province ) , as a military advisor . He stayed there , off and on for the next five years . Despite his frequent absences , Ieyasu ' s sons , loyal retainers and vassals were able to control and improve Edo and the other new Tokugawa lands . In 1593 , Hideyoshi fathered a son and heir , Toyotomi Hideyori . In 1598 , with his health clearly failing , Hideyoshi called a meeting that would determine the Council of Five Elders , who would be responsible for ruling on behalf of his son after his death . The five that were chosen as regents ( tairō ) for Hideyori were Maeda Toshiie , Mōri Terumoto , Ukita Hideie , Uesugi Kagekatsu , and Ieyasu himself , who was the most powerful of the five . This change in the pre - Sekigahara power structure became pivotal as Ieyasu turned his attention towards Kansai ; and at the same time , other ambitious ( albeit ultimately unrealized ) plans , such as the Tokugawa initiative establishing official relations with Mexico and New Spain , continued to unfold and advance . The Sekigahara Campaign ( 1598 – 1603 ) . Hideyoshi , after three more months of increasing sickness , died on September 18 , 1598 . He was nominally succeeded by his young son Hideyori but as he was just five years old , real power was in the hands of the regents . Over the next two years Ieyasu made alliances with various daimyo , especially those who had no love for Hideyoshi . Happily for Ieyasu , the oldest and most respected of the regents died after just one year . With the death of Regent Maeda Toshiie in 1599 , Ieyasu led an army to Fushimi and took over Osaka Castle , the residence of Hideyori . This angered the three remaining regents and plans were made on all sides for war . It was also the last battle of one of the most loyal and powerful retainer of Ieyasu , Tadakatsu Honda . Opposition to Ieyasu centered around Ishida Mitsunari , a powerful daimyo but not one of the regents . Mitsunari plotted Ieyasu ' s death and news of this plot reached some of Ieyasu ' s generals . They attempted to kill Mitsunari but he fled and gained protection from none other than Ieyasu himself . It is not clear why Ieyasu protected a powerful enemy from his own men but Ieyasu was a master strategist and he may have concluded that he would be better off with Mitsunari leading the enemy army rather than one of the regents , who would have more legitimacy . Nearly all of Japan ' s daimyo and samurai now split into two factions — The Western Army ( Mitsunari ' s group ) and The Eastern Army ( anti - Mitsunari Group ) . Ieyasu supported the anti - Mitsunari Group , and formed them as his potential allies . Ieyasu ' s allies were the Date clan , the Mogami clan , the Satake clan and the Maeda clan . Mitsunari allied himself with the three other regents : Ukita Hideie , Mori Terumoto , and Uesugi Kagekatsu as well as many daimyo from the eastern end of Honshū . In June 1600 , Ieyasu and his allies moved their armies to defeat the Uesugi clan , which was accused of planning to revolt against Toyotomi administration ( led by Ieyasu , top of Council of Five Elders ) . Before arriving at Uesugi ' s territory , Ieyasu had got information that Mitsunari and his allies had moved their army against Ieyasu . Ieyasu held a meeting with the daimyo , and they agreed to follow Ieyasu . He then led the majority of his army west towards Kyoto . In late summer , Ishida ' s forces captured Fushimi . Ieyasu and his allies marched along the Tōkaidō , while his son Hidetada went along the Nakasendō with 38 , 000 soldiers . A battle against Sanada Masayuki in Shinano Province delayed Hidetada ' s forces , and they did not arrive in time for the main battle . This battle was the biggest and likely the most important battle in Japanese history . It began on October 21 , 1600 with a total of 160 , 000 men facing each other . The Battle of Sekigahara ended with a complete Tokugawa victory . The Western bloc was crushed and over the next few days Ishida Mitsunari and many other western nobles were captured and killed . Tokugawa Ieyasu was now the " de facto " ruler of Japan . Immediately after the victory at Sekigahara , Ieyasu redistributed land to the vassals who had served him . Ieyasu left some western daimyo unharmed , such as the Shimazu clan , but others were completely destroyed . Toyotomi Hideyori ( the son of Hideyoshi ) lost most of his territory which were under management of western daimyo , and he was degraded to an ordinary daimyo , not a ruler of Japan . In later years the vassals who had pledged allegiance to Ieyasu before Sekigahara became known as the " fudai " daimyo , while those who pledged allegiance to him after the battle ( in other words , after his power was unquestioned ) were known as " tozama " daimyo . " Tozama " daimyo were considered inferior to " fudai " daimyo . As Shogun . Shogun Ieyasu ( 1603 – 1605 ) . On March 24 , 1603 , Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of " shogun " from Emperor Go - Yōzei . Ieyasu was 60 years old . He had outlasted all the other great men of his times : Nobunaga , Hideyoshi , Shingen , Kenshin . He was the shogun and he used his remaining years to create and solidify the Tokugawa shogunate ( that was eventually to become the Edo period , about two hundred years under Ieyasu ' s Shogunate ) , the third shogunal government ( after the Minamoto and the Ashikaga ) . To consolidate his rule , Ieyasu gathered his men for one last battle to eliminate the remnants of the Toyotomi clan in Osaka Castle . He succeeded in the Siege of Osaka and removed all of the possible threats to his power . He claimed descent from the Minamoto clan by way of the Nitta family . The Tokugawa Shogunate would rule Japan for the next 250 years . Following a well established Japanese pattern , Ieyasu abdicated his official position as shogun in 1605 . His successor was his son and heir , Tokugawa Hidetada . This may have been done , in part to avoid being tied up in ceremonial duties , and in part to make it harder for his enemies to attack the real power center , and in part to secure a smoother succession of his son . The abdication of Ieyasu had no effect on the practical extent of his powers or his rule ; but Hidetada nevertheless assumed a role as formal head of the bakufu bureaucracy . Retired shogun ( 1605 – 1616 ) . Ieyasu , acting as the , remained the effective ruler of Japan until his death . Ieyasu retired to Sunpu Castle in Sunpu , but he also supervised the building of Edo Castle , a massive construction project which lasted for the rest of Ieyasu ' s life . The end result was the largest castle in all of Japan , the costs for building the castle being borne by all the other daimyo , while Ieyasu reaped all the benefits . The central donjon , or " tenshu " , burned in the 1657 " Meireki " fire . Today , the Imperial Palace stands on the site of the castle . Ogosho Ieyasu also supervised diplomatic affairs with the Netherlands and Spain . He chose to distance Japan from the Europeans starting in 1609 , although the bakufu did give the Dutch exclusive trading rights and permitted them to maintain a " factory " for trading purposes . From 1605 until his death , Ieyasu consulted with an English Protestant pilot in Dutch employ , William Adams , who played a noteworthy role in forming and furthering the Shogunate ' s evolving relations with Spain and the Roman Catholic Church . In 1611 , Ieyasu , at the head of 50 , 000 men , visited Kyoto to witness the coronation of Emperor Go - Mizunoo . In Kyoto , Ieyasu ordered the remodeling of the imperial court and buildings , and forced the remaining western daimyo to sign an oath of fealty to him . In 1613 , he composed the " Kuge Shohatto " , a document which put the court daimyo under strict supervision , leaving them as mere ceremonial figureheads . The influences of Christianity , which was beset by quarreling over the Protestant Reformation and its aftermath , on Japan were proving problematic for Ieyasu . In 1614 , he signed the Christian Expulsion Edict which banned Christianity , expelled all Christians and foreigners , and banned Christians from practicing their religion . As a result , many Kirishitan s ( early Japanese Christians ) fled to either Portuguese Macau or the Spanish Philippines . In 1615 , he prepared the " Buke Shohatto " ( 武家諸法度 ) , a document setting out the future of the Tokugawa regime . Siege of Osaka . The climax of Ieyasu ' s life was the siege of Osaka Castle ( 1614 – 1615 ) . The last remaining threat to Ieyasu ' s rule was Toyotomi Hideyori , the son and rightful heir to Hideyoshi . He was now a young daimyo living in Osaka Castle . Many samurai who opposed Ieyasu rallied around Hideyori , claiming that he was the rightful ruler of Japan . Ieyasu found fault with the opening ceremony of a temple built by Hideyori ; it was as if Hideyori prayed for Ieyasu ' s death and the ruin of the Tokugawa clan . Ieyasu ordered Toyotomi to leave Osaka Castle , but those in the castle refused and summoned samurai to gather within castle . Then the Tokugawa , with a huge army led by Ogosho Ieyasu and Shogun Hidetada , laid siege to Osaka castle in what is now known as " the Winter Siege of Osaka " . Eventually , Tokugawa was able to precipitate negotiations and an armistice after directed cannon fire threatened Hideyori ' s mother , Yodogimi . However , once the treaty was agreed , Tokugawa filled Osaka Castle ' s outer moats with sand so his troops could walk across . Through this ploy , Tokugawa gained a huge tract of land through negotiation and deception that he could not through siege and combat . Ieyasu returned to Sunpu Castle once , but after Toyotomi refused another order to leave Osaka , he and his allied army of 155 , 000 soldiers attacked Osaka Castle again in " the Summer Siege of Osaka " . Finally in late 1615 , Osaka Castle fell and nearly all the defenders were killed including Hideyori , his mother ( Hideyoshi ' s widow , Yodogimi ) , and his infant son . His wife , Senhime ( a granddaughter of Ieyasu ) , was sent back to Tokugawa alive . With the Toyotomi line finally extinguished , no threats remained to the Tokugawa clan ' s domination of Japan . Death . In 1616 , Ieyasu died at age 73 . The cause of death is thought to have been cancer or syphilis . The first Tokugawa shogun was posthumously deified with the name Tōshō Daigongen ( 東照大権現 ) , the " Great Gongen , Light of the East " . ( A " Gongen " ( the prefix " Dai " - meaning great ) is believed to be a buddha who has appeared on Earth in the shape of a " kami " to save sentient beings ) . In life , Ieyasu had expressed the wish to be deified after his death in order to protect his descendants from evil . His remains were buried at the Gongens ' mausoleum at Kunōzan , Kunōzan Tōshō - gū ( 久能山東照宮 ) . After the first anniversary of his death , his remains were reburied at Nikkō Shrine , Nikkō Tōshō - gū ( 日光東照宮 ) . His remains are still there . The mausoleum ' s architectural style became known as " gongen - zukuri " , that is " gongen " - style . Ieyasu as a person . Ieyasu had a number of qualities that enabled him to rise to power . He was both careful and bold — at the right times , and at the right places . Calculating and subtle , Ieyasu switched alliances when he thought he would benefit from the change . He allied with the Late Hōjō clan ; then he joined Hideyoshi ' s army of conquest , which destroyed the Hōjō ; and he himself took over their lands . In this he was like other daimyo of his time . This was an era of violence , sudden death , and betrayal . He was not very well liked nor personally popular , but he was feared and he was respected for his leadership and his cunning . For example , he wisely kept his soldiers out of Hideyoshi ' s campaign in Korea . He was capable of great loyalty : once he allied with Oda Nobunaga , he never went against him , and both leaders profited from their long alliance . He was known for being loyal towards his personal friends and vassals , whom he rewarded , He was said to have a close friendship with his vassal Hattori Hanzo . However , he also remembered those who had wronged him in the past . It is said that Ieyasu executed a man who came into his power because he had insulted him when Ieyasu was young . Ieyasu protected many former Takeda retainers from the wrath of Oda Nobunaga , who was known to harbor a bitter grudge towards the Takeda . He managed to successfully transform many of the retainers of the Takeda , Hōjō , and Imagawa clans — all whom he had defeated himself or helped to defeat — into loyal followers . He had nineteen wives and concubines , by whom he had eleven sons and five daughters . The eleven sons of Ieyasu were : His daughters were Kame " hime " ( 亀姫 ) , Toku " hime " ( 督姫 ) , Furi " hime " ( 振姫 ) , Matsu " hime " ( 松姫 ) and Ichi " hime " ( 市姫 ) . He is said to have cared for his children and grandchildren , establishing three of them , Yorinobu , Yoshinao , and Yorifusa as the daimyos of Kii , Owari , and Mito provinces , respectively . At the same time , he could be ruthless when crossed . For example , he ordered the executions of his first wife and his eldest son — a son - in - law of Oda Nobunaga ; Oda was also an uncle of Hidetada ' s wife Oeyo . After Hidetada became shogun , he married Oeyo of the Oda clan and they had two sons , Tokugawa Iemitsu and Tokugawa Tadanaga . They also had two daughters , one of whom , Sen " hime " , married twice . The other daughter , Kazuko " hime " , married Emperor Go - Mizunoo of descent from the Fujiwara clan . Ieyasu ' s favorite pastime was falconry . He regarded it as excellent training for a warrior . " When you go into the country hawking , you learn to understand the military spirit and also the hard life of the lower classes . You exercise your muscles and train your limbs . You have any amount of walking and running and become quite indifferent to heat and cold , and so you are little likely to suffer from any illness . " . Ieyasu swam often ; even late in his life he is reported to have swum in the moat of Edo Castle . Later in life he took to scholarship and religion , patronizing scholars like Hayashi Razan . Two of his famous quotes : Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden . Let thy step be slow and steady , that thou stumble not . Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the lot of natural mortals , and there will be no room for discontent , neither for despair . When ambitious desires arise in thy heart , recall the days of extremity thou hast passed through . Forbearance is the root of all quietness and assurance forever . Look upon the wrath of thy enemy . If thou only knowest what it is to conquer , and knowest not what it is to be defeated ; woe unto thee , it will fare ill with thee . Find fault with thyself rather than with others . The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience . Patience means restraining one ' s inclinations . There are seven emotions : joy , anger , anxiety , adoration , grief , fear , and hate , and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient . I am not as strong as I might be , but I have long known and practiced patience . And if my descendants wish to be as I am , they must study patience . He claimed that he fought , as a warrior or a general , in 90 battles . He was interested in various kenjutsu skills , was a patron of the Yagyū Shinkage - ryū school , and also had them as his personal sword instructors . Myths and theories . Due to Ieyasu ' s unique characteristics , there are a few legends and theories surrounding his actions that are popular in fiction . Ieyasu planned Honnōji ? Among the many conspiracies surrounding the Honnō - ji Incident is Ieyasu ' s role in the event . Historically , Ieyasu was away from his lord at the time and , when he heard that Nobunaga was in danger , he wanted to rush to his lord ' s rescue in spite of the small number of attendants with him . However , Tadakatsu advised for his lord to avoid the risk and urged for a quick retreat to Mikawa . Masanari led the way through Iga and they returned home by boat . However , skeptics think otherwise . While they usually accept the historically known facts about Ieyasu ' s actions during Mitsuhide ' s betrayal , theorists tend to pay more attention to the events before . Ever since Ieyasu lost his wife and son due to Nobunaga ' s orders , they reason , he held a secret resentment against his lord . Generally , there is some belief that he privately goaded Mitsuhide to take action when the two warlords were together in Azuchi Castle . Together , they planned when to attack and went their separate ways . When the deed was done , Ieyasu turned a blind eye to Mitsuhide ' s schemes and fled the scene to feign innocence . A variation of the concept states that Ieyasu was well aware of Mitsuhide ' s feelings regarding Nobunaga and simply chose to do nothing for his own benefit . Like all the theories and conspiracies surrounding Honnōji , it ' s unknown if any of these ideas are true . Ieyasu had an impostor ? The " Tokugawa Ieyasu ' s Kagemusha Legend " ( 徳川家康の影武者説 ) is a myth that has been circulating since the Edo period . It is believed to have arisen due to historical records of Ieyasu ' s " sudden change of behavior " with some of his closet colleagues . The idea was made more popular in modern times by the historians , Tokutomi Sohō and Yasutsugu Shigeno . The general outline of the legend is that after the Battle of Okehazama , Motoyasu ( Ieyasu ) was ready to face the world as a changed man . According to , the last line was meant quite literally . Before Motoyasu could make his new face known to the world , he was replaced by a completely different man named Sarata Jiro Saburo Motonobu ( Sakai Jōkei ) . Variations include that the switch actually occurred much earlier in Motoyasu ' s life when he was being a hostage . Motonobu went in Motoyasu ' s stead and was considered a more suitable " heir " . After Motonobu replaced him , Motoyasu fled and lived a hermit ' s life . Another version states that Ieyasu was actually killed during the Battle of Sekigahara or the Osaka Campaign . When he was killed by Sanada Yukimura during the latter conflict , it is said that he was replaced by Ogasawara Hidemasa who became the " Ieyasu " from then on . While prevalent in fiction , historians are unsure whether or not the myth holds any merit . His dubious personality traits during these specific time frames have been mostly blamed on stress and personal strain . Era of Ieyasu ' s rule . Ieyasu ruled directly as shogun or indirectly as Ōgosho ( 大御所 ) during the " Keichō " era ( 1596 – 1615 ) .