Tokugawa clan The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan . They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa ( 850 – 880 ) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan ( Seiwa Genji ) by the Nitta clan . However , the early history of this clan remains a mystery . Members of the clan ruled Japan as Shogun s from 1603 to 1867 . History . Minamoto no Yoshishige ( + 1202 ) , grandson of Minamoto no Yoshiie ( 1041 – 1108 ) , was the first to take the name of Nitta . He sided with his cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo against the Taira clan ( 1180 ) and accompanied him to Kamakura . Nitta Yoshisue , 4th son of Yoshishige , settled at Tokugawa ( Kozuke province ) and took the name of that place . However , their provincial history book did not mention Minamoto clan and Nitta clan . The nominal originator of the Matsudaira clan was reportedly Matsudaira Chikauji , who was originally a poor Buddhist monk . He reportedly descended from Nitta Yoshisue in the 8th generation and witnessed the ruin of the Nitta in their war against the Ashikaga . He settled at Matsudaira ( Mikawa province ) and was adopted by his wife ' s family . Their provincial history book claimed that this original clan was Ariwara clan . Because this place is said to have been reclaimed by Nobumori Ariwara , one theory holds that Matsudaira clan was related to Ariwara no Narihira . Matsudaira Nobumitsu ( 15th century ) , son of Chikauji , was in charge of Okazaki Castle , and strengthened the authority of his family in the Mikawa province . Nobumitsu ' s great - great - grandson Matsudaira Kiyoyasu made his clan strong , but was assassinated . In 1567 , his grandson Ieyasu ( 1542 – 1616 ) obtained from the Emperor permission to revive the name Tokugawa . In so doing , he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan . The clan rose to power at the end of the Sengoku period , and to the end of the Edo period they ruled Japan as shogun s . All in all , there were fifteen Tokugawa shoguns . Their dominance was so strong that some history books use the term " Tokugawa era " instead of " Edo period " . In addition , the heads of the " gosanke " ( the three branches with fiefs in Owari , Kishū , and Mito ) bore the Tokugawa surname . Additional branches became the " gosankyō " : the Tayasu , Hitotsubashi , and Shimizu Tokugawa clans . Many daimyo with the Matsudaira surname were descended from the Tokugawa . Examples include the Matsudaira of Fukui and Aizu . Members of the Tokugawa clan intermarried with prominent daimyo and the Imperial family . Their principal family shrine is the Tōshō - gū in Nikkō , and principal temple is at Kan ' ei - ji in Tokyo . Heirlooms of the clan are partly administered by the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation . Crest . Tokugawa ' s clan crest , known in Japanese as a " mon " , the " triple hollyhock " ( although commonly , but mistakenly identified as " hollyhock " , the " aoi " actually belongs to the birthwort family and translates as " wild ginger " — " Asarum " ) , has been a readily recognized icon in Japan , symbolizing in equal parts the Tokugawa clan and the last shogunate . The crest derives from a mythical clan , the Kamo clan , which legendarily descended from Yatagarasu . Matsudaira village was located in Higashikamo District , Aichi Prefecture . Although Emperor Go - Yōzei offered a new crest , Ieyasu continued to use the crest , which was not related to Minamoto clan . In " jidaigeki " , the crest is often shown to locate the story in the Edo period . And in works set in during the Meiji Restoration movement , the crest is used to show the bearer ' s allegiance to the shogunate — as opposed to the royalists , whose cause is symbolized by the Imperial throne ' s chrysanthemum crest . Compare with the red and white rose iconography of English Wars of the Roses , as imagined by Walter Scott earlier in the 19th century , in " Anne of Geierstein " ( 1829 ) .