Gosanke
The , also called simply , or even , were the most noble three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan: Owari, Kii, and Mito, all of which were descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu, and Yorifusa, and were allowed to provide a shōgun in case of need. In the Edo period the term "gosanke" could also refer to various other combinations of Tokugawa houses, including (1) the shogunal, Owari and Kii houses and (2) the Owari, Kii, and Suruga houses (all with the court position of "dainagon"). Later, "Gosanke" were deprived of their role to  provide a "shōgun" by three other branches that are closer to the shogunal house: the "Gosankyō". Even after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the abolition of the Edo-period system of administrative domains ("han") the three houses continued to exist in some form, as they do into the 21st century. History. After he established his shogunate, Ieyasu proceeded to put members of his family in key positions. Ninth son Yoshinao was nominated "daimyō" of Nagoya (Owari Province), tenth son Yorinobu "daimyō" of Wakayama (Kii Province) and eleventh son Yorifusa "daimyō" of Mito (Hitachi Province). From this allocation of  fiefs came the names of the houses they founded, officially called , , and ). Ieyasu gave them the right to supply a shōgun in order to ensure the presence of successors to the Tokugawa shogunate in case the main line should become extinct. This occurred twice during the Edo period: when the seventh shōgun died heirless in 1716, and when the thirteenth shōgun died heirless in 1858. The three houses had the highest rank among the "shinpan", the "daimyōs" who were relatives of the shōgun. After the Meiji Restoration, under the "kazoku" system, the heads of the three houses became marquesses. In  1929 the head of the Mito House was elevated from marquess to duke. Owari branch. The senior one was the Owari branch. The first of this line was Tokugawa Yoshinao, ninth son of Ieyasu. He and his heirs were "daimyōs" of the Owari Domain ("Owari Han"), with its headquarters at Nagoya Castle. The fief had a rating of 619,500 "koku", a "koku" being the quantity of rice necessary to feed one person for a year (about 180 liters), and was the largest of the three. Before the abolition of the shogunate and of the "han" system, the house was headed  successively by 17 men. Its seniority notwithstanding, the Owari were the only one not to provide a shōgun. Kii branch. Second in seniority was Kii or Kishū House. The founder was Tokugawa Yorinobu, the tenth son of Ieyasu. Yorinobu was "daimyō" of the Kishū Han with its castle at Wakayama and a rating of 555,000 "koku". He entered Wakayama in 1619 when the previous "daimyō" was transferred. Fourteen members of the Tokugawa clan headed the fief during the Edo Period. It was the only family to directly produce successors to the shōgun, once in 1716 with Tokugawa Yoshimune and again  in 1858 with Tokugawa Iemochi. The fifth Tokugawa "daimyō" of Kii was Yoshimune, who later became shōgun and appointed a relative to head the Kii "Han". Yoshimune established three new houses, the "gosankyō", installing two sons and a grandson as their heads. The "gosanke" provided the model for the "gosankyō." However, while Yoshimune granted lands to the "gosankyō", the lands were not consolidated into coherent "han", but instead were scattered in various places; the total holdings were also smaller than those of the "gosanke." Eventually, one of the "gosankyō" houses, the Hitotsubashi house, produced two shoguns, once in 1787 (Tokugawa  Ienari) and again in 1866 (Tokugawa Yoshinobu). Mito branch. Third in seniority among the "Gosanke" was the Mito branch. Its founder was Tokugawa Yorifusa, the eleventh son of Ieyasu. Their fief was the Mito Han in Hitachi Province, with its castle in Mito and lands rated initially at 250,000 "koku", and later (1710) at 350,000. Eleven men headed the house, including Tokugawa (Mito) Mitsukuni. The Mito House was not allowed to provide a shōgun, but only his vice. It did manage however to produce one when one of its sons, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, was adopted by the Hitotsubashi (one of the  Kii House's three "Gosankyō") in 1848 and became the last shōgun as a member of that house. Genealogy of the "Gosanke" heads. Owari branch. The 22nd head of the Owari House is Mr. (born 1961), who in 2005 succeeded his late father, becoming director of the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya. A Tokyo resident, he commutes to Nagoya during weekends. His main activities are the museum and realty management. Kii branch. The 19th head of the Kii House is Ms. (born in 1956). Although she is not married and has no children, she was chosen as head of the  clan because there were no other direct descendants. An architect, she owns and operates her own construction company in Ginza, Tokyo. Unlike the other two, the Kii House does not have a museum of its own, and has given its properties of historical value to museums, such as the Wakayama Prefectural Museum. Effectively extinct Mito branch. The 15th head of the Mito House is Mr. (born in 1958). From July 2009 he is also the director of Mito's . He presently works for Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. A Tokyo resident, he commutes to Mito on weekends. Other  uses of the term. In modern Japanese, the word "gosanke" is used to refer to "the strongest three" or "the most famous three" in various contexts. For example, the Imperial Hotel, Hotel Okura, and Hotel New Otani Tokyo are often referred to as one of the of Tokyo. The Otani Hotel was built in the Kioi district of Tokyo, where the Tokyo residence of the Kii House was located.