Toyotomi no Sadako (豊臣完子)
TOYOTOMI no Sadako (Sadako HASHIBA) (1592 - 1658) was a personality in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. She was a daughter of Hidekatsu TOYOTOMI and was Yukiie KUJO's lawful wife. She was in Jusanmi (Junior Third Rank).
She was born between an adopted son of Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI, Hidekatsu TOYOTOMI (Kokichi MIYOSHI, the second son of Nisshu, a sister of Hideyoshi) and a daughter between Nagamasa AZAI and Lady Oichi, Sugenin (Go). She was a maternal half-sister of Iemitsu TOKUGAWA.
Her children were Michifusa KUJO, Yasumichi NIJO, Michimoto (Michiaki) MATSUDONO, Eigon, Michiko (wife of Koen of Hongan-ji Temple), the second daughter (wife of Kojun of Hongan-ji Temple) and the third daughter.
Personal History
Her father, Hidekatsu, died of disease in the Bunroku campaign before her birth, and Go gave birth to her in the home of her elder sister, Yodo-dono. However, her first name isn't known.
Go had her third marriage to Hidetada TOKUGAWA in 1595, and therefore she was taken in and brought up by her aunt, Yodo-dono. Yodo-dono is said to have brought up her carefully as a biological child, but she was recorded as another child considered Yodo-dono's own (another child considered one's own is generally regarded as an adopted child having only the name of a biological child because he/she has no right of inheritance), not as an adopted child in the "Keicho nikkenroku," probably due to the matter of inheritance.
She married Tadahide KUJO (later called Yukiie) in June 1604. It is recorded that Sadako's menoto (a woman who provides breast-feeding for a highborn baby) died immediately before the marriage. Yodo-dono organized everything about the marriage, which surprised the people in Kyoto. Also, Yodo-dono built the gorgeous Kujo shintei (Kujo's new residence) under the name of her brother-in-law, Hideyori TOYOTOMI. It is clarified that there was a movement to have Hideyori appointed to the Sadaijin (Minister of the Left) in the Imperial Court in 1608, four years after the marriage.
Tadahide was appointed to the Kanpaku (chief adviser to the Emperor) on January 31, 1609, and Sadako became Jusanmi Kita no Mandokoro (the legal wife of a regent or chief adviser to the Emperor). Meanwhile, her imina (personal name), 'Sadako,' is thought to have been determined at that time.
After the Toyotomi family was ruined in 1615, she became an adopted daughter of her mother's husband, Hidetada TOKUGAWA. She also served as a precious mediator for the Tokugawa family between court nobles and warriors, since Sadako's mother, Go, had married into the Tokugawa family.
She died in 1658 at 67 years of age.
Remarks
She is also said to have married Hidenobu ODA, but that assertion is often contradicted due to a mismatch in the timeline.
Tsuruhime (Renteiin), the second daughter between Katsuhime (Tensuin) and Tadanao MATSUDAIRA, married Michifusa, a legitimate son, as an adopted daughter of Iemitsu.
There were several children between Sadako and Yukiie, and those children are thought to have been descended from the Toyotomi family. For that reason, Yukiie's family line is thought to be closer to the main branch of the Toyotomi family after the ruin of the Toyotomi clan. Those children married into the Asano family, and therefore the Asano family was also descended from the Toyotomi family.
Meanwhile, for the reasons stated above, Emperor Showa is descended from her.
TOYOTOMI no Sadako - Michifusa KUJO - 九条待姫 - Sukezane KUJO - Yukinori KUJO - Munemoto NIJO - Harutaka NIJO – Hisatada KUJO - Michitaka KUJO - Empress Teimei - Emperor Showa