Asahi no kata (æÂÂæÂ¥ã®æ¹, 1543 â February 18, 1590) was a Japanese aristocrat of the Sengoku period. She was a half-sister of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and wife of Tokugawa Ieyasu, two of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan. Apart from "Asahi no kata", she is also known as Suruga Gozen (駿河御åÂÂ) and Asahi-hime (æÂÂæ¥姫), though none of these are personal names, which roughly translate to "the person of Asahi", "the Lady Suruga", or "Princess Asahi", respectively.
In 1543, Asahihime was born as the daughter of à Âmandokoro and Chikuami, a farmer in Owari Province.àAlong with the rise of Hideyoshi under Oda Nobunaga, her husband was elevated to the status of a bushi and adopted the name of Saji Hyà «ga-no-kami.
Asahi no kata was first married to Saji Hyà «ga no kami, but when her brother Toyotomi Hideyoshi wished to make peace with Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, Hideyoshi expressed interest in marrying her to Ieyasu. In 1586, the retainers of Oda Nobukatsu were dispatched as messengers to Yoshida in Mikawa and, via Sakai Tadatsugu, proposed a marriage to appease Tokugawa Ieyasu.àIeyasu accepted the proposal and sent Sakakibara Yasumasa as his representative to Kyà Âto to exchange betrothal gifts.
As a result, Saji Hyà «ga committed suicide, in order to not pose an obstacle to such a powerful political marriage, and the two were married soon afterwards.
Asahihime departed from à Âsaka Castle and went to Hideyoshi's formal residence in Kyà Âto known as jurakutei.àIn the fifth month, a wedding procession departed from the capital with over 150 participants including Asano Nagamasa and others famous warlords.àDuring the procession, retainers of Nobukatsu including Oda Nagamasu also joined. Days later, the procession reached Nishino in Mikawa, and, in May 14, arrived in Hamamatsu whereupon she was married into the Tokugawa family as the formal (second) wife of Ieyasu.àAt this time, Ieyasu was forty-five years old and Asahihime was forty-four.àThereafter, Asahihime kept a residence in Fuchà « in Suruga so she was referred to as Suruga Gozen.
Even after completion of the wedding ceremony, Ieyasu did not go to Kyà Âto so, on the premise that à Âmandokoro would visit Suruga Gozen in Okazaki, she further became a hostage, whereupon Ieyasu went to Kyà Âto and entered into a peace arrangement with Hideyoshi.
In 1588, Suruga Gozen visited Kyà Âto to visit her ill mother, but, before long, she began to recover, so, on September, she returned to Suruga.àIt is not certain when she went to Kyà Âto again, but while residing in Hideyoshi's residence, she fell ill in the first month of 1590, and died on January at the age of forty-seven.
Around this time, Ieyasu was preparing for an expedition known as the Conquest of Odawara, and, while concealing his mourning, interred her at the Tà Âfuku Temple in Kyà Âto.àSuffering from ill health in her later years, Suruga Gozen became a follower of the Rinzai sect of Buddhism, and her posthumous name is Nanmei-in.ÃÂ
A memorial tower was built at the Tà Âfuku Temple so that Ieyasu could pay tribute to her after her death.àThis is the family temple for the Tokugawa shà Âgun family where her portrait is kept. Ieyasu also had built a grave at the Zuiryà « Temple on Mount Taiun in Sunpu.àHideyoshi visited this site to pay his respects while en route on the Conquest of Odawara.àA memorial tower was constructed for memorial services and he donated lands to the temple.
Tokugawa and his new wife visited her mother when she fell ill in 1589; the mother of Asahi no kata and Hideyoshi died the following year, as did Asahi no kata herself.