was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the eighth shà Âgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yoshimune is known for repealing the ban on Western literature.
Yoshimune was not the son of any former shà Âgun. Rather, he was a member of a cadet branch of the Tokugawa clan. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, well aware of the extinction of the Minamoto line in 1219, had realized that his direct descendants might die out, leaving the Tokugawa family at risk of extinction. Thus, while his son Tokugawa Hidetada was the second shà Âgun, he selected three other sons to establish the gosanke, hereditary houses which would provide a shà Âgun if there were no male heir. The three gosanke were the Owari, Kii, and Mito branches.
Yoshimune was from the branch of Kii. The founder of the Kii house was one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's sons, Tokugawa Yorinobu. Ieyasu appointed him daimyà  of Kii. Yorinobu's son, Tokugawa Mitsusada, succeeded him. Two of Mitsusada's sons succeeded him, and when they died, Tokugawa Yoshimune, Mitsusada's fourth son, became daimyà  of Kii in 1705. Later, he became shà Âgun.
Yoshimune was closely related to the Tokugawa shà Âguns. His grandfather, Tokugawa Yorinobu, was a brother of second shà Âgun Tokugawa Hidetada, while Yoshimune's father, Tokugawa Mitsusada, was a first cousin of third shà Âgun Tokugawa Iemitsu. Yoshimune thus was a second cousin to the fourth and fifth shà Âguns (both brothers) Tokugawa Ietsuna and Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, as well as a second cousin to Tokugawa Tsunashige, whose son became shà Âgun Tokugawa Ienobu.
Tokugawa Yoshimune was born in 1684 in the rich Kii Province, a region which was then ruled by his father, Tokugawa Mitsusada. Yoshimune's childhood name was Tokugawa Genroku (徳巠æºÂå Â). At that time, his second cousin Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was ruling in Edo as shà Âgun. Kii was a rich region of over 500,000 koku, but it was still in debt and had a lot to pay back to the shogunate.
In 1697, Genroku underwent the rites of passage and took the name Tokugawa Shinnosuke (徳巠æ°ä¹Âå©). In 1705, when Shinnosuke was just 21 years old, his father Mitsusada and two older brothers died. Thus, the ruling shà Âgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi appointed him daimyà  of Kii. He took the name Tokugawa Yorikata (é ¼æ¹) and began to administer the province. Nonetheless, great financial debt which the domain had owed to the shogunate since his father's and even grandfather's time continued to burden the finances. What made things worse was that in 1707, a tsunami destroyed and killed many in the coastal areas of Kii Province. Yorikata did his best to try to stabilize things in Kii, but relied on leadership from Edo.
In 1712, Shogun Ienobu died, and was succeeded by his son, the boy-shà Âgun Tokugawa Ietsugu. Yorikata decided that he could not rely on conservative Confucianists like Arai Hakuseki in Edo and did what he could to stabilize Kii Domain. Before he could implement changes, shà Âgun Ietsugu died in early 1716. He was only seven years old, and died without an heir. The bakufu thus selected the next shà Âgun from one of the cadet lines.
Yoshimune succeeded to the post of the shà Âgun in Shà Âtoku-1 (1716). His term as shà Âgun lasted for 30 years. He is considered among the best of the Tokugawa shà Âguns.
Yoshimune established the gosankyà  to augment (or perhaps to replace) the gosanke. Two of his sons, together with the second son of his successor Ieshige, became the founders of the Tayasu, Hitotsubashi and Shimizu lines. Unlike the gosanke, they did not rule domains. Still, they remained prominent until the end of Tokugawa rule, and some later shà Âguns were chosen from the Hitotsubashi line.
Yoshimune is known for his financial reforms. He dismissed the conservative adviser Arai Hakuseki and he began what would come to be known as the Kyà Âhà  Reforms.
Yoshimune also tried to resurrect the Japanese swordsmithing tradition. Since the beginning of the Edo period, it was quite difficult for smiths to make a living and to be supported by daimyà Âs, because of the lack of funds. But Yoshimune was quite unhappy with this situation, causing a decline of skills. And so, he gathered smiths from daimyà  fiefs for a great contest, in 1721. The four winners who emerged were all great masters, Mondo no Shà  Masakiyo (主水æ£æ£渠), Ippei Yasuyo (ä¸Âå¹³å®Â代), the 4th generation Nanki Shigekuni (Ã¥ÂÂç´ÂéÂÂå½) and Nobukuni Shigekane (ä¿¡å½éÂÂå ). But it did not work well to arouse interest, quite like tournaments in modern Japan.
Yoshimune also ordered the compilation of Kyà Âhà  Meibutsu Chà  (享ä¿ÂÃ¥ÂÂç©帳), listing the best and most famous swords all over Japan. This book allowed the beginning of the Shinshintà  period of Nihontà  history, and indirectly contributed to the Gassan school, who protected the Nihontà  tradition before and after the surrender of Japan.
Although foreign books had been strictly forbidden since 1640, Yoshimune relaxed the rules in 1720, starting an influx of foreign books and their translations into Japan, and initiating the development of Western studies, or rangaku. Yoshimune's relaxation of the rules may have been influenced by a series of lectures delivered before him by the astronomer and philosopher Nishikawa Joken. Engravement or official sanction of Chinese medical volume Taiping HuìmÃÂn Héjì JúfÃÂng ãÂÂ太平æµæ°ÂÃ¥ÂÂå¤å±Âæ¹ã appears to have happened around this time.
In 1745, Yoshimune retired, took the title à Âgosho and left his public post to his oldest son. The title is the one that Tokugawa Ieyasu took on retirement in favor of his son Hidetada, who in turn took the same title on his retirement.
Yoshimune died on the 20th day of the 5th month of the year Kan'en-4 (12 July 1751). His Buddhist name was Yutokuin and he was buried in Kan'ei-ji.
The years in which Yoshimune was shà Âgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengà Â.