Episode 381 – The Three Daughters of Azai, Part 2

March 12, 2021 1 Comment

This week, we cover the rest of the lives of Sugen’in, Joko’in, and Yodo-dono (and some other really fascinating incidental lives, like Hideyoshi’s wife Kodai’in), and ask: what can we learn from these often overlooked narratives?

 

Sources

Kitagawa, Tomoko. Kitanomandokoro: A Lady Samurai Behind the Shadow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. MA Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2006.

Butler, Lee. Emperor and Aristocracy in Japan, 1467-1680: Resilience and Renewal.

Lillehoj, Elizabeth. Art and Palace Politics in Early Modern Japan, 1580s-1680s.

Boscaro, Adriana. “An Introduction to the Private Correspondence of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.” Monumenta Nipponica 27 No 4( Winter, 1972).

Sekiguchi, Sumiko and Michael Burtscher. “Gender in the Meiji Rennovation: Confucian ‘Lessons for Women’ and the Making of Modern Japan.” Social Science Japan Journal 11, No 2 (Winter, 2008).

An article covering a recently-unearthed letter from Hideyoshi to Yodo-dono, from Nippon.com.

Images

Sugen’in, as the wife of Hidetada, would exert tremendous influence over her husband and become one of the most powerful people in the new Tokugawa order.
Joko’in during her time as a nun.
Yodo-dono, as depicted by the Meiji era woodblock artist Yoshitoshi.
A stone marker on the grounds of Osaka castle commemorating the suicides of Yodo-dono and Toyotomi Hideyori.

 

1 thought on “Episode 381 – The Three Daughters of Azai, Part 2”

  1. I always knew her by her name Nene because of Nene no Michi. Never heard her called Kodai-in.

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