Muneyoshi was born on 31 May 1897, in the
Mito Tokugawa family's villa in Minami-Katsushika District, Tokyo Prefecture (now part of
Sumida Ward, Tokyo). He was the second son of the 12th head of the Mito Tokugawa family, Atsuyoshi Tokugawa. His mother was Tokugawa Soko. His birth name was Takanobu.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun, was his great-uncle. Tokugawa graduated from the Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture of the
Tokyo Imperial University in 1923. He later returned to his alma mater and earned a Doctorate of Agriculture in 1941. Tokugawa was defeated in the
1953 House of Councillors election. He served as Chief Priest of
Ise Shrine from 1966. After leaving that position in 1976, he was president of the
Association of Shinto Shrines until his death. ==References==