The family was originally founded by
Tokugawa Yoshinao, the ninth son of
Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yoshinao was originally named
Matsudaira Yoshitoshi (松平義利); it was not until 1621 that he changed his name to Yoshinao, and later gained the surname Tokugawa in 1636; the family, along with Kishu-Tokugawa family (descendants of
Tokugawa Yorinobu, Yoshinao's half-brother), had succession right to the
shōgun once the latter died without heir. For over 250 years, the Owari family ruled
Owari Domain, the area surrounding present day
Nagoya,
Aichi Prefecture, using
Nagoya Castle as its main base. Other residences were the
Ōzone Oshitayashiki, the
Aoi Oshitayashiki (both in the Higashi ward of the town), as well as the New Palace ((新御殿
Shin Goten) in
Horibata-chō, Nagoya. The treasures of the Owari are kept in the
Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya. Despite having seniority of the Tokugawa clan, there were no
shōguns that came from the Owari-Tokugawa family throughout the
Edo period.
Tokugawa Muneharu, the 7th head of Owari-Tokugawa family, was forced to retire in 1739 because of his policy dispute with
Tokugawa Yoshimune; Muneharu was then replaced by his cousin
Munekatsu. As such, the Owari-Tokugawa family had since been kept in existence through repeated adoptions from the two remaining houses, from Kishu and
Mito-Tokugawa family. After the
Meiji Restoration, in 1880,
Tokugawa Yoshikatsu appointed his son-in-law, , as his heir (
mukoyōshi, "adopted son-in-law"); Yoshiakira was later recognized as the
kazoku and became a marquis in 1884. The mukoyōshi adoption of the Owari-Tokugawa happened again twice, once to
Yoshichika in 1908 and the other to Yoshinobu in 1955; Yoshinobu was born a member of the
Hotta clan instead of the Tokugawa.
Kenchū-ji is a
Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in Tsutsui,
Higashi-ku, Nagoya. Starting in the
Edo period it became the
Bodaiji of the family, with numerous heads of the clan cremated there. The family branch was the largest owner of land due to its senior position within the Shogunate. For an overview see
list of Owari Tokugawa residences. ==Family tree==