Iemasa Tokugawa was born in what is now the
Sendagaya district of Tokyo, as the eldest son of
Tokugawa Iesato and his wife,
Konoe Hiroko, daughter of
Konoe Tadafusa. He graduated from the
Faculty of Law at
Tokyo Imperial University (the University of Tokyo) in 1909, and accepted a post in the diplomatic corps of
Foreign Ministry the same year. In 1924, he was appointed
Consul-general to the Japanese consulate in
Sydney,
Australia. In 1929, he was appointed
Envoy to
Canada and from 1937 to 1939 served as the Japanese ambassador to
Turkey. Iemasa often allied with his father
Prince Tokugawa Iesato (aka Prince Iyesato Tokugawa) in promoting international goodwill projects between Japan and Europe, Canada, and United States. The Art of Peace book cover photo illustration presents Iemasa accompanying his father as his father receives an honorary doctor of laws degree from the president of the
University of Southern California in 1934. During that same year, on 10 May 1934, Iyemasa was also recognized for his humanitarian and goodwill diplomatic efforts by a prominent North American University and was given an honorary doctor of laws degree from the
University of British Columbia in Canada. In 1940, on the death of his father, he inherited the title of
kōshaku (, 'prince' or 'duke') under the
kazoku peerage system, and a seat as a member of the
House of Peers of the
Diet of Japan. On 19 June 1946, he served as the President of the House of Peers, a post which he held until 2 May 1947, when the
Allied occupation authorities authorized the current
Constitution of Japan abolishing the House of Peers along with the
Nobility. He died of
heart disease at his home in
Shibuya, Tokyo, on 18 February 1963, and was posthumously awarded the
Order of the Rising Sun with
Paulownia Flowers, 1st class. His grave is located at the Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo. He was succeeded as head of the Tokugawa clan by
Tsunenari Tokugawa, his grandson from
Yasuko Tokugawa with
Matsudaira Ichiro, son of
Tsuneo Matsudaira. ==Family==