# Senhime

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Eldest daughter of Japanese samurai, daimyo and shogun Tokugawa Hidetada (1597–1666)

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Portrait of Senhime

**Senhime** (千姫; Japanese pronunciation: [\[seɰ̃.çi.me\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Japanese),[1] 26 May[a] 1597 – 11 March[b] 1666), or **Lady Sen**, was the eldest daughter of the [samurai](/source/Samurai), [daimyo](/source/Daimyo) and *[shōgun](/source/Sh%C5%8Dgun)* [Tokugawa Hidetada](/source/Tokugawa_Hidetada) and later the wife of [Toyotomi Hideyori](/source/Toyotomi_Hideyori). She was remarried to [Honda Tadatoki](/source/Honda_Tadatoki) after the death of her first husband. Following the death of her second husband, she later became a [Buddhist](/source/Buddhist) nun under the name of **Tenjuin** (天樹院).

## Biography

### Early life

She was born in 1597 as the eldest daughter of the then-[daimyo](/source/Daimyo) and later *[shōgun](/source/Sh%C5%8Dgun)* [Tokugawa Hidetada](/source/Tokugawa_Hidetada) and his wife [Oeyo](/source/Oeyo) during the [Warring-States period](/source/Sengoku_period) of [Japanese history](/source/History_of_Japan). Her paternal grandfather was the founder of the [Tokugawa shogunate](/source/Tokugawa_shogunate), [Tokugawa Ieyasu](/source/Tokugawa_Ieyasu); her maternal grandfather was [Azai Nagamasa](/source/Azai_Nagamasa); her grandmother was [Oichi](/source/Oichi), whose brother was [Oda Nobunaga](/source/Oda_Nobunaga). When she was six or seven, her grandfather wanted her to marry [Toyotomi Hideyori](/source/Toyotomi_Hideyori), who was the son of [Toyotomi Hideyoshi](/source/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi).

In 1603, when Senhime was seven years old, she married the successor to the Toyotomi clan, [Toyotomi Hideyori](/source/Toyotomi_Hideyori) and lived with him in [Osaka Castle](/source/Osaka_Castle) along with his mother, [Lady Yodo](/source/Lady_Yodo), who was a sister of [Oeyo](/source/Oeyo), Senhime's mother and accompanied by her wet-nurse, [Gyōbukyō no Tsubone](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gy%C5%8Dbuky%C5%8D_no_Tsubone&action=edit&redlink=1) [[ja](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%88%91%E9%83%A8%E5%8D%BF%E5%B1%80)]. The marital relationship was recorded as good, but they were unable to have children.[2] Her grandfather [Tokugawa Ieyasu](/source/Tokugawa_Ieyasu), [besieged the castle](/source/Siege_of_Osaka) in 1615, when she was nineteen. When Osaka castle fell, [Hideyori](/source/Toyotomi_Hideyori) committed ritual suicide beside his [mother](/source/Yodo-Dono), his [son](/source/Toyotomi_Kunimatsu) was executed at the age of 7 years old. Senhime was rescued from the castle before it fell. Senhime also saved Hideyori's daughter with another woman, Tenshuni, and later adopted her.

### Tadatoki's wife

Senhime and [Honda Heihachirō](/source/Honda_Tadamasa), a 17th-century depiction, [Tokugawa Art Museum](/source/Tokugawa_Art_Museum), Nagoya

In 1616, Ieyasu remarried Senhime to [Honda Tadatoki](/source/Honda_Tadatoki), a grandson of [Honda Tadakatsu](/source/Honda_Tadakatsu), and in few years she moved to [Himeji](/source/Himeji). [Honda Tadatoki](/source/Honda_Tadatoki)'s mother, Kumahime, was the daughter of [Matsudaira Nobuyasu](/source/Matsudaira_Nobuyasu) and hence a granddaughter of Ieyasu.

A famous legend tells that a certain [Sakazaki Naomori](/source/Sakazaki_Naomori) planned to capture Senhime just before her remarriage, wishing to marry her himself. However his plan was revealed and Naomori was either killed or forced to commit suicide. It was long believed that Naomori was the one who saved Senhime out from the Osaka Castle, believing the words of Tokugawa Ieyasu that he would give Senhime to whoever rescued her, though recently this has been doubted. Stories tell that Senhime refused to marry Naomori, whose face was disfigured because of the burn he received when he saved her, and preferred the handsome Tadatoki.

Senhime and Tadatoki had an amicable marriage and had two children together: a daughter, Katsuhime (勝姫), and a son, Kōchiyo (幸千代). However tragedy struck when her son died at the age of three, and five years later in 1626, her husband died of [tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis). Her mother, Oeyo (then known as Sūgen'in) died in the same year. As was the tradition for a widow at that time, Senhime cut her hair short and became a [Buddhist](/source/Buddhist) nun, taking the name **Tenjuin** (天樹院), moved back to [Edo](/source/Edo) and spent the rest of her life there. After [Tokugawa Ietsuna](/source/Tokugawa_Ietsuna)'s adoptive mother, Oman no Kata (known as [Eikōin](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eik%C5%8Din&action=edit&redlink=1) [[ja](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B8%E5%85%89%E9%99%A2)]) died, Tenjuin become Ietsuna's adoptive mother.

## Family

- Father: [Tokugawa Hidetada](/source/Tokugawa_Hidetada) (1581–1632)

- Mother: [Oeyo](/source/Oeyo) (1573–1626)

- Husbands: - [Toyotomi Hideyori](/source/Toyotomi_Hideyori) (1593–1615) - [Honda Tadatoki](/source/Honda_Tadatoki) (1596–1626)

- Children: - [Katsuhime](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Katsuhime&action=edit&redlink=1) (b. 1618) married [Ikeda Mitsumasa](/source/Ikeda_Mitsumasa) - [Kochiyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kochiyo&action=edit&redlink=1) (1619–1621)

## Impact on culture

*Keshō yagura* (Dressing Tower) of [Himeji Castle](/source/Himeji_Castle), attributed to her

Senhime's grave at [Chion-in](/source/Chion-in), Kyōto

The dramatic life of Senhime produced many legends. Some legends talk about her tenderness, such as how she saved a daughter of her husband Hideyori and another wife of him at the Siege of Osaka. Some other tell her lecherousness during her later days at Edo. Today, Senhime figures prominently in *[jidaigeki](/source/Jidaigeki)* and *[taiga dorama](/source/Taiga_dorama)* ([period dramas](/source/Period_dramas)) in Japan.

Senhime is also a beloved figure in Himeji. Shortly after her marriage to Honda Tadatoki, they moved to [Himeji Castle](/source/Himeji_Castle), a present-day world heritage site whose west wing was mostly constructed at that time. Most of the west wing is lost now, but a tower called *keshō yagura* (Dressing Tower) remains, where it is believed that her dressing chambers were.

Senhime appeared in the concluding storyline of the semi-fictional video game *[Kessen](/source/Kessen)*. In the final [cutscene](/source/Cutscene) she laments to Ieyasu about the tragedy of war and the death of Hideyori, Ieyasu comforts her and replies that the people of Japan will once again live in peace and praises Hideyori for his duty as a samurai by committing [seppuku](/source/Seppuku).

Senhime also appeared in a 1962 movie *[Senhime to Hideyori](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Senhime_to_Hideyori&action=edit&redlink=1)*, starring [Hibari Misora](/source/Hibari_Misora) as Senhime. The film begins from the siege and fall of Osaka castle and tells the fictionalized story of Senhime's later years after the death of Hideyori till her final confinement to the Buddhist temple. A more historical film about Senhime and the siege of Osaka Castle appeared in the mid-1950s entitled *Princess Senhime*, with [Machiko Kyō](/source/Machiko_Ky%C5%8D) in the title role.

Senhime appears in the 1955 historical novel *[Yodo-dono nikki](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yodo-dono_nikki&action=edit&redlink=1)* by [Yasushi Inoue](/source/Yasushi_Inoue).

## Literature

- Motoo, Hinago (1986). *Japanese Castles*. Tokyo: Kodansha. pp. 111–114. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-87011-766-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87011-766-1).

## Family tree

Tokugawa Ieyasu Azai Nagamasa Oichi Oda Nobunaga Tokugawa Hidetada Oeyo Ohatsu Yodo-dono Toyotomi Hideyoshi One Tokugawa Iemitsu Senhime Toyotomi Hideyori

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** 11 April in the old calendar

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** 6 February in the old calendar

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Kindaichi, Haruhiko](/source/Haruhiko_Kindaichi); Akinaga, Kazue, eds. (10 March 2025). 新明解日本語アクセント辞典 (in Japanese) (2nd ed.). [Sanseidō](/source/Sanseid%C5%8D).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["千姫と秀頼の新婚生活は、はじめはママゴトのようなものだったが、年月が経つにつれ、仲睦まじいものになっていったという。"](https://president.jp/articles/-/7813?page=1). PRESIDENT Online. 18 November 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2024.

## External links

Media related to [Senhime](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Senhime) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Prominent people of the Sengoku and Azuchi–Momoyama periods Emperor Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei Three major daimyō Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiharu Ashikaga Yoshiteru Ashikaga Yoshihide Ashikaga Yoshiaki Tokugawa Hidetada Other daimyō Amago Tsunehisa Amago Haruhisa Asakura Yoshikage Ashina Moriuji Akechi Mitsuhide Azai Nagamasa Chōsokabe Motochika Date Terumune Date Masamune Hatakeyama Yoshitaka Honda Tadakatsu Hōjō Sōun Hōjō Ujimasa Hōjō Ujiyasu Ii Naomasa Imagawa Yoshimoto Imagawa Ujizane Isshiki Yoshimichi Itō Yoshisuke Kitabatake Tomonori Kuroda Nagamasa Matsunaga Hisahide Miyoshi Nagayoshi Mogami Yoshiaki Mōri Motonari Ōuchi Yoshitaka Ōuchi Yoshinaga Ōtomo Sōrin Rokkaku Yoshikata Ryūzōji Takanobu Saitō Dōsan Saitō Yoshitatsu Sakai Tadatsugu Sakakibara Yasumasa Satomi Yoshitaka Sanada Yukitaka Sanada Masayuki Sanada Nobuyuki Satake Yoshishige Sagara Yoshihi Shimazu Yoshihisa Shimazu Yoshihiro Tachibana Dōsetsu Takeda Nobutora Takeda Shingen Tōdō Takatora Uesugi Kagekatsu Uesugi Kenshin Uesugi Norimasa Ukita Naoie Uragami Munekage Yamana Toyokuni Yamana Suketoyo Swordsmen Marume Nagayoshi Hikita Bungorō Kamiizumi Nobutsuna Miyamoto Musashi Mizuno Katsushige Sasaki Kojirō Tadashima Akiyama Tsukahara Bokuden Tsutsumi Hōzan Yagyū Munenori Yagyū Munetoshi Shinmen Munisai Itō Ittōsai Advisers and strategists Kobayakawa Takakage Kuroda Yoshitaka Naoe Kanetsugu Takenaka Shigeharu Usami Sadamitsu Yamamoto Kansuke Ninja, rogues and mercenaries Mochizuki Chiyome Fūma Kotarō Hatsume no Tsubone Hattori Hanzō Ishikawa Goemon Katō Danzō Kirigakure Shikaemon Kōzuki Sasuke Nakamura Chōbei Ohama Kagetaka Sugitani Zenjūbō Saika Magoichi Suzuki Sadayu Suzuki Shigehide Suzuki Shigetomo Suzuki Magoroku Igasaki Dōshun Umemura Sawano Monks and other religious figures Ankokuji Ekei Hongan-ji Kennyo Hon'inbō Sansa Ishin Sūden Jion Koji Kashin Nankōbō Tenkai Rennyo Sessai Chōrō Shimozuma Chūkō Shimotsuma Rairen Shimozuma Rairyū Takuan Sōhō Female castellans Ashikaga Ujihime Chacha Miyohime Munakata Saikaku Ii Naotora Nene Onamihime Otazu no Kata Otsuya no Kata Seishin-ni Tachibana Ginchiyo Female warriors Akai Teruko Fujishiro Gozen Ichikawa no Tsubone Ikeda Sen Kaihime Kamehime Katakura Kita Katō Tsune Komatsuhime Kushihashi Teru Maeda Matsu Myōki Myōrin Numata Jakō Ōhōri Tsuruhime Okaji no Kata Okyō no Kata Omasa Oni Gozen Shigashi Shirai no Tsubone Ueno Tsuruhime Yuki no Kata Other women Lady Acha Akohime Asahihime Lady Chaa Chikurin-in Gōhime Lady Goryū Dota Gozen Gotokuhime Tsumaki Hiroko Lady Hayakawa Hosokawa Gracia Irohahime Izumo no Okuni Jukei-ni Shimazu Kameju Lady Kasuga Keigin-ni Kitsuno Konoe Sakiko Kōzōsu Kyōgoku Maria Kyōgoku Tatsuko Kyōun'in Matsuhime Megohime Lady Myōkyū Naitō Julia Lady Nata Nōhime Odai no Kata Oeyo Oichi Oinu Ohatsu Lady Ōkurakyo Ōmandokoro Ono Otsū Rikei Lady Saigō Lady Sanjō Seien-in Seikōin Senhime Sentōin Tobai-in Toyotomi Sadako Tomo Lady Toida Tokuhime Tōshōin Lady Tsukiyama Yamauchi Chiyo Yoshihime Yoshihiro Kikuhime Foreign people in Japan Alessandro Valignano Francis Xavier Gaspar Coelho Jacob Quaeckernaeck Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn Julia Ota Luís Fróis Soga Seikan Wakita Naokata Wang Zhi William Adams Yasuke See also List of samurai from the Sengoku period

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Senhime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senhime) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senhime?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.