Children Iefusa Tokugawa Role Political figure Education University of Tokyo | Name Iemasa Tokugawa Parents Tokugawa Iesato | |
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Born March 23, 1884 ( 1884-03-23 ) Tokyo, Japan Spouse(s) daughter of Shimazu Tadayoshi Died February 18, 1963, Shibuya, Tokyo City, Tokyo, Japan Similar People Tokugawa Iesato, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Danshi Tatekawa, Masajiro Kojima, Kinoshita Rigen | ||
Prince Tokugawa Iemasa (徳川 家正, March 23, 1884 – February 18, 1963) was a Japanese political figure of the Taisho and early Showa periods. He was the 17th hereditary head of the former shogunal branch of the Tokugawa clan and the final President of the House of Peers in the Diet of Japan.
Biography
Tokugawa Iemasa was born in what is now the Sendagaya district of Tokyo, as the eldest son of Tokugawa Iesato. He graduated from the law school of Tokyo Imperial University 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 1937-1939 served as the Japanese ambassador to Turkey.
In 1940, on the death of his father, he inherited the title of koshaku (公爵, prince) under the kazoku peerage system, and a seat as a member of the House of Peers of the Diet of Japan. On June 19, 1946, he served as the President of the House of Peers, a post which he held until May 2, 1947, when the Allied occupation authorities authorized the current Constitution of Japan abolishing the House of Peers.
He died of heart disease at his home in Shibuya, Tokyo on February 18, 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 Tokugawa Tsunenari.