Tokugawa clan looks to slam the gate on future chief’s marriage to foreigner

Modern day members of the Tokugawa clan—the xenophobic dynasty of Shoguns that shut Japan off from the world for centuries—are up in arms because the man set to one day become head of the family has married a non-Japanese. Iehiro Tokugawa, who is poised to one day become the 19th head of the clan that ruled the country as Shoguns from 1603 to 1868 and maintained a rigid ban on foreigners entering Japan, has tied the knot with a Vietnamese woman.

But his father, Tsunenari, the current clan chief, is among the members of the family who are supposed to be outraged that the most Japanese of non-Imperial families is about to receive an injection of non-Yamato blood.

Iehiro Tokugawa graduated from posh Keio University before completing a doctorate of economics at Michigan University. He went off to work for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, spending time at its Rome headquarters before being transferred to its Hanoi branch. The 42-year-old heir apparent of the Shogun’s dynastic name now works as a translator.

It’s not really fair to say that the Tokugawa clan was xenophobic. The first two shoguns had few problems with foreigners, and it wasn’t until the third shogun and the Shimabara Rebellion that Japan’s ruling warlord dynasty became wary of the gaijin.

The opposition of the clan boss to the union has not deterred the loving couple. “They actually registered their marriage a year ago,” the friend says. “They’ve tried countless times to get his parents to approve their marriage, but the parents have steadfastly refused. It’s more convenient for her to be married if she’s in Japan, so they formalized their bond. Iehiro has often said he’s going to have a big wedding ceremony in the spring of next year.”

Even if the couple is actually married as the friend claims, Iehiro Tokunaga’s worries don’t stop there. “Only a few very close friends and relatives actually know about the marriage. And they haven’t reported it to anyone in the Tokugawa clan. He’s gonna face huge problems if their marriage goes public,” the friend says.

All power to Iehiro as he drags his family kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

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