TV-Series
Description
Born in 1528 to Mikawa Province lord Mizuno Tadamasa, Odai entered a turbulent political landscape. Her 1541 marriage to Matsudaira Hirotada produced their son Tokugawa Ieyasu (then named Matsudaira Takechiyo) at Okazaki Castle in 1543, amid persistent conflicts between the Matsudaira clan and rivals like the Oda and Imagawa.
Her brother Mizuno Nobumoto's 1544 alliance with the Oda clan and betrayal of the Matsudaira-Imagawa pact forced Hirotada to divorce Odai to preserve ties with the Imagawa. She returned to her family's Kariya Castle, separated from her young son who became a political hostage, ending direct contact.
Odai remarried Hisamatsu Toshikatsu, lord of Agoya Castle, in 1547, bearing him three sons and three daughters. Despite physical separation, she maintained written communication with Ieyasu. Following Ieyasu's 1560 alliance with Oda Nobunaga and independence from the Imagawa, they formally reunited. Ieyasu integrated her three sons from her second marriage into his service, granting them the Matsudaira name and positions as retainers.
After Toshikatsu's death, Odai became a Buddhist nun, taking the name Denzu-in, and remained engaged in political affairs during Ieyasu's ascendancy. In 1602, after the Battle of Sekigahara secured Tokugawa dominance, she journeyed to Kyoto to meet Emperor Go-Yōzei and Kodai-in (widow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi), demonstrating the Tokugawa clan's peaceful intentions toward the Toyotomi. She died later that year at Fushimi Castle, buried at Denzu-in Temple in Edo.
Her legacy includes the posthumous Junior First Rank court title conferred in 1850 and annual commemorations like the "Odai Festival" in her birthplace, Higashiura.
Her brother Mizuno Nobumoto's 1544 alliance with the Oda clan and betrayal of the Matsudaira-Imagawa pact forced Hirotada to divorce Odai to preserve ties with the Imagawa. She returned to her family's Kariya Castle, separated from her young son who became a political hostage, ending direct contact.
Odai remarried Hisamatsu Toshikatsu, lord of Agoya Castle, in 1547, bearing him three sons and three daughters. Despite physical separation, she maintained written communication with Ieyasu. Following Ieyasu's 1560 alliance with Oda Nobunaga and independence from the Imagawa, they formally reunited. Ieyasu integrated her three sons from her second marriage into his service, granting them the Matsudaira name and positions as retainers.
After Toshikatsu's death, Odai became a Buddhist nun, taking the name Denzu-in, and remained engaged in political affairs during Ieyasu's ascendancy. In 1602, after the Battle of Sekigahara secured Tokugawa dominance, she journeyed to Kyoto to meet Emperor Go-Yōzei and Kodai-in (widow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi), demonstrating the Tokugawa clan's peaceful intentions toward the Toyotomi. She died later that year at Fushimi Castle, buried at Denzu-in Temple in Edo.
Her legacy includes the posthumous Junior First Rank court title conferred in 1850 and annual commemorations like the "Odai Festival" in her birthplace, Higashiura.