The Young & Headless

The Young & Headless

At the age of seven, Toyotomi Hideyori was under attack from his father's longtime nemesis. Even so, in 1603 a political marriage was made between Hideyori and Tokugawa's granddaughter, the six-year-old Senhime. Senhime and Hideyori endured a precarious existence in Osaka Castle but had a son in 1608, thus binding the two most powerful clans in Japan. However, in 1615 Senhime's restive father, Tokugawa Hidetata, came to challenge his coming-of-age rival. Senhime was removed to Tokyo, where in vain she pleaded for clemency to save Hideyori's life. With no hope of victory, Hideyori and his cohort performed ritual suicide and sent the castle up in flames. The ill-fated Kunimatsu, who was to head the new Toyotomi-Tokugawa dynasty, was taken by Tokugawa troops and beheaded. Senhime spent her later years as a Buddhist nun and died aged 69 in Tokyo.