Tokugawa Masako

, also known as Kazu-ko, was the Empress consort of Japan as wife of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. She was a prominent and influential figure the Imperial-shogunate ties and relations, because of her collaboration with her parents Oeyo and Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shōgun of the Edo period. History 1620 (Genna 6): Masako entered the palace as a consort of the Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Although there was already a concubine for Go-Mizunoo, the marriage to Masako was celebrated with great pomp. 1624: Masako is granted the title of chūgū (中宮), indicating she was a second legitimate wife and therefore an established Empress Consort. She is the first consort to hold this title since the reign of Emperor Go-Hanazono. 1629: When the Emperor Go-Mizunoo abdicated in 1629, Masako took the title and name of . Masako's daughter, Imperial Princess Onna-Ichi-no-miya Okiko, succeeded her father. She ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne as Empress Meishō. Meishō would be succeeded by two of her half-brothers, who would later become known as Emperor Go-Kōmyō and Emperor Go-Sai. Both had been brought up by Masako as if they were her own sons.