Kasuga no Tsubone

Historical Image · Character Image

Kasuga no Tsubone is the nursing mother of the third shōgun of the Tokugawa Bakufu, Tokugawa Iemitsu (childhood name Takechiyo). Her real name is said to be Fuku.
Her father is the chief vassal of Akechi Mitsuhide, who defeated Oda Nobunaga at the Honnō-ji Incident, Saitō Toshimitsu.
Her mother is the daughter of Inaba Ittetsu, a commander who achieved many military exploits and was one of the Mino Triumvirate, Oan.
Toshimitsu was later defeated in battle and executed, but Fuku was accepted into the kuge¹: Sanjōu Nishike², which had a blood relationship with her mother, and was raised receiving a high-level education in song and calligraphy.
Later, Fuku married Inaba Masanari. Masanari is a commander that serves Toyotomi Hideoyshi, and that would later become Kobayakawa Hideaki’s chief vassal.
Kobayakawa Hideaki betrayed the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara and joined Tokugawa Ieyasu’s side, and led the Eastern Army to victory, but Hideaki passed away in the year 1602 and Masanari became a rōnin.
At that time, hearing the Bakufu was looking for a nursing mother for the second shōgun Hidetada’s legitimate son, Takechiyo, Fuku volunteered for it.
As a result, she won social status as the Tokugawa’s nursing mother.
It is said that Masanari’s merit of war and Fuku’s education, as well as the fact that she had delivered many healthy children and had a good production of milk, were the reasons for her being accepted.

Fuku brought up Takechiyo pouring all her love to make him a great shōgun, the heir of the Tokugawa, and Takechiyo became emotionally attached to Fuku.
However because of that, the relationship with his real mother, Oeyo no Kata, didn’t go well.
It is said that later, when Eyo no Kata gave birth to his little brother Kunimatsu, and tried to make Kunimatsu the successor,
Fuku directly appealed to the retired leading figure Tokugawa Ieyasu and took the pledge of 「Takechiyo is the heir」 (in posterior fiction).

But no matter what Fuku raised Takechiyo to become the great shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu.
Fuku, who had come to seize power as the shōgun’s Court lady with a private chamber, developed the world of「Ōoku」, whose system hadn’t been established that much despite having existed until then, and laid the foundations of Ōoku as 「a firm place (system) for the birth and protection of the heir of the Tokugawa」.

In 1629, as the relationship between the Bakufu and the Imperial Court deteriorated, the Bakufu dispatched Fuku, who had a connection with the Kuge · Sanjō Nishike.
That time, the title that was bestowed to Fuku, who achieved an audience with Emperor Go-mizu-no-O, was 「Kasuga no Tsubone」.

Character Image in “FateGO”

Always absurdly cheerful and vivid, Japan’s proud super-wet nurse.
Cleaning, washing, cooking and sewing, housework, childcare, and anything.
Since she raised the child of a military family, of course martial arts and horsemanship are her strong point!
She feels proud to have splendidly raised the heir of the Tokugawa,
and she wishes for the continuance of a proper Ōoku, in other words that the Tokugawa lineage can continue legitimately.
Of course, there is the natural reasoning that it must happen so peace and tranquility can continue.
As the woman of a military family that lost her family and was tossed about by a multitude of wars ———
She only wishes for a peaceful world.

Role within the Game

Appears in 「Tokugawa Kaiten Meikyū: Ōoku」.
At the beginning of the incident, she was already on the verge of existing only as a soul and disappearing.
She was saved by Parvati, who found her, and guided the protagonist and company renting her Saint Graph.

Translator’s Notes

1. ^ Kuge refers to the aristocracy dominating the Imperial Court.
2. ^ Sanjō Nishike is a branch of the Sanjō family. It was a daijinke, the third highest ranking of families among the kuge, with potential to become counselors or even inner ministers of the emperor.

At first I started drawing her thinking on making a form with a round and cute feeling. I remember asking Takeuchi-san or Koyama-san on countless occasions if it wasn’t wrong since I was insecure with the structure of the kimono. The pattern of the haori feels like it was cutely arranged like cherry blossoms or hearts. (Aotsuki Takao)