Senhime
Senhime or Princess Sen (千姫) was the eldest daughter of the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada and his wife Oeyo. She was born during the warring-states period of Japanese history. Her paternal grandfather was the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate Tokugawa Ieyasu; her maternal grandfather was Azai Nagamasa; her mother's mother was Oichi, whose brother was Oda Nobunaga. The date of her birth is unknown, however a proposed birth date is in the year 1596.
The Life of Senhime
When Senhime was seven years old, she married the successor to the Toyotomi clan, Toyotomi Hideyori and lived with him in Osaka Castle, along with his mother, Lady Yodo, who was a sister of Oeyo. Little is known about their life together, but it didn't last long as her grandfather, Ieyasu, besieged the castle in 1615 when she was just nineteen. When Osaka castle fell, Hideyori was forced to commit suicide along with his mother. Senhime was luckier and had been rescued by a man named Sakazaki Naomori Dewanokami because her grandfather had said that whoever rescued her could have her as his wife.
Despite this promise Senhime married Honda Tadatoki, the son of Honda Tadakatsu, and moved to Himeji.
Tadatoki's wife
Senhime and Tadatoki had an amicable marriage and had two children together, a daughter, Katsuhime and a son, Kochiyo. However tragedy struck when Kochiyo died at the age of three, and soon after that Tadatoki died of tuberculosis. His mother also died, and Oeyo (then known as Sūgen'in) died in the same year. As was the tradition for a widow at that time, Senhime cut her hair short and became a Buddhist nun, taking the name Tenjuin.
The date of Senhime's death is unknown.
Impact on Culture
Although Senhime was not one of the most famous figures in Japanese history, there is a tower in Himeji called Cosmetic/Vanity Tower which is dedicated to Senhime. It was said that this was where she rested and offered her prayers. It is a historical building and the only part of the palace where Senhime lived that still exists.
Senhime figures prominently in jidaigeki and taiga dorama in Japan.