Hirosawa no tsubone (広沢局)

Hirosawa no tsubone (1572 - 1637) was a daughter of Tsunemasa NAGOYA who was the lord of Kakizoe-jo Castle in Hizen Province, and one of the Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI's concubines. Her name was Hiroko (広子).

Hiroko (広子) was still unmarried at the age of 20, she became a concubine of Hideyoshi who came to Nagoya-jo Castle for the Bunroku-Keicho War in April, 1592.

After that, Hideyoshi built Kotaku-ji Temple in a corner of Yamazato-maru. It is said that Hirosawa no tsubone enshrined an image of Buddha there, as a token of gratitude for cure of her eye disease, which led the building of Kotaku-ji Temple. After he went back to Osaka in August, 1593, he never returned to Nagoya-jo Castle.

In 1598, Hirosawa no tsubone was still living in Yamazato-maru of Nagoya-jo Castle, however, when Hideyoshi died in August, and, since her brother, Tsunenobu NAGOYA, had already died, she entered the nunhood. She died in 1637.

[Original Japanese]