Nisshu (日秀)
Nisshu (born in 1534 and died on May 26, 1625) was a woman who lived from the Warring States period (in Japan) (the late Muromachi period) until the early Edo period. She was Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI's elder sister. Her mother and father were Omandokoro and Yaemon KINOSHITA. Her husband was Yoshifusa MIYOSHI. She was the mother of Hidetsugu TOYOTOMI, Hidekatsu TOYOTOMI and Hideyasu TOYOTOMI. Her personal name was Tomo or Tomoko, but she was commonly known as Munakumoni or Nisshuni. Her pseudonym was Zuiryuin.
Brief Personal History
Nisshu married Yasuke MIWA, a farmer who called himself a relative of the Miwa Family in Yamato Province and renamed himself Yoshifusa MIWA later, and gave birth to Hidetsugu (1568), Hidekatsu (1569) and Hideyasu (1579). In 1591, Hidetsugu and Hidekatsu were adopted by her younger brother Hideyoshi because Hideyoshi lost his eldest son, Tsurumatsu TOYOTOMI. Hideyasu was adopted by Hidenaga TOYOTOMI.
Thereafter, Hidekatsu died of illness on his way to the Bunrokunoeki War front (Japan's first invasion of Korea) in 1592. Hidetsugu took office as Chief Adviser to the Emperor, but committed suicide in 1595 under suspicion being cast on him of plotting a rebellion. Hideyasu also died of illness in the same year (Opinion is widely divided on the cause of his death). Nisshu's husband, Yoshifusa, was implicated in Hidetsugu's suicide and was exiled to Sanuki Province. Nisshu became a nun and erected Zuiryuji Temple in Sagano, Kyoto (Omi-Hachiman City as it is known today). (Ama-monzeki--a temple whose head has always been a female born from the imperial family or from the nobility.) and later transferred to Murakumo and held a service for Hidetsugu, praying to Buddha for his happiness.
Her husband Yoshifusa died of illness around 1600. Nisshu had Onda-hime (Oden-hime), her great-granddaughter and the fifth daughter of Nobushige SANADA, take refuge at her residence at the time of the downfall of the Hashiba Family resulting from the Summer Battle of Osaka in 1615. Later, Onda-hime married Nobutaka IWAKI, the younger brother of Yoshinobu SATAKE (Ukyo-no-daibu: the director of the government office called Ukyoshiki). Nisshu died on April 20 (according to the lunar calendar), 1625. She was 92 years old.