The was founded in 1902 when Emperor Meiji permitted Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful...

, the last Shōgun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

 of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, to found a house with the highest rank of nobility

Kazoku

The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan that existed between 1869 and 1947.-Origins:Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the ancient court nobility of Kyoto regained some of its lost status...

, kōshaku (Prince). The title was officially declared obsolete in 1947, though the family still maintains it.

The wife of Prince Takamatsu-no-miya Nobuhito (third son of Emperor Taishō

Emperor Taishō

The was the 123rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 30 July 1912, until his death in 1926.The Emperor’s personal name was . According to Japanese customs, the emperor has no name during his reign and is only called the Emperor...

) was Tokugawa Kikuko, daughter of the 2nd Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke, Yoshihisa.

Heads of the Family

1. 1902–1913 公爵徳川慶喜 Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu
   Tokugawa Yoshinobu
   was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful...
   
   , 1st Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke (1837–1913)
2. 1913–1922 公爵徳川慶久 Prince Tokugawa Yoshihisa, 2nd Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke (1884–1922)
3. 1922–1993 公爵徳川慶光 Prince Tokugawa Yoshimitsu, 3rd Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke (1913–1993)
4. 1993– 徳川慶朝 Tokugawa Yoshitomo
   Tokugawa Yoshitomo
   is the present head of the Tokugawa Yoshinobu-ke, the branch of the Tokugawa line started by the last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu.-Biography:...
   
   , 4th head of the Yoshinobu-ke (1950–)