Career
Known in his childhood as Tsuruchiyomaru, he was the eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun. Yorifusa was first enfeoffed in the Shimotsuma domain (100,000 koku) from 1606 to 1609, before being transferred to Mito (Hitachi Province, 350,000 koku) in 1609, thereby founding the Mito branch of the Tokugawa house (the junior branch of the gosanke). A holder of the junior 3rd court rank (jusanmi), Yorifusa held the title of chūnagon (middle counselor), both of which he received in 1627.