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Hi Higuma !!!

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The girl was a (fictional) concubine of shogun Iemochi Tokugawa (real figure) and she was living in the Edo Palace. When he died it is said that his wife (Princess Kazu, real figure) and the concubines (in this case, one, the fictional character) being widows of a such important man were traditionally "forced" to become widows and to mark this change. The character was not able to mantain her concubine name but she changed it with another name.

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Also in real life shogun Iemochi's mother had at least three names:
- Okatsu (childhood name)
- Atsuko (married woman)
- Tenshō-in (widow)

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So I think that in the Edo Period (or also previously, I don't know) women who were married with important figure used to change their names in adulthood and also when they became widows.

I'm not sure how it's Buddhist, although it is a Japanese name.

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I think (could be wrong) in medieval Japan certain widows took on widows' names, although this is certainly not practiced today.