[2][3] Like other women of the Tokugawa clan, Lady Chaa was actively involved in politics, participating in councils and using her influence to protect and resolve conflicts between the temples.

Prior to becoming a consort of Ieyasu, she married into and then separated from the Hanai clan whereupon she was adopted by the Kawamura, a more powerful samurai family.

[4] After becoming the second wife of an individual engaged in metal casting, Lady Chaa bore a daughter named Oba.

The magistrate was executed as punishment but then, in a manner similar to an abduction, Ieyasu took Lady Chaa and her daughter back to Hamamatsu Castle and had her serve as his consort, giving her the name of Chaa-no-tsubone.

Chaa-no-tsubone then arranged for the two sons (of a different mother) from her deceased husband (Zenhachirō and Matahachirō) to be adopted by Kimata Keihō, a member of the family of Hasegawa Hachirōemon and become servants of Tadateru.

However, soon thereafter, Tadateru was criticized by his older brother, Hidetada, on numerous occasions for mistakes, resulting in removal from his position and, as punishment, exile to Ise Province.

Chaa-no-tsubone made every effort to obtain the assistance of a consort of Ieyasu named Acha-no-tsubone (Unkōin), but the help was not forthcoming.

The diary of Captain Richard Cocks, the head of the England Chamber of Commerce in Hirado, notes that, following removal from his position, Tadateru stayed at the home of his uncle in Kanaya on his way to exile in Ise Province.