It is believed that he was strongly recommended by Mitsukuni TOKUGAWA, the lord of the Mito Domain, to become the next shogun when Tsunayoshi's biological child Tokumatsu TOKUGAWA died young.
綱吉の実子・徳川徳松が早世すると、水戸藩主・徳川光圀から強く次期将軍に推挙されたといわれる。