Date Masamune

Introduction

Date Masamune, the supreme ruler of Oshu. How much do you all know about him? Some of you may have a strong impression of him as a warlord of the Tohoku region. However, his ambitions were not limited to the pacification of Oshu, but also included the unification of the whole country.

This article introduces the life of this great man who has left his mark on history. We hope you will share the dream that Lord Masamune had.

Battling blindness in his right eye as a child

Date Masamune was born in 1567 at Yonezawa Castle in Dewa Province as the heir apparent of Terumune Date, the 16th head of the Date clan. His mother was Yoshihime, the younger sister of Terumune’s wife Mogami Yoshimitsu, a feudal lord in Dewa Province. His childhood name was Bontenmaru, and he was a thoroughbred from a prominent family in Oshu.

Besides, Date Masamune was about 30 years younger than the three heroes, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. It is often said that if Masamune had been born 10 or 20 years earlier, he might have become a great warrior. However, by the time Masamune was born, the Warring States period was going to its end.

Masamune was expected to have a promising future as an heir apparent, but at the age of five he caught the smallpox. Smallpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus. At the time, there was no effective treatment for smallpox, and 40-50% of those who caught the disease died of it.

Fortunately, Masamune survived the disease, but he lost the sight in his right eye due to a pustule in the eye area. His right eye became cloudy and white, and it seems that he had a complex about his own appearance. Incidentally, although Date Masamune has a strong impression of wearing an eye patch, according to existing records, there is no indication that he covered his eyes with an eye patch. For this reason, in recent years, there are TV dramas in which Date Masamune does not cover his right eye.

Despite his disfigured appearance despite being an heir apparent, Masamune devoted himself to martial arts and studies to follow in his father’s footsteps, and grew up to be a splendid young warrior. At the age of 13, he married Megohime, the daughter of Kiyoaki Tamura, the lord of Miharu Castle in Mutsu Province, as his wife. Megohime’s true mother was the daughter of the Soma clan, which had repeatedly clashed militarily with the Date clan, and this marriage was in effect a political ploy to cut off power on the Soma side. However, the couple got along well and were blessed with four children.

At the age of 15, after reaching the age of majority, he went into battle against the Soma clan. He made a brilliant first battle and contributed to the victory of the Date clan. From this time on, he was in charge of diplomacy with the Tamura and Ashina clans on behalf of his father, Terumune, and showed glimpses of his talent.

From the Inheritance of the Date Family to the Suppression of the Southern Oshu Region

One year after Masamune’s first battle, shocking news spread across the country. In 1582, Oda Nobunaga was killed by his vassal Akechi Mitsuhide in the Honnoji Incident.

Masamune’s father, Terumune, had planned to establish a cooperative relationship with Oda Nobunaga in order to gain supremacy over the Oshu region. However, Nobunaga died, and he went into hiding, saying that he would hand over the governorship to Masamune. At the time, Terumune was still alive and well at the age of 41, and Masamune initially refused to inherit the governorship. However, there was a feud stirring within the Date family at the time over the inheritance of the family. Terumune had the intention of deciding the head of the family before the struggle for succession between Masamune and his younger brother came to the surface. Above all, Terumune had already recognized Masamune’s talent. Thus, at the age of 18, Masamune succeeded to the governorship and became the 17th head of the Date clan.

The following year, however, tragedy struck Masamune. In 1585, Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu, the lord of Nihonmatsu Castle who had surrendered to the Date clan and been relieved of his domain, visited Date Terumune, who had been in retirement to thank him for his peace negotiations. However, Terumune was kidnapped by Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu. Masamune rushed to the scene as soon as he heard the news and shot every one of Hatakeyama’s forces to death with his guns. Terumune also lost his life along with Hatakeyama’s forces.

There are various theories about this incident, such as “Terumune ordered to shoot Hatakeyama’s forces including himself,” “Terumune was already dead when he arrived,” or “Masamune conspired to kill his father,” but the truth of the matter has not been revealed. After Masamune destroyed the Hatakeyama clan, the Date clan fell into hostile relations with Yoshimitsu Mogami. The relationship between the two was that of uncle and nephew, but the breakdown of the power relationship completely destroyed the alliance that had been maintained until then. Then, the Mogami, Osaki, and Ashina clans, three feudal lords of the Ou region, and the Satake clan of the Hitachi Province, formed an allied force in the siege of the Date family and became Masamune’s enemies. Masamune was under siege, but he succeeded in persuading Yoshimitsu Mogami through his mother to avoid a clash with the Mogami clan.

With the Mogami clan did not take part in the war, the allied forces were no longer aligned, and in 1589, Masamune defeated the Rona clan, which was vying for supremacy in the Tohoku region, at the Battle of Surigamihara. With this victory, Masamune came to control half of the Ou region. Although Masamune lost his father at a young age, he aggressively expanded his territory and established a vast sphere of influence over Fukushima, Yamagata, and Miyagi prefectures in just a few years. Five years after his inheritance, Masamune achieved his long-cherished goal of pacifying Oshu.

Although Masamune now had a vast territory, his ambitions went even higher. The ultimate goal of his ambition was the unification of Japan. A man who was the closest to unifying the country at that time stood in his way.

Odawara Offensive and Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Meanwhile, after the Honnoji Incident, the power of the time shifted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. At this time, Hideyoshi was making good progress in unifying the whole country, and in 1585 he conquered Shikoku, and in 1587 he conquered Kyushu. He had already conquered Shikoku in 1585 and Kyushu in 1587, leaving only Kanto and Tōhoku for unification of the whole country. Furthermore, Hideyoshi had already made a preemptive move to bring Kanto and Tohoku under his control. That is the Sobuji decree issued in 1587. The Sobuji decree was a decree forbidding the private warfare among the feudal lords.

Masamune was accused by Hideyoshi of violating this decree when he attacked the Rona clan at the Battle of Surigamihara in 1589. The next major power in the Kanto region, the Hojo clan, also violated the Sobuji Order. Hideyoshi declared war on the Hojo clan, having gained a good pretext for defeating them. In 1590, Hideyoshi called on the feudal lords to join him in conquering Odawara. The Hojo and Date clans had been allies since the time of Masamune’s father, Terumune. However, after the Hojo clan, the Date clan might be attacked. After much deliberation, Masamune decided to participate in the Odawara offensive.

However, at the same time, Masamune was late to attack Odawara because he had to take time to settle an internal dispute within the Date family. After destroying the Hojo clan by conquering Odawara, Hideyoshi was planning to invade Europe to take revenge on Masamune and other feudal lords who did not show their respect for the Hojo clan. When Masamune arrived late in Odawara, Hideyoshi had the perfect opportunity to take him out. Masamune was imprisoned in the Hakone Mountains and was questioned by Hideyoshi’s loyal retainer, Maeda Toshiie.

He dodged the questioning with clever excuses, and even though his head could have been blown off with a single remark, he offered to receive instruction in the tea ceremony from Sen no Rikyu. Hideyoshi, who was interested in his imposing attitude in his defense, decided to meet with Masamune. Hideyoshi and the generals were astonished at the appearance of Masamune. He appeared before Hideyoshi dressed for death, prepared to be executed. Hideyoshi was impressed by his resolve and managed to ask for forgiveness. However, Masamune was deprived of part of his territory and forced to become Hideyoshi’s vassal.

Death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Battle of Sekigahara

In 1589, Toyotomi Hideyoshi also died. The situation became unstable after his death, and the conflict between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi’s faction, including Ishida Mitsunari, intensified over the power of the Toyotomi faction.

After Hideyoshi’s death, Masamune remained loyal to Ieyasu, and in 1599, his eldest daughter, Irohahime, and Ieyasu’s sixth son, Matsudaira Tadateru, became engaged. Finally, in 1600, a major battle broke out over the vacant seat of the shogunate. This was the Battle of Sekigahara, fought between Ieyasu of Edo, who wanted to take over the country, and Mitsunari, who was trying to protect the Toyotomi family’s dominion. In this battle, known as the battle of the world, warlords from all over Japan were divided into the Eastern Army led by Ieyasu and the Western Army led by Mitsunari, with Ieyasu’s Eastern Army ultimately winning. Although Masamune was on Ieyasu’s side at this time, he did not actually participate in the Battle of Sekigahara.

Shortly before the Battle of Sekigahara, Ieyasu was continuing to expand his territory as the Kanto governor. Mitsunari and other magistrates felt threatened by this, and transferred Uesugi Kagakatsu from Echigo to Aizu as a check. Ieyasu, on the other hand, laid siege to Uesugi in order to conquer him. The lords of Oshu also participated in the siege of Uesugi and plotted to prevent Ieyasu from getting behind them. Meanwhile, Masamune took advantage of the battle to expand his territory. At this time, Masamune received an endorsement of 1 million koku from Ieyasu as a reward after the war.

Masamune then moved to attack Shiroishi Castle in Miyagi Prefecture in order to suppress the movements of Kagematsu. Masamune then clashed with Naoe Kanetsugu, a vassal of Keikatsu. This battle is called the Battle of Hase-dojo Castle. The Battle of Hase-dojo was a fierce battle, but Naoe Kanetsugu withdrew from the battle because the western forces were defeated in the main battle, the Battle of Sekigahara. After successfully recapturing Shiroishi Castle, Masamune entrusted the castle to his trusted retainer, Katakura Kagetsuna (Kojuro), in 1602, and the Katakura family held the castle for more than 260 years until the Meiji Restoration.

Although Masamune won important battles and contributed to the Eastern Army, he was unable to increase his territory sufficiently. In fact, Ieyasu discovered that Masamune had taken advantage of the war to instigate a revolt and conspired to expand his territory. As a result, most of his requests for additional postwar bounties were turned down, and he was given only 620,000 koku of territory, even though he should have received 1 million koku in reward. Ieyasu became the ruler of the country, and Masamune’s dream of unifying the country was dashed.

Confrontation with Sanada Yukimura at the Battle of Osaka

The Warring States period has come to an end, and Ieyasu has brought about a peaceful era. However, there still remained anti-Tokugawa warlords who sided with Toyotomi, and Ieyasu was troubled by these troublesome individuals who had the potential to start a new firestorm.

Finally, in 1615, Ieyasu launched a war to destroy the Toyotomi family. This battle was to be the final battle of the Warring States period, the Battle of Osaka. This battle was also the last for Masamune. Masamune joined the Tokugawa family and faced Sanda Yukimura, the general of the Toyotomi family. The two warriors, who are considered to be representative of the Warring States period, fought fiercely, but were never able to reach an agreement. However, the inferiority of Toyotomi’s side was clear, and gradually Tokugawa’s vassals were advancing toward Osaka Castle.

Then, in the middle of the battle, fire was set on Osaka Castle, the residence of the Toyotomi family. Toyotomi Hideyori, the head of the Toyotomi family, realized that his army was defeated and committed suicide. Thus, the Tokugawa family destroyed the Toyotomi family, and the Warring States period came to an end.

Late Years of Date Masamune and the Development of the Sendai Domain

In 1601, the year after the Battle of Sekigahara, Masamune began construction of Sendai Castle. In 1603, Masamune moved his residence from Iwadeyama Castle in Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture to Sendai Castle. In the same year, Ieyasu, who had won the Battle of Sekigahara, became barbarian shogun and the Edo shogunate was established. The territory of the Date clan becomes the Sendai domain, and Masamune becomes the first lord of the Sendai domain.

Although the Sendai domain was rewarded with 620,000 koku, which was planned of 1 million koku, this was the third largest in the country after the Kaga domain with 1 million koku and the Satsuma domain with 730,000 koku. Masamune was unable to fulfill his dream of unifying the whole country. However, by this time, Masamune’s new dream was to develop the Sendai domain. He then accomplished the great feat of laying the foundation of the Sendai han (Sendai domain), which survived until the end of the Edo period.

In 1613, he formed the Keicho Mission to Europe, led by his retainer Tsunenaga Hasekura, and sent it to the King of Espania (present Spain) and the Pope. This was the first diplomatic mission by a Japanese to Europe in terms of diplomatic negotiations. Masamune’s goal was to establish trade routes in exchange for allowing Christian missionaries in his territory. However, the Shogunate issued a ban on Christianity, and as a result, the negotiations ended in failure. Although the reason for dispatching an envoy is not clear, recent studies suggest that he may have been seeking a way to benefit from exchanges with foreign countries in order to recover and rebuild after the Keicho Sanriku Earthquake of 1611.

Also, diplomatic negotiations with Europe ended in failure, Masamune continued to make efforts to develop the Sendai domain by improving the fields in his domain, building a canal, and opening Ishinomaki Port as a ferry port to ship rice to Edo. The Sendai Clan shipped more and more of its abundant rice to Edo, which was suffering from a severe rice shortage due to population growth. It is said that one-third of the rice consumed in Edo was Oshu rice produced by the Sendai clan. Masamune also focused on the cultural revival and reconstruction of the city, and tried to create a capital that would be comparable to the capital of Kamigata. He invited painters and carpenters from the Kamigata region when rebuilding historic sites and places of interest, and adopted the techniques of the lavish Momoyama culture.

Osaki Hachimangu Shrine and Zuiganji Temple are representative examples of such buildings, which are designated as national treasures. In this way, the Sendai clan developed as an indispensable city that played a key role in the Tohoku region. In his later years, Masamune devoted himself to the management of the Sendai clan. However, around 1634, his health began to deteriorate more and more.

In 1636, Masamune went to Edo (now Tokyo) to have an audience with the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu. At that time, Iemitsu was surprised at Masamune’s weakened condition, and the next day he called dozens of doctors and had them pray at temples and shrines throughout Edo for his recovery. However, Masamune’s condition did not improve, and he died at the age of 70. The cause of death is believed to have been esophageal cancer or cancerous peritonitis.

Masamune met his final days in the domain’s residence under Edo Castle. He never retired, and remained active throughout his life until the end.

Summary

Although he did not achieve his youthful dreams, Masamune undoubtedly laid the foundation of Sendai, a major city in the Tohoku region. If you are interested in this article, why not visit Sendai Castle to see the statue of Masamune?