Date Masamune
Date Masamune ( Japanese 伊達 政 宗 Date Masamune ; * 1567 in Yonezawa in Japan; † 1636 ) was the daimyo of Sendai in the Japanese region of Tohoku and known as an excellent swordsman and tactician. He is worshiped as a Kami in the Shinto Aoba shrine in Sendai under the name Takefuruhiko-no-mikoto.
Dokuganryū : The one-eyed dragon of the north
Date Masamune, childhood name ( yōmyō ) Bontenmaru ( 梵天 丸 ), was the eldest son of Date Terumune and was born in Yonezawa Castle in what is now Yamagata Prefecture. When he was 18, he succeeded his father as daimyo when he retired from office. His father said he was leaving power to his son at a young age to avoid the costly power struggle he himself had with his own father, Date Harumune . Soon after, a Date follower, Ouchi Sadatsuna , deserted to the Ashina clan in the Aizu region (later the Aizu fiefdom ). Masamune declared war on the Ashina for this betrayal.
The Date family was founded in the early Kamakura period by Isa Tomomune , who was originally from the Ise District of Hitachi Province (now in Ibaraki Prefecture ). The family took their name from Date District (now Fukushima Prefecture ) in Mutsu Province , which was bestowed on Isa Tomomune by Minamoto no Yoritomo , the first Kamakura shogun . The reason for this was his support in the Genpei War (1180–1185) and Yoritomo's power struggle with his brother, Minamoto no Yoshitsune .
Masamune as a person
Masamune is known for some things that set him apart from the other daimyo of his time. His famous helmet, in particular, gained a terrifying reputation. As a child, Masamune lost an eye to smallpox (he is said to have torn his eye out himself). Because of the missing eye, his mother regarded him as unsuitable for leading the clan and therefore preferred his brother as heir. According to some historians, his mother even tried to poison him with dinner one evening. Consequently, Masamune killed his brother in order to come to power. He is reported to have commented: "I thought that we could get along as brothers; maybe in the next life ..."
In previous generations, Masamune's family had consolidated their power over their fiefdoms and had a policy of stability by marrying relatives into neighboring clans. However, with the rise of Masamune, friendly relations were swept aside as he began to attack and conquer all surrounding territories, even those held by his own relatives in the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa. Shocked by his unscrupulousness, the neighboring Hatakeyama family appealed to his father, Date Terumune, to curb his son's campaigns. Over dinner with the Hatakeyama, Terumune said he was unable to control his son. In an outrageous act of hopelessness, the Hatakeyama kidnapped Terumune and tried to take him away. Masamune, who was out hunting, was informed of this. Masamune and his men intercepted the kidnappers crossing a river and Terumune shouted "Don't worry about me, open fire! Kill everyone." Masamune's men carried out this order and killed everyone including Terumune. Masamune continued the war, torturing and killing the families of those who kidnapped his father.
After defeating the Ashina in 1589, he made the Aizu fiefdom his base of operations.
In 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi began to see Masamune as a threat to his own power and occupied Aizu. Hideyoshi is said to have surrounded Masamune's army with 100,000 men in order to force him to submit. Masamune expected to be executed, put on his best clothes and showed no fear. Hideyoshi didn't want any more trouble and spared his life. After serving Hideyoshi for a while, he got Iwatesawa Castle and the surrounding land as his home domain. In 1591 Masamune moved here and rebuilt the castle. He promoted the creation of a city at its base and stayed here for 13 years. The region became an important political and economic center. Masamune and his men distinguished themselves in the invasion of Korea under Hideyoshi. After Hideyoshi's death, he began to support Tokugawa Ieyasu .
Tokugawa Ieyasu gave Masamune the rule of the huge and lucrative feudal Sendai and made Masamune one of the most influential daimyo in Japan. Tokugawa had promised Masamune a "million koku fief", but the area only produced 640,000 koku rice after significant improvements, most of which was used to feed the Edo region. In 1604 Masamune, accompanied by 52,000 vassals and their families, moved to the then small fishing village of Sendai. He left his fourth son, Date Muneyasu, to rule Iwadeyama. Masamune was supposed to turn Sendai into a large, prosperous city.
Masamune expanded trade with the previously remote Tohoku region . Although initially faced with attacks from hostile clans, after a few initial defeats he managed to hold them down; he eventually ruled one of the largest areas of the late Tokugawa shogunate. He had many palaces built and worked on many projects to beautify the region. He is also known for encouraging foreigners to come to his area. It is possible that Masamune himself was a Christian convert but kept this a secret. He established relationships with the Pope in Rome, but at the same time was motivated by the desire to acquire foreign technology such as that possessed by other masters like Oda Nobunaga . For 270 years Tohoku has been a travel destination, area of trade and prosperity. Matsushima , a series of tiny islands, was e.g. B. praised her beauty and seriousness by the wandering haiku poet Matsuo Bashō .
Masamune's greatest achievement was the funding and support of one of the very few large-scale diplomatic and exploration trips of this period in Japanese history.
He showed sympathy with the Christian missionaries and traders in Japan. Not only did he allow them to come to his province and preach there, he also released the captured missionary Luis Sotelo from the hands of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Date Masamune allowed Sotelo and other missionaries in Tokukoku to practice their religion and to win converts.
Date Masamune ordered the construction of the reconnaissance ship San Juan Bautista using European shipbuilding techniques. He sent one of his followers, Hasekura Tsunenaga , Sotelo, and an embassy of 180 people on a successful journey to establish relations with the Pope in Rome. This expedition visited the Philippines , Mexico , Spain and Rome , it was the first Japanese circumnavigation of the world.
Before that, Japanese feudal lords had never financed such activities, so it was perhaps the first successful trip to Europe and America ever. At least 5 participants of the expedition stayed in Coria (Seville) in Spain for the rest of their lives to avoid the persecution of Christians in Japan. 600 of their descendants with the surname Japón (Japan) now live in Spain.
Although Masamune promoted the arts and sympathized with foreigners, he was also an aggressive and ambitious daimyo. When he took over the leadership of the Date clan, he suffered a few military defeats from powerful and influential clans such as the Ashina. Careless bravado on the part of Masamune is also seen as the cause. No feudal lord completely trusted Date Masamune. Toyotomi Hideyoshi downsized his lands after his delay in approaching the siege of Odawara against Hōjō Ujimasa . Later in his life, Tokugawa Ieyasu expanded his lands again, but was constantly suspicious of Masamune and his policies. He also saw the foreign missionaries as a threat to his power. Therefore, he ordered the execution of Padre Sotelo after returning from his world tour. Despite suspicions from Tokugawa Ieyasu and other Date allies, Date Masamune served the Tokugawa and Toyotomi loyally. He participated in Hideyoshi's campaigns in Korea, and in the siege of Osaka . When Tokugawa Ieyasu was on his deathbed, Masamune visited him and read him a piece of Zen poetry.
After Masamune's death, twenty of his followers killed themselves to serve him in the next life. They were all buried in the Masamunes mausoleum, Zuihoden .
Eponyms
On February 2, 1999, the asteroid (6859) Datemasamune was named after him.
Web links
- Official website of the Date clan
- Zuihoden, the mausoleum of Date Masamune.
- Aoba-jo site (Sendai Castle)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Date Masamune |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 伊達 政 宗 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese daimyo, swordsman and tactician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1567 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Yonezawa in Japan |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1636 |