Date Masamune

daimyo of the Sengoku period to early-Edo period; 1st lord of Sendai
In this Japanese name, the family name is Date.

Date Masamune (伊達 政宗, September 5, 1567 – June 27, 1636) was a Japanese daimyo in the Tōhoku region during the Azuchi-Momoyama period and Edo period. He was known as the "one-eyed dragon" (独眼竜, dokuganryū) because he lost the use of an eye.[1]

Date Masamune
伊達政宗
First Lord of Sendai Domain
In office
1600–1636
Succeeded byDate Tadamune
Personal details
BornSeptember 5, 1567
Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan
DiedJune 27, 1636(1636-06-27) (aged 68)

Date clan change

In the Edo period, the Date clan were identified as one of the tozama or outsider clans,[2] in contrast with the fudai or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan.

Date sent troops which fought with the Tokugawa during the Battle of Sekigahara.[1]

Sendai-kō change

The feudal daimyō were sometimes identified with the suffix "-kō" (servant) combined with the name of a place or a castle.[3]

In 1601, Date built the Sendai castle; and the modern-day city of Sendai developed around it.[1] Sendai-kō was one of the ways Date Masamune was described.[3]

Keichō Embassy change

In 1613-1620, Date send Hasekura Tsunenaga on a diplomatic mission to the courts of Philip III of Spain in Madrid and Pope Paul V in Rome.[4]

This historic visit is called the "Keichō Embassy" (慶長使節).[5]

Legacy change

In 1991, a minor planet[6] or main-belt asteroid 6859 Datemasamune was named after this Edo period historical figure.[7]

References change

 
The emblem (mon) of the Date clan
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002). "Date Masamune" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 148-149.
  2. Appert, Georges. (1888). Ancien Japon, p. 64.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Plutschow, Herbert. (1995). Japan's Name Culture: The Significance of Names in a Religious, Political and Social Context, p. 44.
  4. Nussbaum, "Hasekura Tsunenaga," p. 293.
  5. In the name "Keichō Embassy", the noun Keichō means the Japanese era name (nengō) for the time period spanning the years from October 1596 to July 1615.
  6. IAU Minor Planet Center, 6859 Datemasamune; retrieved 2011-11-18.
  7. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). "5128 Wakabayashi," Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Vol. 1, p. 441.

Other websites change

Preceded by
none
Lord of Sendai
1600–1636
Succeeded by
Date Tadamune