Date Munehiro or Chihiro（Japanese:伊達宗広 or 千広; June 24, 1802 – May 18, 1877) was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

of Kii Domain and Scholar of

Kokugaku ''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label=Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label=Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refo ...

, living during the late

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

and early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

s. He was father of

Mutsu Munemitsu Count was a Japanese statesman and diplomat in Meiji period Japan. Early life Mutsu Munemitsu was born in Wakayama domain, Kii Province as the sixth son of Date Munehiro, a ''samurai'' retainer of the Kii Tokugawa clan. His father was activ ...

（陸奥宗光). His penname was Jitoku (自得)．

Life

In 1802, he was born the son of Usami Sukenaga (宇佐美祐長), a samurai of

Kii Domain Kii can refer to: History * Kii House, a branch family of the Tokugawa clan that ruled Japan during the Edo era Company * Kii Corporation, a mobile cloud services company (MBaaS) Geography * Kii Channel, a separating Honshū and Shikoku isla ...

, and he became an adoptive son of his uncle, Date Moriaki (伊達盛明). He inherited a patrimony by 12 years old, and was appointed "Kansatsu (監察)" by 18 years old. He assisted

Karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

of Kii Domain, and promoted the reform of that domain, and took the lead in the ''

Sonnō jōi was a '' yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement soug ...

'' movement. In 1852, he was arrested by an opponent for his dangerous ''Sonnō jōi'' activity and was imprisoned for nearly 10 years in the town of Tanabe (紀伊田辺). In 1861, he was released by the agency of

Yamanouchi Yōdō image:Yodo Yamauchi.jpg, Yamauchi Toyoshige , also known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' in the Shikoku region in the late Edo period.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Yamauchi Toyoshige"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 1045. He was ...

(山内容堂), who was a ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' of

Tosa Domain The was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its ...

(土佐). He transferred his patrimony to his adoptive son, Date Muneoki （伊達宗興） and retired. But he returned to the Sonnō jōi movement with Muneoki. They were arrested by Kii Domain officials, and were imprisoned again in 1865. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

, he was released in 1869. In his later years, he lived in Fukagawa, Tokyo with his son,

Works and books

Almost all of Date Munehiro's works were formed while in confinement. He learned at

Motoori Ōhira was a scholar of Kokugaku, and was the successor to Motoori Norinaga's school master. His pen name was Fuji no Kakitsu (藤垣内). Life Ōhira was born in Matsuzaka of the province of Ise (now Matsuzaka City in Mie Prefecture). He was a son ...

（本居大平）when he was young. He despised Buddhism because he was a very active person. But when he was imprisoned in Kii Tanabe, he borrowed the ''Issai-Sūtra'' (一切経) from a temple in the neighborhood and read it every day. One day he experienced Buddhist enlightenment. * "Taizei Santenkō": Japanese name (大勢三転考) The essay on history * "Waka zenwa": Japanese name (和歌禅話) It explains Buddhism in the form of a

Waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māor ...

* "Manimani Gusa": Japanese name (随々草) Essays on Buddhism, waka poetry, and Chinese poetry * "Yomigaeri": Japanese name (余身帰) Essays and memoirs * "Zui En syū": Japanese name (随縁集) Anthology of waka poems * "Kareno syū": Japanese name (枯野集) Essays on history and literature * "Date Jitoku Ō Zen syū": Japanese name (伊達自得翁全集) His complete works published in 1926

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Date, Munehiro Date Jitoku Date Jitoku Japanese writers of the Edo period 1802 births 1877 deaths Samurai 19th-century Japanese historians 19th-century essayists

Life

Works and books

See also

References