was an early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

, and the second ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of the 625,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of ...

in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

of northern Japan. He was the half-brother of Date Hidemune of

Uwajima Domain file:Date Munenari coloured.jpg, 270px, Date Munenari file:Uwajima Date Museum 1.jpg, 270px, Uwajima Date Museum was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the is ...

Biography

Tadamune was born as Torakikumaru (虎菊丸) later Sōjirō (総次郎) the second son of

Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period through the early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful feudal lords in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he w ...

. Although he was the second son, his elder half-brother Date Hidemune was born by Lady Iisaka, a concubine, and was thus not eligible to rule. At the age of seven, he was betrothed to Ichi-hime, the 5th daughter of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

; however, she died three years later, and he was betrothed again to the daughter of

Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was ''Kokushi (officials), Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many ...

, who was also Ieyasu's grand-daughter. In 1611, ''shōgun''

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was born to Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Lady Saigō on May ...

presided over his '' genpuku'' ceremony, and he received

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

was ''Mimasaka-no-kami'', and Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade Court rank. He also received permission from the ''shōgun'' to use the Matsudaira surname as an honorific. At the time of the 1614

Siege of Osaka A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

, he accompanied his father in the train of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and it was by order of Ieyasu that Date Hidemune was ordered to establish an independent branch of the Date clan at Uwajima in

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

with a ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 5 ...

'' of 100,000 ''koku'', whereas Date Tadamune was confirmed as heir to the main Date line at Sendai. Tadamune was elevated to Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade, and given the honorary title of chamberlain in 1616. In 1624, his courtesy title was changed to ''Echizen-no-kami'', and changed again in 1626 to ''Sakonoe-gon-shōshō'' (General of the Left Guards). On Masamune's death in June 1636, he became ''daimyō'', and entered

Aoba Castle 260px, Layout of Aoba Castle is a Japanese castle located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Throughout the Edo period, Aoba Castle was home to the Date clan, ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain. The castle was also known as or as . In 2003, the castle ...

in Sendai for the first time in August of the same year. He immediately took over the reins of government by replacing two of the six ''

bugyō was a title assigned to ''samurai'' officials in feudal Japan. ''Bugyō'' is often translated as commissioner, magistrate, or governor, and other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given official's tasks or jurisdi ...

s'', and re-establishing a multi-person system of magistrates and inspectors to provide more oversight and to eliminate corruption and arbitrary rule. He followed this the following year by publishing a new code of rules and regulations for the domain. In 1639, his courtesy title was changed to ''Mutsu-no-kami''. In terms of finances, from 1640 to 1643 he ordered a complete re-survey of the domain, bringing units of measurements in line with the nation-wide standards used by the Tokugawa shogunate. This was accompanied by large scale

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

. Tadamune also established a system whereby the domain purchased all rice produced in the domain, and reselling in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

, paying the farmers in advance. This encouraged the opening of new rice lands. During Tadamune's tenure, Sendai Castle was completed, and he sponsored the construction of numerous temples and shrines, including the

Zuihōden in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan is the mausoleum complex of Date Masamune and his heirs, daimyō of the Sendai Domain. History When Date Masamune, known as and founder of the Sendai Domain, died in 1636, he left instructions for a mauso ...

in 1637 and the

Sendai Tōshōgū is the memorial shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Five of its buildings, all dating to 1654, have been designated Important Cultural Properties. The torii and gates were damaged in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and ...

in 1654. On Tadamune's death on 12 July 1658, one of his senior retainers, Furuuchi Shigehiro, committed ritual suicide ('' junshi''). Tadamune's sixth son Date Tsunamune became ''daimyō'' of Sendai.

Family

* Father:

* Mother: Megohime (Daughter of Tamura Kiyoaki) * Wife: Furihime (1607–1659), daughter of

and adopted daughter of

; also called Kōshōin **daughter: Nabehime (1623–1680) married Tachibana Tadashige, ''daimyō'' of Yanagawa Domain **1st son: Torachiyo (1624–1630) **2nd son: Date Mitsumune (1627–1645) * Concubine: Fusu (Daughter of Mitamura Matauemon; also called Shōunin) ** 3rd son: Tamura Muneyoshi (1637-1678), ''daimyō'' of Iwanuma Domain ** 7th son: Date Munenori (1643–1685), adopted by ''hatamoto'' Date Kunitaka of the cadet Iwaya-Date clan * Concubine: Zuishōin (Daughter of Nagata Tadashige) ** 4th son: Date Gorokichi (1638–1644), adopted by ''hatamoto'' Shiroishi Munesada of the cadet Tome-Date clan ** 5th son: Date Munetomo (1640–1670), adopted as heir to the Tome-Date clan by his elder brother Date Gorokichi * Concubine: Kaihime (1624–1642, adopted daughter of Kushige Takachika; also called Tokushōin) ** 6th son: Date Tsunamune (1640-1711), ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain * Concubine: Take (Daughter of Yamato Tosa; also called Keiunin) ** 8th son: Date Munefusa (1646–1686), adopted by the Miyatoko-Date clan; father of Date Yoshimura ** 9th son: Īzaka Muneakira (1648–1663, adopted by the Izaka clan

References

* Papinot, Edmond. (1948). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. New York: Overbeck Co.

External links

Sendai Domain on "Edo 300 HTML"
(3 November 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Date, Tadamune 1600 births 1658 deaths Tozama daimyo Date clan People of the Edo period