was an early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

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 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 ...

, and the 2nd ''

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 the 625,000 '' koku''

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 t ...

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 (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku ret ...

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

Biography

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

Date Masamune was a regional ruler of Japan's Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful ''daimyō'' in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all ...

. 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 was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fel ...

; 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 '' Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many of the battles of the ...

, 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, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

presided over his ''

genpuku is a Japanese coming-of-age ceremony which dates back to Japan's classical Nara Period (710–794 AD). /sup> This ceremony marked the transition from child to adult status and the assumption of adult responsibilities. The age of participat ...

'' ceremony, and he received

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

was ''Mimasaka-no-kami'', and Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade Court rank. He also received permission from the ''shōgun'' to use the

Matsudaira The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of ...

surname as an honorific. At the time of the 1614

Siege of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege ...

, 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 four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), ...

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. ...

'' 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, Japan. 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 c ...

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 during the feudal period of 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 offici ...

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 is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultur ...

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

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 ...

, paying the farmers in advance. This encouraged the opening of new rice lands. During Tadamune's tenure,

Sendai Castle 260px, Layout of Aoba Castle is a Japanese castle located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. 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, th ...

was completed, and he sponsored the construction of numerous temples and shrines, including the Zuihōden in 1637 and the Sendai Tōshōgū 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 was an mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 5th ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain in northern Japan, and the 21st hereditary chieftain of the Date clan. The longest-serving of any of the ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain, Yoshimura placed the domain b ...

** 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 Edo-period Japan