was a late-

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 13th ''

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

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, the 29th hereditary chieftain of the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date fam ...

. He is known primarily for his role as commander-in-chief of the

Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei The was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War. Its flag was either a white interwoven five-pointed star on a black field, or a black ...

during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

of 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. During his tenure he was also known by his

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 ...

, . His poetic name was

Biography

Early life

Yoshikuni was born at

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 ...

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

, the second son of the 11th-generation ''daimyō'' Date Nariyoshi. His childhood name was first , and then . In 1837, he was adopted as Date Narikuni’s official successor, taking the name of Date Toshimura. Early the following year, at age 14, he had his coming-of-age ceremony in

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established th ...

, and was received in formal audience by the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Ieyoshi was the 12th ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan.Hall, John Whitney ''et al.'' (1991) ''Early Modern Japan',' p. 21./ref> Biography Ieyoshi was born as the second son of the 11th ''shōgun'', Tokugawa Ienari and named Toshijirō (敏 ...

, who bestowed upon him the "yoshi" ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' from his name, thus becoming Date Yoshitoshi, and receiving the

s of ''Chikuzen-no-kami'' and ''jijū'' (chamberlain). Late in 1841, on the death of his foster-father (brother-in-law) he became ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain, received the courtesy titles of ''Mutsu no Kami'' and ''Sakon-e gon-shosho''. He also changed his name to Date Yoshikuni at this time, taking the "kuni" character from his predecessor's name.

Career as ''daimyō''

Despite its high ''

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 620,000 ''

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 ...

,'' the domain inherited by Date Yoshikuni was beset with problems. The countryside was ravaged from the effects of enormous Tenpo famine, and for much of his tenure his actual income was much reduced, at times to even the 100,000 ''koku'' level. The domain was also given the responsibility of policing the vast northern island of Ezo, including border patrols in Chishima islands, especially Etorofu and

Kunashiri Kunashir Island (; ; ), possibly meaning ''Black Island'' or ''Grass Island'' in Ainu, is the southernmost island of the Kuril Islands. The island has been under Russian administration since the end of World War II, when Soviet forces took pos ...

where incursions by ships from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

were becoming more frequent. Sendai domain administered roughly one-third of the area of present-day

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

. The finances of the domain were further weakened when assigned by the shogunate the task of contributing to security efforts in Kyoto in the 1860s. Sendai Domain was assigned to guard the Shimodachiuri-gomon Gate of the Imperial Palace. With the start of the

in 1868, Sendai initially remained neutral, and its forces based in Kyoto were not involved in the

Battle of Toba–Fushimi The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the sho ...

. In the period immediately following the battle, Date Yoshikuni was consulted by Matsudaira Nobunori, lord of

Aizu Domain was a Han (Japan), domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in M ...

, who wished to use the Date clan's as-yet unmarred reputation in the eyes of the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the southwestern feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satc ...

in order to achieve leniency for his father, Matsudaira Katamori. However, traditional rivalries between the domains of eastern and western Japan, and the arrogant behavior of emissaries sent by the Satchō Alliance, such as Sara Shuzo forced Yoshikuni's hand, and he eventually became the somewhat reluctant leader of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. He was appointed

by Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa, who had declared himself the northern emperor, ''Tōbu''. However, because of Yoshikuni's indecisiveness and the confederation's incohesiveness and obsolescence of its weapons and tactics, Sendai Domain was defeated by the combined armies of the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

, led by

Kujō Michitaka , son of regent Kujō Hisatada and adopted son of his brother, Kujō Yukitsune, was a ''kuge'' or Japanese court noble of the late Edo period and politician of the early Meiji era who served as a member of the House of Peers. One of his daughter ...

. Yoshikuni retired to the domain’s residence in Tokyo together with his son Date Muneatsu, and voluntarily placed themselves in confinement. The same year, Yoshikuni's fourth son Date Munemoto succeeded as clan leader and was allowed to become ''daimyō'' of a much reduced Sendai Domain, with revenues of only 280,000 ''koku''. Yoshikuni remained in retirement until his death in 1874 at age 50. His funeral was held at the Buddhist temple of Saifuku-ji in Komagome, Tokyo, but according to

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

rituals, so he did not receive a

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...

. In April 1890, his ashes were removed to the Date clan's cemetery at Dainen-ji in Sendai.

Family

* Father: Date Nariyoshi * Mother: Tsuneko no Kata * Wife: Tsunahime (1828-1852), 24th daughter of Takatsukasa Masahiro, adopted by Konoe Tadahiro * Wife: Yachiyohime Takako (1841–1869), 9th daughter of

Tokugawa Nariaki Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, April 4, 1800 – September 29, 1860) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' who ruled the Mito Domain (now Ibaraki Prefecture) and contributed to the rise of nationalism and the Meiji Restoration. Biography Clan leader ...

* Concubine: Kawakami Chisa ** 1st daughter: Ayahime, died in childhood ** 2nd daughter: Eihime, died in childhood ** 1st son: Date Teimaru, died in childhood * Concubine: Matsuoka Michiko ** 2nd son: Date Munemoto, Daimyo of Sendai Domain, Count ** 3rd son: Date Matsugoro, died in childhood ** 4th son: Date Kunimune (1870–1923), Count, heir to Date Munemoto ** 5th son: Date Yukichiyo, died in childhood ** 6th son: Date Tokugoro, died in childhood * Concubine: Tendo Tsunako * Concubine: Iwama Kaneko

External links

Basic data on the Sendai domain, including a Date clan lineage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Date, Yoshikuni 1825 births Tozama daimyo 1874 deaths Boshin War Meiji Restoration People of the Boshin War People from Sendai Domain Date clan Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei

Biography

Early life

Career as ''daimyō''

Family

See also

External links