, founder of the Date clan The Date family was founded in the early
Kamakura period (1185–1333) by
Isa Tomomune who originally came from the Isa district of
Hitachi Province (now
Ibaraki Prefecture), and was a descendant of
Fujiwara no Uona (721–783) in the sixteenth generation. The family took its name from the Date district (now
Date City in
Fukushima Prefecture) of
Mutsu Province which had been awarded in 1189 to Isa Tomomune by
Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first Kamakura shōgun, for his assistance in the
Genpei War and in Minamoto no Yoritomo's struggle for power with his brother,
Minamoto no Yoshitsune. During the
Nanboku-chō Wars in the 1330s, the Date supported the Imperial Southern Court of
Emperor Go-Daigo through
Kitabatake Akiie, who had been appointed Commander in Chief (or
Chinjufu Shōgun) of the Defense of the North, by the emperor. As warlords gained and lost power in the
Sengoku period, trying to unite the country, the Date, along with a handful of other powerful families, did all they could to retain independence and dominance over their section of the land (in the case of the Date, the far north). Though not gaining the fame or power of the likes of
Oda Nobunaga,
Uesugi Kenshin, or
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, they resisted the invasions of these warlords into the north.
Date Masamune (1567–1636) contributed in particular to this effort, consolidating the families of the north into alliances against the major warlords. In 1589, Masamune with the help of former
Ashina's samurai,
Inawashiro Morikuni, seized the
Aizu Domain of the Ashina at the
Battle of Suriagehara; and he installed himself at
Kurokawa Castle in
Wakamatsu Province. However, the following year, Hideyoshi triumphed over the Hōjo of
Odawara; and Hideyoshi then obliged Masamune to be content with the fief of
Yonezawa (300,000
koku). in contrast with the
fudai or insider
daimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the
Tokugawa clan. (1938) In 1600, Ieyasu charged the Date to fight against
Uesugi Kagekatsu; and, with the assistance of
Mogami Yoshiteru, Masamune's forces defeated
Naoe Kanetsugu. In recognition of this success in battle, Masamune was granted the fiefs in twelve districts which had been held until that time by the
Uesugi clan. The Date established themselves at
Sendai (620,000
koku). By 1658, Masamune changed the name of the Uesugi's castle at
Iwatezawa to
Sendai Castle. Succession disputes erupted; there were a number of direct descendants of Masamune, and many kinsmen and hereditary vassals of the Date who resided nearby held estates of at least 10,000
koku, and thus had some influence. In 1660,
Date Tsunamune was arrested in
Edo, for drunkenness and debauchery; the charges were generally believed to have been true. Tsunamune was condemned to excavate the moats which encircled the shōgun's
Edo Castle. In 1660, he was ordered to supervise and pay for enhancing the north-east moat running from Megane-bashi to the Ushigome gate. The initial charges of licentious living are now believed to have been encouraged heavily by certain vassals and kinsmen in the north. These vassals and kinsmen appealed to the Council of Elders in Edo that Tsunamune should not be considered fit to rule, and that his son
Date Tsunamura, great-grandson of Masamune, should become the
daimyō (lord) of the Date
han (fief). Thus, Tsunamura became
daimyō, under the guardianship of his uncles,
Date Munekatsu and
Muneyoshi. Ten years of violence and conflict followed in the north, reaching a climax in 1671 when
Aki Muneshige, a powerful relative of the Date, complained to the shogunate of the mismanagement of the fief under Tsunamura and his uncles. The episode that followed is so complex and dramatic as to warrant becoming a well-known story known as the
Date Sōdō (
Date Disturbance) and a theatrical play as well. Aki was summoned to Edo to argue his case before various councils and officials, and was involved in a number of interrogations, examinations and meetings, as were several other retainers of the Date. One retainer in particular,
Harada Munesuke, was a supporter of Tsunamura and his uncles and, it is said, made a poor impression at Edo. At one point, Aki came upon Harada waiting to meet with some of the officials, and Aki began shouting insults. Swords were then drawn, and Aki was killed. Harada was killed moments after, by the officials or their guards. The official verdict was that Harada drew first; the Harada family was disbanded and though Tsunamura was affirmed as the proper
daimyō, his uncles were punished. Though the Date are most well known for their power in the north,
Date Hidemune, the second son of Masamune, enjoyed a fief of 100,000
koku on
Shikoku. ==Successive heads of the Date clan==