The Three Feudal Lords of the Date Family and Their Mausoleums

The first feudal lord of Sendai Clan, 伊達政宗 DATE MASAMUNE The Conquerer of Oshu and a Man of Culture

Date Masamune was born in 1567 in Dewanokuni (the southeastern part of Yamagata Prefecture).
This was around the last period of the Sengoku Period, which lasted for about 100 years since the Onin War in 1467, and times were changing drastically. Date Masamune lived his life in this transitional period in history.

After he succeeded the headship of his family at the age of 18, Masamune conquered Minamiouu, which earned him the nickname of “Dokuganryu (single-eyed) Masamune” . He received an order from Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591 to move to Iwadeyama (the northern part of Miyagi) from Yonezawa, where he resided for about a decade. With an approval from Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1601, Masamune built Sendai Castle at the age of 35, and devoted himself to the promotion of politics, industries and cultures of Sendai Clan, which created the foundation of the very clan that will eventually yield 620,000 Koku of rice.

Masamune also invested in trading with Spain, and dispatched his vassal, Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga, to Europe. This proves how extraordinary Masamune was as a feudal lord back at the time. At Sendai City Museum, a number of letters and poetry written by Masamune are preserved. Masamune was also an excellent man of culture.

Masamune died at the age of 70 in 1636 and was buried at Kyogamine upon his own will.

The Second Feudal Lord of Sendai Clan 伊達忠宗 DATE TADAMUNE

Date Tadamune was born as the second son of Date Masamune at Osaka Castle in 1599, and was given the childhood name of “Torakikumaru”.
His mother was Megohime, the legal wife of Masamune. Tadamune was celebrated for his coming age of 13 in presence of Hidetada, the second shogun, and earned the kanji “忠 (tada)” to complete his name “Tadamune”.

He succeeded the headship of his family at the age of 38 due to his father’s, Masamune, death in 1636.
Tadamune was known for his serious and sincere personality, which was somewhat different from his father who was known for his showiness.
On the other hand, it has been reported that Tadamune talked to his vassals saying “I wish I was born in the Sengoku Period”. Tadamune was an excellent gunner and archer, and he was a passionate hunter as well.

Tadamune utilized constitutionalism to establish a feudal domain, and contributed to the management of Sendai Clan through the construction of Sendai Castle Ninomaru, building of a number of temples and shrines, such as Sendai Toshogu Shrine, practicing of land surveys and land taxes in the Kanei Period as well as the development of new rice fields.
With all of the above, Tadamune is often referred to as the “enlightened ruler of building up and maintaining”.

Tadamune ended his life at the age of 60 at Sendai Castle on July 12, 1658.
He was buried at the site of what used to be Kokuzodo and Betsuto Daimanji, which were moved to Mt. Atago, at Kyogamine just like his father, Masamune.
Otamaya Kansenden was built by Date Tsunamura, the fourth feudal lord of Sendai Clan.

The Third Feudal Lord of Sendai Clan 伊達綱宗 DATE TSUNAMUNE

Date Tsunamune was born as the sixth son of Date Tadamune, the second feudal lord of Sendai Clan, at Sendai Castle Ninomaru in 1640. Although his own mother was Kaihime, the concubine of Tadamune, he was adopted to Furihime, the legal wife of Tadamune, after Kaihime passed away in 1642. Although Tadamune and Furihime had their first son, Tadachiyo, and second son, Mitsumune, both of them had an early death, which led Tsunamune to become an heir.

Tsunamune succeeded the headship of Sendai Clan and its 620,000koku of rice at the age of 19 due to the death of his father, Tadamune, in 1658.
However, in 1660, Tsunamune was ordered to retire in obscurity by the shogunate after only 2 years of duty as the feudal lord.

Thereafter, Tsunamune devoted himself to tanka (poetry), caligraphy and painting, Noh and the way of tea at his residence in Edo Shinagawa, utilizing his artistic skills which he possessed from his early years. He showed excellence especially in portraits and landscape painting as a pupil of Kano Tanyu. He also studied sword treatments under Kunikane, and earned a high reputation in the very field. Aside from these, he lived his life elegantly, pursuing gold lacquer work, sculptures, and tea utensils even after retirement.

Tsunamune ended his life at the age of 72 at his residence in Shinagawa on June 4, 1711.
He was buried at Kyogamine, following the tradition of his father, and Otamaya Zennoden was completed during the times of the fifth feudal lord, Date Yoshimura.