Date Terumune
Date Terumune (伊達 輝宗, 1544 – November 29, 1585) was a Japanese samurai clan leader of the Sengoku period.[1] He had close relationship with Oda Nobunaga, one of the leading figures of the period. Terumune was the father of Date Masamune,[1][2] who succeeded him as clan leader in 1584.[3]
Date Terumune | |
|---|---|
| 伊達輝宗 | |
 | |
| Head of Date clan | |
| In office 1578–1584 | |
| Preceded by | Date Harumune |
| Succeeded by | Date Masamune |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1544 |
| Died | November 29, 1585 (aged 40–41) |
| Resting place | Yonezawa, Yamagata |
| Spouse | Yoshihime |
| Children | Date Masamune Date Masamichi Date Hideo Chiko-hime |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Onamihime (sister) Rusu Masakage (brother) Ishikawa Akimitsu (brother) Kokubu Morishige (brother) Mogami Yoshiaki (brother-in-law) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Date clan Oda clan |
| Rank | Daimyo |
| Commands | Yonezawa Castle |
| Battles/wars | Attack on Nihonmatsu Castle |
Biography
Terumune's childhood name was Hikotaro (彦太郎) later Sojiro (総次郎). He was born a warrior since his family is often in conflict with its neighbors.[4]
In 1568, Terumune attacked Nihonmatsu Castle against Nihonmatsu Yoshitsugu, outnumbered and defeated, Yoshitsugu pretended to surrender.
In 1578, Terumune succeeded his father Harumune; and he became the sixteenth head of the Date clan of Mutsu Province.[5]
Records show that Nobunaga cultivated a close relationship with Terumune. The daimyo often confided in him affairs of the state through letters.[6] During his campaigns unifying Japan, he sent Terumune a letter boasting how he annihilated tens of thousands in Echizen and Kaga.[7]
When Oda Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582, Terumune gave his clan's support to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the power struggle which followed.[8]
An account cited him as party to the negotiation with a local rival called Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu.[9] At this time, his son Date Masamune appear to be leading the clan. In 1585, Yoshitsugu was invited to a feast after an alliance was forged. A day after, when Masamune took the guest hunting, the latter's men abducted the undefended Terumune.[10][9] Yoshitsugu stabbed Terumune to his death when he panicked as Masamune and his men caught up with him by the banks of the Abukuma River.[9] A version of this account stated that Terumune was taken to the kidnapper's fort, where he was slain during Terumune's siege.[4]
Family
- Father: Date Harumune
- Mother: Kubohime (1521-1594)
- Wife: Yoshihime (1548-1623)
- Sister: Onamihime
- Children:
- Date Masamune by Yoshihime
- Date Masamichi (1568-1590) by Yoshihime
- Chikohime by Yoshihime
- Senshihime by Yoshihime
In fiction
In NHK's 1987 Taiga drama Dokuganryū Masamune, Terumune was played by Kin'ya Kitaōji.[11]
References
- Turnbull, Stephen. (2012). Samurai Commanders: 1577-1638, Vol, 2, p. 52.
- Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & Co. p. 236. ISBN 9781854095237.
- Meriwether, p. 8.
- Hartshorne, Anna C. (1902). Japan and Her People. Philadelphia, PA: H. T. Coates & Company. p. 312.
- "Date Terumune" at The Japan Biographical Encyclopedia & Who's Who, Issue 3 (1964), p. 121.
- McMullin, N. (1984). Buddhism and the State in Sixteenth-Century Japan. Guildford, Surrey: Princeton University Press. p. 75. ISBN 0-691-07291-4.
- Turnbull, Stephen (2012). Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries AD 710–1602. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-84908-033-0.
- Meriwether, Colyer. (1898). "Life of Date Masamune," Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. XXI (1893), p. 11.
- Turnbull, Stephen (2012). Samurai Commanders (2): 1577–1638. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-015-0.
- Japan, Asiatic Society of (1893). Transactions. Yokohama: R. Meiklejohn & Co. p. 11.
- "大河ドラマ 独眼竜政宗" (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved July 25, 2019.