Date Tsunamune

was an early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 3rd daimyō of Sendai Domain in northern Japan from 1658 to 1660, and the 19th hereditary chieftain of the Date clan. Tsunamune's succession and rule was soon opposed by a number of his kinsmen and vassals. This dispute eventually led to the Date Sōdō or "Date Disturbance" of 1671, which has been retold in theatre, and has become one of the more well-known tales of unrest and disunity among the daimyō of the Edo period. Biography Tsunamune was the sixth son of Date Tadamune by a concubine (Kai-hime, the maternal aunt of Emperor Go-Sai, which thus made him cousin with the Emperor). His courtesy title was Sakonoe-gon-shōshō (General of the Left Guards), and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. On the death of his father, he became daimyō and Mutsu-no-kami at the age of 18. Due to his inexperience and his love of sake and women, rumours soon spread that he was unfit to govern. The center of opposition was his uncle, Date Munekatsu, daimyō of Ichinoseki Domain (and Date Masamune's 10th son), who suborned many of Tsunamune's retainers. In 1660, this clique of vassals and kinsman made a successful appeal to the rōjū to have Tsunemune removed from office and placed under house arrest in Edo under the charges of public drunkenness and debauchery while he was visiting the capital on sankin-kōtai and to supervise corvée labor on a canal. He was replaced in Sendai by his infant son, Date Tsunamura, then only age one. The actual government of Sendai Domain was turned over to Date Munekatsu and to another uncle, Tamura Muneyoshi, as guardians. This event was the start of the Date Sōdō, which became a favorite theme of popular fiction, including bunraku and kabuki.