was a Japanese ''

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 n ...

'' of

Ichinoseki Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It was located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Ichinoseki jin'ya, located in the center of what is now the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture. History Ic ...

in early-

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. His

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

was ''Hyōbu-no-daisuke'', and his Court rank was Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. Munekatsu was the 10th son of

Date Masamune was a regional ruler of Japan's Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful ''daimyō'' in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all ...

. He appears in history in 1658, following the death of

Date Tadamune was an early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 2nd ''daimyō'' of the 625,000 ''koku'' Sendai Domain in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. He was the half-brother of Date Hidemune of Uwajima Domain. Biography Tadamune was born as Torakikum ...

, the second ''daimyō'' 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 the i ...

. Sendai Domain was inherited by the young and impressionable

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 kinsm ...

, and the clan elders appointed Munekatsu and his half-brother,

Tamura Muneyoshi was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of Iwanuma Domain in Mutsu Province of early-Edo period Japan Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 63 of 80">("Tamura," ' ...

as guardians. Munekatsu’s daughter-in-law was the daughter of ''

Tairō ''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing ''rōjū'' council in the event of an e ...

Sakai Tadakiyo , also known as Uta-no-kami, Bodart-Bailey, Beatrice. (1999) ''Kaempfer's Japan: Tokugawa Culture Observed,'' p. 442./ref> was a ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) in Kōzuke Province, and a high-ranking government advisor and official in the Tokugawa shogu ...

. Through these connections, the Munekatsu and Tamura Muneyoshi accused Tsunamune of drunkenness and debauchery, who then removed from office for misrule and was confined to a secondary clan residence in Edo. The infant

Date Tsunamura was an early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 4th ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain in northern Japan, and the 20h hereditary chieftain of the Date clan. Tsunamura’s succession led to the ''Date Sōdō'' or "Date Disturbance" of 1671, which has ...

was made ''daimyō'' of Sendai under the guardianship of his uncles, and Date Munekatsu was also granted a fief of 30,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

'' in Ichinoseki as a subsidiary feudal han to Sendai Domain. Ten years of violence and conflict followed in Sendai Domain, reaching a climax in 1671 when

Aki Muneshige Aki or AKI may refer to: Places in Japan *Aki District, Hiroshima, a district in Hiroshima Prefecture *Aki, Kōchi, a city in Kochi Prefecture *Aki District, Kōchi, a district in Kochi Prefecture *Aki, Ōita, a town in Ōita Prefecture *Aki Provi ...

, a powerful relative of the Date clan, complained to the

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military dictators 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, though during part of the Kamakur ...

of the mismanagement of the fief under Tsunamura and his uncles. In the ensuring

Date Sōdō The Date Sōdō (伊達騒動), or Date Disturbance, was a noble family dispute within the Date samurai clan, which occurred in 1671. History In 1660, the ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the Sendai Domain, and clan head, Date Tsunamune was arrested ...

, Munekatsu was relieved of his offices in 1671 and the branch of his family was dissolved. Munekatsu was exiled to

Tosa Domain The was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its history by t ...

and his son Date Muneoki to

Kokura Domain , also known as or then , was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Buzen Province in modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. In the han system, Kokura was a political and economic abstraction based on perio ...

, daughter-in-law to a subsidiary of

Uwajima Domain 270px, Date Munenari 270px, Uwajima Date Museum was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Uwajima Castle, and was ruled throug ...

, and his two concubines and their four children to a junior branch of the Date clan in Iwadeyama. Munekatsu died in Tosa in 1679 at the age of 59. His grave is at the temple of Gyōkō-ji in the city of Kōchi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Date, Munekatsu 1621 births 1679 deaths Tozama daimyo Date clan People of Edo-period Japan