was an mid- Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 6th '' daimyō'' of Sendai Domain in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan, and the 22nd hereditary chieftain of the Date clan.

Biography

Munemura was the fourth son of Date Yoshimura. Two of his older brothers died young, and the third (Date Murakaze) formed a separate '' hatamoto'' household, so he was appointed heir. His childhood name was ; however, when he was received in formal audience by '' Shōgun'' Tokugawa Yoshimune, he received one '' kanji'' from the ''shōgun''s name, and the thus became Date Munemura. He was also betrothed to the daughter of

Tokugawa Munenao Tokugawa may refer to: *Tokugawa era, an alternative term for the Edo period, 1603 to 1868 *Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime of Japan during the Edo period **Tokugawa clan, a powerful family of Japan ***Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), most nota ...

, the ''daimyō'' of Kii Domain at that time. He became ''daimyō'' in 1743 upon the retirement of his father. He was noted as a man of many talents. As was his father, he was noted for his literary achievements, and he was also proficient in horsemanship, swordsmanship, use of the spear, military strategy and ''

hōjutsu , the art of gunnery, is the martial art of Japan dedicated to firearms usage. Hōjutsu is still practiced today, often with antique matchlock firearms such as the tanegashima (gun). The martial art is most common in Japan where access to histor ...

'' (gunnery). In 1747,

Hosokawa Munetaka Hosokawa (typically ja, 細川, meaning "narrow river" or "little river") is a Japanese surname. People with the name include: *Bill Hosokawa (1915–2007), Japanese American author and journalist *Chieko Hosokawa (born 1929), a Japanese manga a ...

, ''daimyō'' of Kumamoto Domain was cut down by a ''hatamoto'', Itakura Katsukane, while en route to a ceremony at Edo Castle. Katsukane had a vendetta against Itakura Katsukiyo of Annaka Domain, but as the Hosokawa and Itakura family crests are so similar, he killed the wrong man. This placed the Hosokawa clan in danger of attainder, as Munetake was without heir. Date Munemura, who happened to be nearby when the incident occurred, knelt by the corpse of Hosotake Munetake and loudly declared "he still lives!" and ordered his retainers to take the body to the Hosokawa clan residence before the Shogun's '' metsuke'' inspectors could arrive at the scene. This allowed the Hosokawa clan to make a formal announcement that Munetaka had formally adopted his younger brother as heir, and the report on the death of Munetaka was delayed until the following day. In 1752, Sendai Domain was struck by a severe famine. While touring a stricken village in what is now Watari District, Miyagi on his way back from ''

sankin-kōtai ''Sankin-kōtai'' ( ja, 参覲交代/参覲交替, now commonly written as ja, 参勤交代/参勤交替, lit=alternate attendance, label=none) was a policy of the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history.Jansen, M ...

'' in

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

, he was directly petitioned by the headman of Nakaizumi village, Kitahara Kanehira, for a reduction in the village's taxes. As was the common punishment for such an action, the headman's house and fields were confiscated and he was crucified as punishment, Munemura died in 1756, and was succeeded by his son,

Date Shigemura was a mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 7th ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan, and the 23rd hereditary chieftain of the Date clan. Biography Shigemura was the second son of Date Munemura. His infant na ...

. His grave is at the Date clan mausoleum at Dainenjiyama in Sendai.

Family

* Father:

Date Yoshimura was an mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 5th ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain in northern Japan, and the 21st hereditary chieftain of the Date clan. The longest-serving of any of the ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain, Yoshimura placed the domain b ...

* Mother: Fuyuhime (1689–1745) * Wife: Unsho-in (Tonehime) (1717–1746), daughter of Tokugawa Munenao and adopted daughter of Tokugawa Yoshimune ** 1st daughter: Motohime (1739–1761) married Nabeshima Shigemochi, daimyo of Nabeshima Domain ** 3rd daughter: unnamed, died in infancy * Concubine: Nobuko (Osei no Kata) (1719–1763) ** 1st son: Kumenosuke, died in childhood ** 2nd son:

, ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain ** 2nd daughter: Ichihime, died in childhood ** 4th daughter: Kaihime married Sakai Tadatsura of Obama Domain ** 5th daughter: Genhime, married Nakamura Kagesada ** 6th daughter: Naohime, died in childhood ** 7th daughter: Yorihime, died in childhood ** 7th son: Date Fujishiro, died in childhood ** 8th son: Hotta Masaatsu (1755–1832), daimyo of Katata Domain * Concubine: Oriku no Kata ** Doi Toshinari (1748–1813), ''daimyō'' of Kariya Domain * Concubine: Otoyo no Kata ** Date Muratomo (1749–1776), ''hatamoto'' head of the Wakuya-Date cadet clan * Concubine: Odai no Kata ** 5th son, Date Yukichiyo, died in childhood * Concubine: Ono no Kata * Concubine: Okiyo no Kata ** 6th son: Doi Toshiyasu (1750–1766) ** 9th daughter: Seihime married

Matsudaira Harusato was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the mid-Edo period, who ruled the Matsue Domain. He was renowned as a tea master, under the name . Early life Harusato was born at the Matsudaira residence in Edo (present-day Tokyo) in 1751, the second son of Mats ...

, ''daimyō'' of Matsue Domain * Concubine: Hotoe no Kata (Yuzen-in) ** 8th daughter: Eihime, died in childhood ** 11th daughter: Hisahime, died in childhood ** 12th daughter: Ryuhime, died in childhood * Concubine: Ishiawa-dono ** 10th daughter: Saihime, died in childhood

References

* Papinot, Edmond. (1948). ''Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan''. New York: Overbeck Co.

External links

Sendai Domain on "Edo 300 HTML"
(3 November 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Date, Munemura 1718 births 1756 deaths Tozama daimyo Date clan People of Edo-period Japan