__NOTOC__
The
Marquis was the eighth head of the
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 throu ...
during the
Late Tokugawa shogunate
was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. ...
and a
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
of the early
Meiji era.
Early life
Munenari was born in
Edo, the 4th son of the
hatamoto
A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...
Yamaguchi Naokatsu. Munenari, then known as Kamesaburō 亀三郎, was a candidate for adoption by the heirless 7th generation Uwajima lord
Date Munetada
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
**Group dating
* Play date, a ...
because Naokatsu's father was the 5th Uwajima lord,
Date Muratoki
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
**Group dating
* Play date, a ...
.
[幕末維新新選組 伊達宗城]
/ref>
Clan leader
Munenari succeeded to headship in 1844. The ''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 ...
'' Ii Naosuke
was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the ...
ordered Munenari's retirement in 1858. He was placed under house arrest.
He returned to prominence in the subsequent years of political maneuvering in Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
, as a member of the conciliatory kōbu-gattai (公武合体 ''union of court and bakufu'') party. Late in Bunkyū 3 (1863), as a proponent of kōbu-gattai, he was made a member of the imperial advisory council (''sanyō-kaigi'' 参与会議), together with Matsudaira Katamori
Matsudaira Katamori after the Meiji restoration
was a samurai who lived in Bakumatsu period and the early to mid Meiji period Japan. He was the 9th ''daimyō'' of the Aizu Domain and the Kyoto Shugoshoku (Military Commissioner of Kyoto). He i ...
and other like-minded lords.
National leader
After the fall of the shogunate in 1868, Munenari took an active role in the new imperial government; Uwajima as a domain was also deeply involved in the military campaign of the Boshin War (1868–1869).
Munenari was a crucial figure in Japan's international relations during the early Meiji period. In 1871, representing the Japanese government, he signed the Sino-Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty () with Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...
, a viceroy of Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Also in 1871, the han system was abolished in Japan, and he was able to fully cut his political ties to Uwajima. In 1881, Munenari entertained King Kalākaua
Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamananakapu Mahinulani Naloiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), sometimes called The Merrie Monarch, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, ...
, of the Kingdom of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...
, on the first state visit to Japan of an actual head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
in its recorded history. He was first created a count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
in the new peerage system, but was later promoted to marquess.
Munenari died at Imado
Imado (今戸) is a former township located today in Asakusa, eastern Tokyo.
A ''maneki-neko
The ''maneki-neko'' (招き猫, ) is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. In modern times, they are u ...
in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
in 1892, at age 75.
Gallery
File:Sino Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty 13 September 1871.jpg, Sino-Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty, 13 September 1871. The treaty was signed in Tientsin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, by Date Munenari and Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...
File:Uwajima Date Togakuji Cemetery 12.JPG, Tomb of Date Munenari (right) in Uwajima
270px, Uwajma City Hall
270px, Aerial view of Uwajma city center
270px, Japan National Route 320 in Uwajma city center
is a city located in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 70,440 in 35429 households and a ...
(宇和島 等覚寺)
File:Take ni Suzume.svg, The emblem ( ''mon'') of the Date clan
File:Date Munenari in uniform.jpg, The Marquis Date Munenari
See also
* Ansei purge was a multi-year event in Japanese history of the Edo period between 1858 and 1860, during which the Tokugawa shogunate imprisoned, executed, or exiled those who did not support its authority and foreign trade policies. The purge was undertaken by ...
* Date clan
The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5.
History
The Date family was founded ...
Ancestry
Notes
References
*Date Munenari 伊達宗城. ''Date Munenari zaikyō nikki''. Tokyo: Nihon shiseki kyōkai 日本史籍協会, 1916.
*''Nihonshi Jiten'' 日本史辞典. Tokyo: Ōbunsha 旺文社, 2000.
*''Much of this article has been compiled from corresponding content on the Japanese Wikipedia''.
Further reading
*Date Munenari 伊達宗城. ''Date Munenari zaikyō nikki''. Tokyo: Nihon shiseki kyōkai 日本史籍協会, 1916.
*Hyōdō Ken'ichi 兵頭賢一. ''Date Munenari Kō-den'' 伊達宗城公傳. Annotated by Kondō Toshifumi 今藤俊文. Tokyo: Sōsendo shuppan 創泉堂出版, 2005.
*Kusunoki Seiichirō 楠精一郎. ''Retsuden Nihon kindaishi: Date Munenari kara Kishi Nobusuke made'' 列伝・日本近代史: 伊達宗城から岸信介まで. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha 朝日新聞社, 2000.
*Miyoshi Masafumi 三好昌文. ''Bakumatsu ki Uwajima-han no dōkō: Date Munenari wo chūshin ni: Dai ikkan'' 幕末期宇和島藩の動向: 伊達宗城を中心に: 第一卷. Uwajima: Miyoshi Masafumi 三好昌文, 2001.
*''Tokugawa Nariaki, Date Munenari ōfuku shokanshū'' 徳川斉昭・伊達宗城往復書翰集. Edited by Kawachi Hachirō 河內八郎. Tokyo: Azekura Shobō 校倉書房, 1993.
*Totman, Conrad. ''The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1862-1868''. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1980.
External links
*
Date Munenari bio
(in Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Date, Munenari
Daimyo
Japanese politicians
1818 births
1892 deaths
Kazoku
Meiji Restoration
Date clan
Deified Japanese people
People from Tokyo