History of the Date Clan

At long last, we will finally be looking at the history of the Date clan, one of the most famous and beloved Samurai families of all time, in large thanks to their iconic leader, Date Masamune.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources Used:
It was particularly hard to find sources regarding the Date outside of a lot of writing about Date Masamune. For much of the information in this video I relied on the Japanese Wiki Corpus and the Samurai Archives.
Additional sources include:
"Samurai Battles" by Michael Sharp
"Japan Encyclopedia" by Louis Frédéric
"Hideyoshi" by Mary Elizabeth Berry

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intro:

Music:
"Arctic Forest" by Akira Ifukube

Artwork and Images:
The Samurai Portraits used are from the "Nobunaga's Ambition" Series and are the property of Koei Tecmo.
Classical art, which in most cases can be considered public domain.
Art from Osprey Publications.
Other modern artist renditions and photographs, if you see your work in this video please contact me so that I can give you proper credit!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Social Media:

#Samurai #History #Japan

[Skullnaught]

Likes large swords, lives on the northern end of an island nation hey wait I've seen this before

[Akimittsun]

Fun fact: Kanako Date, a member of the Date clan descended from Masamune was the winner of Miss Japan 2018. She made it to the Top 30 in the Miss World 2018 competition after that

[АлександрКостин-фв]

Date Masamune, the man who was born too late to unite Japan, yet at the right time to make a name for himself and immortalize himself as one of the symbols of Sengoku Jidai Samurai and Daimyo. Imagine what would happen if he were born just twenty years earlier...

Also to add up to my earlier comment, Masamune was not just a military powerhouse and warrior, but also a great administrator. It is thanks to him that city of Sendai, today's heart and de-facto capital of Tohoku region, was practically built from nothing but a small village by Masamune. Even Ieyasu Tokugawa and Hideyoshi Toyotomi recognized the power and might of Masamune, and that is saying something.

[raven]

Anytime I think of Date Masamune all I picture is him with six katanas on a horse that has exhaust pipes and a handle bar because of Sengoku Basara.

[GlamorousTitanic]

Date Masamune is hands down one of my favorite figures from the Sengoku Jidai, alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu and Takeda Shingen.

[jimross]

As always a fine overview of the Date clan. I learned much that I did not know about the clan. Information presented in a very thorough manner without getting lost in the clan minutia. This information is presented in an extremely entertaining manner, thereby making this a very enjoyable video.

[BuruIgeru]

Thank you again for the very well-researched work :D Just some minor comments and quibbles:

1. Masamune's wife, despite having the kanji 愛 (*ai*, love) for her name, is apparently read more accurately as "Megohime". I've been exposed to as much from most other portrayals of her (including the 1987 Taiga Drama *Dokuganryu Masamune*, where she's ably portrayed by Junko Sakurada alongside the young Ken Watanabe). It's a pretty old drama and the references definitely scream pre-bubble crash Japan, but it surprisingly holds up well. (It even has Hiroyuki Sanada as Masamune's son in law Tadateru.)

2. The Date also came into focus in at least the 2010s if only because their most famous descendant right now isn't even the clan head, but (much like Nobunaga and Oda Nobunari) a celebrity--Miss World 2018 Kanako Date.

3. I was kind of hoping you to include the squabbles the Date have with the Mogami--especially as there seem to be conflicting portrayals of both Yoshihime and her brother Mogami Yoshiaki (who competed with Terumune and Masamune). Most fiction imply Yoshiaki instigated the succession crisis that forced Masamune to kill his brother and exile Yoshihime, but other historical records suggest he was nothing if not a quiet enough neighbor to Masamune for the rest of their lives. Mogami Yoshiaki also had the misfortune of losing his daughter (which Hidetsugu wanted as his concubine) to the Hidetsugu-related purge, and she wasn't even 15!

Hopefully this gets touched in your future works, since apparently a lot of these small clans, minor daimyo and samurai--despite their obscurity--actually played vital roles that either led to the survival or fall of the major figures we know.

[KuroNoTenno]

One thing I really respect Masamune for is that he was, apparently, a very good cook and served his guests food he prepared himself.

[jsonitsac]

Date Junnosuke, who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had an interesting life. He found his way over to warlord era China and seems to be involved with some of the Imperial military's meddling in the country. It looks like he was involved in some attempts to secure Manchurian autonomy and sadly ordered massacres during World War II and was executed for war crimes.

[rossb]

I've been interested in Date Masamune since I visited Sendai. There are a lot of interesting monuments and other things dedicated to him in Sendai.

[azarishiba]

Some interesting facts about Masamune and the Date clan:

1) The Date in general where so dandy (especially Masamune) that their clan name became a word in Japanese meaning "stylish, date". Even more after Masamune presented himself in white robes and a crucifix in front of Toyotomi Hideyoshi after being late to Odawara.

2) Date Masamune had unusual hobbies for a daimyo: playing wadaiko drums and cooking for his guests.

3) It was because of Masamune that there are still Sanada Yukimura's descendants. Yukimura managed to impress Masamune at the Battle of Doumyouji in Siege of Osaka so well, that Masamune decided to care some of Yukimura's sons and daugthers. That's why also they are depicted as rivals often in fiction, Sengoku BASARA being the main perpetrator of this XD

4) Talking about Sengoku BASARA, they took historical Masamune's interest for western culture as an inspiration to make talk sometimes with modern English in the games and anime XD XD

Really, Sengoku BASARA takes samurai trivia and exxagerate it, that's one reason why this franchise is so fun.

[Kohakunushi]

I COSPLAYED as DATE MASAMUNE, my lord my favourite feudal warlord of the north! The ONE EYED DRAGON!!!

[portalovodguides]

Thank you for keeping gladdening is with high-quality content!

...with that being said, I am among those who are waiting for an Ikko Ikki separate video!

[kaijuslayer]

It says something powerful when among some of the most popular titles of the Sengoku period. The Fool of Owari, the Tiger of Kai, the God of War, titles for daimyos who lead their clans in the Sengoku period’s apex. And then there’s the One Eyed Dragon for a man put in charge only near its end. Yet would become nearly as legendary. As others have said, had Masamune been born eariler, he could have accomplished the most out of any daimyo of that era.






Also fun fact, the current head of the Date clan that is mentioned at the end has a habit of showing up dressed in Date samurai armor for a samurai festival in Sendai.

[risingsun]

I've been told by my family members that I have some type of blood connection to the Date, so they've always fascinated me. Love to see such a well put-together history of the clan.

[nick]

I think that even if Date Masamune was born earlier in the Sengoku Jidai period he would still be limited by where his family ruled. Oda Nobunaga had a massive benefit from being so close to the heavily populated region of central Honshu, something he and Toyotomi Hideyoshi would use to their advantage. Unfortunately being located in such a faraway region and having three significant clans, the Late Hojo, Uesugi and Takeda, nearby would limit the Date clan's ambitions unless one of those major powers fell. And when the Hojo finally fell the Date weren't in the right position to maximize what they could take.

[nejiefelipe]

i think much of masamune date's fame is due to the insanely good animes that portrats him as main characters, and yet i really enjoyed his death poem and external culture interest, not to mention that being pro christianism on the period is already a good sign of character, thank you for bringing this knowledge to us shogunate!!

[darrianweathington]

Ahhh, the 1 eyed dragon, the 3 fanged beast or whatever they called him in samurai warriors...

His horse was a motorcycle

[scrap.catastrophe]

long long ago the Koei game Nobunaga's Ambition opened my 13 year old eyes to feudal Japan. Then read James Clavell's Shogun(interesting but a gross mistake). Then read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, and finally Taiko. I appreciate this channel very much for all the in depth views.

[kevinsmith]

I love you. Been waiting for this one, lol!