Dae in Japan: All About Masamune
So, finally we got to talk about my visit to the Michinoku Masamune Date Historical Museum :3
Masamune Date is one of those characters so popularized by media that many people knew very little about-- A walk around this museum and its statues sure is a good opportunity to learn more about this charming historical figure :D
The museum is located in Matsushima, quite easy to reach, from both the train station and the boat terminal.
As it's heavily sponsored at the station, and since Teap told me about it before getting ready for my trip to Matsushima, it was already on my list >D
I got there right after my tour of the tiny islands of awesome :D
I was also quite lucky, as when I visited there was a discount for foreigners visitors, so I just pais 500 yen for the entrance instead of 1000 :D !!
The first floor of the museum is dedicated to the important historical figures of the Tohoku region, the North-East of Japan.
Awwww, it's Katamori Matsudaira! He was the head of the Aizu Clan and the Protector of Kyoto during the Southwesterner War-- In the comic Sidooh, one of my favourites, he's not portrayed very nicely XD
Once we pass this gate, we head to the second floor that is focused on the life of our good old Masamune :D
The exhibition starts with Masamune's birth: he was born in 1567 in Yamagata, from Date Teramune, head of a noble family in Ohshu, and Yoshi-hime, the daughter of the head of the Mogami Clan of Yamagata Castle.
The first thing that the lady in wait did, was rushing outside to tell the vassals that the heir to the Date clan was born.
When he reached the 5 years of age, the little Botenmaru suffered from smallpox, thus leaving his right eye disfigured.
Because of this gruesome feature, his mother grew disgusted with him, favouring her younger son, Kojiro, over him.
In this terrible scene Yoshi-hime is making fun of Boten-chan: she's eating a grape saying that it's his right eye, and since he's not using it, she's going to take it back in her body D: Poor little kid!
Because of this treatment Bontenmaru spent a very sad childhood :/
Here's a scene that tells about the personality of young Masamune: while visiting a temple, he pointed at a statue of Fudo and asked why his face was so scary if he's supposed to be a Buddha, a good person.
The priest explained that it's ok to have a scary appearance as long as your heart is just and pure.
Botenmaru replied that it was pretty cool and that he would like to be like this too, leaving the priest deeply touched.
Fortunately, his father was there.
Faithful to the tradition and aware of his son's potential, he picked some pretty cool tutors for him. Among them was the scholar Koan Aida and the Zen priest Kosai Zenji.
Here young Masamune is training with Katakura Kojuro, one of his father's pages, turned into Masamune's personal attendant, under the gaze of Terumune and Koan Aida.
Masamune had his genpuku in 1577, when he got renamed as Tojiro.
He would marry two years later with Mego-hime, the daughter of the head of the Tamura Clan, an enemy clan turned ally with this marriage.
It's said that Masamune was quite embarassed, but did his best to look dignified and manly XD
He had his uijin in 1581, marching to the battlefield with his father against the Toma Clan.
Tragedy ensued in 1585, one year after he was declared the new head of the Date Clan.
The rival clan of Hatakeyama kidnapped Terumune, trying to profit of the inexperience of Masamune to put a stop to his bold military actions, but it ended with Terumune being killed by the Hatakeyama, unleashing the fury of the "One-eyed Dragon":
The battle of Hitotori Bridge set Masamune into legend. Against all odds, thanks to a series of reckless attacks and a good amount of good luck, he defeated the Hatakeyama and, in the course of events, another rival clan, the Ashina.
Masamune became the head of a domain of 2 millions koku, the largest in Ohshu.
This set Masamune up for some troubles.
The Ashina were retainers of Hideyoshi, and their defeat enraged him.
Though, he decided to make use of this strong clan from the North, and requested Masamune's support in Odawara against the Hojo.
This was a difficult choice for Masamune and his clan. He didn't want to join Hideyoshi, strong of his independence, but at the same time he didn't want to endanger the balance of his domain... In the end he followed the advice of his retainers, and joined Hideyoshi in Odawara.
His mother, though, had other plans.
Upon leaving for Odawara, Yoshi-hime tried to poison him, so to let Kojiro in his place.
Masamune had to slaughter his brother because of this, as his mother flee back to Yamagata Castle, under the protection of her brother.
This accident delayed Masamune, who was late for the battle at Odawara.
Hideyoshi was furious, and Masamune showed his determination to face the punishment by showing up in front of Hideyoshi while wearing a funeral kimono, the shiro-shozoku, and apologizing for the delay.
Hideyoshi pardoned him, and Masamune overcame his first crisis.
With the rule of Hideyoshi, the until then independent North faced some crisis because of the restrictions as it was the first time that the North was experiencing such huge reforms.
Masamune applied Hideyoshi's laws rigorously but he was also sensitive to people complains.
Riots started once local samurai and their farmers faced land confiscation and exploitation.
One of Hideyoshi's retainers, Gamo Ujisato, accused Masamune of supporting the riots behind the scenes, thus forcing Masamune to another of his "penance acts":
He eventually got out of this mess too.
Later on, Hideyoshi would ask him to take part to the expedition against Korea.
It's said that Masamune dressed up his armies in an extravagant and bold way, and they left a strong impression when marching in Kyoto.
Once back to Japan, Hideyoshi prohibited Masamune to go back to the North and forced him to stay in Kyoto for at least one year and half, as an attempt to mitigate his influence.
Masamune profitted of his stay to study poetry and literature, getting in touch with Kyoto's culture.
During a trip to Yoshino with Hideyoshi and his crew, he entertained everyone with his poems.
After Hideyoshi's death in 1598 and the Tokugawa settling on the stage for power, Masamune had
to make another choice, and picked the Tokugawa.
Once the Tokuwaga shogunate was enstablished and reciprocal aggression was no longer allowed, Masamune got back to the North to take care of things there.
Starting from Sendai through the whole region, he brought the knowledge of the South to develop his territory, both technically and culturally:
Castle and temples in "Momoyama Style" were constructed everywhere, but also the methods of irrigation were developed together with forestation, salt processing, development of mines, metal refining, horse raising all while reclaiming lands from swamps.
He got in touch with Christian missionaries and supported and developed their cause.
He built the "Datemaru", a vessel to cross the oceans, and sent a Japanese delegation led by Hasekura Tsunenaga to the Pope in Rome, in Portugal and even Mexico.
Unfortunately, though, the expedition didn't bore the expected fruits-- Japan was still seen as a tiny country with no relevance, so Masamune didn't manage to grant himself an exclusive channel for commerce and culture with the West.
While Masamune was taking care of the North, stuff happened with the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans: in 1615 the Osaka castle fell and Hideyori, the son of Hideyoshi, was forced to commit seppuku:
Despite being on the front of Tokugawa, it's said that Masamune cried when he saw Osaka Castle going up in flames, remembering hid former lord.
We're heading to the end of the story, and this little section of the museum paid homage to the faithful retainers of Masamune-- Here's good ol' Kojuro:
On his final days it's said that Masamune went to visit the grave of his mother.
He walked the place and once he heard the singing of a cuckoo, he pointed to the area and told his retainers that he wanted to be buried right there.
He passed away at the age of 70 in Edo.
Definitely interesting, it was amusing to see how much he had in common with my beloved Nobunaga ;3;
--Of course I took a moment to gaze at the cute Masa-yan-- S-So cute! But I resisted and didn't buy anything! ...I had enough clear files by then XD
--It was absurdly cute that its face is that of a kitty but the body is that of a dragon x'DD
Once I got out of the museum, this cospicuous cafe was waiting for me right next to the exit XD
Inside it was decorated with posters of historical TV series and movies dedicated to Masamune:
OF COURSE I WENT THERE AND I ORDERED ONE OF THEIR SIGNATURE ICE-CREAMS, THE "MASAMUNE PARFAIT":
It was Masamune-y enough XD
And so ends this report too!
...Now I'm going on hibernation :D See you on Spring!
I'm joking, I'm joking x'DD --Maybe.
Originally posted at http://daeva-neesan.dreamwidth.org/564090.html
If you want, please comment there :3
Masamune Date is one of those characters so popularized by media that many people knew very little about-- A walk around this museum and its statues sure is a good opportunity to learn more about this charming historical figure :D
The museum is located in Matsushima, quite easy to reach, from both the train station and the boat terminal.
As it's heavily sponsored at the station, and since Teap told me about it before getting ready for my trip to Matsushima, it was already on my list >D
I got there right after my tour of the tiny islands of awesome :D
I was also quite lucky, as when I visited there was a discount for foreigners visitors, so I just pais 500 yen for the entrance instead of 1000 :D !!
The first floor of the museum is dedicated to the important historical figures of the Tohoku region, the North-East of Japan.
Awwww, it's Katamori Matsudaira! He was the head of the Aizu Clan and the Protector of Kyoto during the Southwesterner War-- In the comic Sidooh, one of my favourites, he's not portrayed very nicely XD
Once we pass this gate, we head to the second floor that is focused on the life of our good old Masamune :D
The exhibition starts with Masamune's birth: he was born in 1567 in Yamagata, from Date Teramune, head of a noble family in Ohshu, and Yoshi-hime, the daughter of the head of the Mogami Clan of Yamagata Castle.
The first thing that the lady in wait did, was rushing outside to tell the vassals that the heir to the Date clan was born.
When he reached the 5 years of age, the little Botenmaru suffered from smallpox, thus leaving his right eye disfigured.
Because of this gruesome feature, his mother grew disgusted with him, favouring her younger son, Kojiro, over him.
In this terrible scene Yoshi-hime is making fun of Boten-chan: she's eating a grape saying that it's his right eye, and since he's not using it, she's going to take it back in her body D: Poor little kid!
Because of this treatment Bontenmaru spent a very sad childhood :/
Here's a scene that tells about the personality of young Masamune: while visiting a temple, he pointed at a statue of Fudo and asked why his face was so scary if he's supposed to be a Buddha, a good person.
The priest explained that it's ok to have a scary appearance as long as your heart is just and pure.
Botenmaru replied that it was pretty cool and that he would like to be like this too, leaving the priest deeply touched.
Fortunately, his father was there.
Faithful to the tradition and aware of his son's potential, he picked some pretty cool tutors for him. Among them was the scholar Koan Aida and the Zen priest Kosai Zenji.
Here young Masamune is training with Katakura Kojuro, one of his father's pages, turned into Masamune's personal attendant, under the gaze of Terumune and Koan Aida.
Masamune had his genpuku in 1577, when he got renamed as Tojiro.
He would marry two years later with Mego-hime, the daughter of the head of the Tamura Clan, an enemy clan turned ally with this marriage.
It's said that Masamune was quite embarassed, but did his best to look dignified and manly XD
He had his uijin in 1581, marching to the battlefield with his father against the Toma Clan.
Tragedy ensued in 1585, one year after he was declared the new head of the Date Clan.
The rival clan of Hatakeyama kidnapped Terumune, trying to profit of the inexperience of Masamune to put a stop to his bold military actions, but it ended with Terumune being killed by the Hatakeyama, unleashing the fury of the "One-eyed Dragon":
The battle of Hitotori Bridge set Masamune into legend. Against all odds, thanks to a series of reckless attacks and a good amount of good luck, he defeated the Hatakeyama and, in the course of events, another rival clan, the Ashina.
Masamune became the head of a domain of 2 millions koku, the largest in Ohshu.
This set Masamune up for some troubles.
The Ashina were retainers of Hideyoshi, and their defeat enraged him.
Though, he decided to make use of this strong clan from the North, and requested Masamune's support in Odawara against the Hojo.
This was a difficult choice for Masamune and his clan. He didn't want to join Hideyoshi, strong of his independence, but at the same time he didn't want to endanger the balance of his domain... In the end he followed the advice of his retainers, and joined Hideyoshi in Odawara.
His mother, though, had other plans.
Upon leaving for Odawara, Yoshi-hime tried to poison him, so to let Kojiro in his place.
Masamune had to slaughter his brother because of this, as his mother flee back to Yamagata Castle, under the protection of her brother.
This accident delayed Masamune, who was late for the battle at Odawara.
Hideyoshi was furious, and Masamune showed his determination to face the punishment by showing up in front of Hideyoshi while wearing a funeral kimono, the shiro-shozoku, and apologizing for the delay.
Hideyoshi pardoned him, and Masamune overcame his first crisis.
With the rule of Hideyoshi, the until then independent North faced some crisis because of the restrictions as it was the first time that the North was experiencing such huge reforms.
Masamune applied Hideyoshi's laws rigorously but he was also sensitive to people complains.
Riots started once local samurai and their farmers faced land confiscation and exploitation.
One of Hideyoshi's retainers, Gamo Ujisato, accused Masamune of supporting the riots behind the scenes, thus forcing Masamune to another of his "penance acts":
He eventually got out of this mess too.
Later on, Hideyoshi would ask him to take part to the expedition against Korea.
It's said that Masamune dressed up his armies in an extravagant and bold way, and they left a strong impression when marching in Kyoto.
Once back to Japan, Hideyoshi prohibited Masamune to go back to the North and forced him to stay in Kyoto for at least one year and half, as an attempt to mitigate his influence.
Masamune profitted of his stay to study poetry and literature, getting in touch with Kyoto's culture.
During a trip to Yoshino with Hideyoshi and his crew, he entertained everyone with his poems.
After Hideyoshi's death in 1598 and the Tokugawa settling on the stage for power, Masamune had
to make another choice, and picked the Tokugawa.
Once the Tokuwaga shogunate was enstablished and reciprocal aggression was no longer allowed, Masamune got back to the North to take care of things there.
Starting from Sendai through the whole region, he brought the knowledge of the South to develop his territory, both technically and culturally:
Castle and temples in "Momoyama Style" were constructed everywhere, but also the methods of irrigation were developed together with forestation, salt processing, development of mines, metal refining, horse raising all while reclaiming lands from swamps.
He got in touch with Christian missionaries and supported and developed their cause.
He built the "Datemaru", a vessel to cross the oceans, and sent a Japanese delegation led by Hasekura Tsunenaga to the Pope in Rome, in Portugal and even Mexico.
Unfortunately, though, the expedition didn't bore the expected fruits-- Japan was still seen as a tiny country with no relevance, so Masamune didn't manage to grant himself an exclusive channel for commerce and culture with the West.
While Masamune was taking care of the North, stuff happened with the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans: in 1615 the Osaka castle fell and Hideyori, the son of Hideyoshi, was forced to commit seppuku:
Despite being on the front of Tokugawa, it's said that Masamune cried when he saw Osaka Castle going up in flames, remembering hid former lord.
We're heading to the end of the story, and this little section of the museum paid homage to the faithful retainers of Masamune-- Here's good ol' Kojuro:
On his final days it's said that Masamune went to visit the grave of his mother.
He walked the place and once he heard the singing of a cuckoo, he pointed to the area and told his retainers that he wanted to be buried right there.
He passed away at the age of 70 in Edo.
Definitely interesting, it was amusing to see how much he had in common with my beloved Nobunaga ;3;
--Of course I took a moment to gaze at the cute Masa-yan-- S-So cute! But I resisted and didn't buy anything! ...I had enough clear files by then XD
--It was absurdly cute that its face is that of a kitty but the body is that of a dragon x'DD
Once I got out of the museum, this cospicuous cafe was waiting for me right next to the exit XD
Inside it was decorated with posters of historical TV series and movies dedicated to Masamune:
OF COURSE I WENT THERE AND I ORDERED ONE OF THEIR SIGNATURE ICE-CREAMS, THE "MASAMUNE PARFAIT":
It was Masamune-y enough XD
And so ends this report too!
...Now I'm going on hibernation :D See you on Spring!
I'm joking, I'm joking x'DD --Maybe.
Originally posted at http://daeva-neesan.dreamwidth.org/564090.html
If you want, please comment there :3