伊達 政宗 だて まさむね Date Masamune 1566 - 1636 Appearances: Sengoku Musou (1,2), Sengoku BASARA (1,2) Daimyo of 陸奥 Mutsu province. Son of 輝宗 Terumune. His mother, 義姫 Yoshi-hime, is the sister of 最上義光 Mogami Yoshiaki, daimyo of 出羽 Dewa province. Known as 独眼竜 Dokuganryuu (One-eyed Dragon) as he only had the left eye. He lost his right eye due to a pox during his childhood. The Dokuganryu nickname also fits his hot-blooded and fierce personality. He was also famous for his helmet, which had a crescent moon mark. At the age of 13 (1579), he was married to 愛姫 Mego-hime, daughter of 田村清顕 Tamura Kiyoaki, owner of 三春城 Miharu Castle located in Mutsu. His first battle was in 1581, when the Date fought the 相馬 Souma clan. In 1584, Terumune retired and Masamune became the daimyo of Date. The Date clan had very few allies and many hostile clans in Oushuu. The hostiles are including the Souma, 大内 Oouchi, 芦名 Ashina, 佐竹 Satake, and especially the archrival 畠山 Hatakeyama. With the new daimyo Masamune who was agressive and hot-blooded, the relations with the said clans were getting worse. The conflict reached its peak when in 1585, a failed negotiation with the Hatakeyama resulted in the kidnap and murder of Terumune. Shortly after, the hostile clans gathered and formed an anti-Date alliance and marched against Masamune. The alliance army clashed with the Date army at 人取橋 Hitadori Bridge. The Date was obviously outnumbered and on a brink of defeat, however the lady luck was with Masamune, as the Satake army would soon retreat to its region 常陸 Hitachi after receiving report that it was under attack by the nearby 里見 Satomi clan of Kazusa province. This resulted in the retreat of the other armies, so that the Date could survive and rebuild its army. In 1589, Date was able to subjugate Souma, and soon after bribing an important Ashina retainer, 猪苗代盛国 Inawashiro Morikuni, Masamune marched against the clan at 摺上原 Suriagehara on June 5th. It was a major victory for Masamune, and the Date conquered most of Oushuu afterwards. However the next year (1590), Toyotomi Hideyoshi who had just done subjugating the western islands urged the northern daimyos to surrender to him. Although the Hojo declined, Masamune decided to join the Toyotomi. After the siege of Odawara ended and the Hojo annihilated, Hideyoshi who had just unified Japan would order the Date daimyo to relinquish his newly conquered regions. In 1595, following Hideyoshi's order to execute his adopted son 秀次 Hidetsugu after the birth of Hideyori, Masamune was about to be relocated to Iyo, Shikoku and his holdings reduced again, but those were averted by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Relations between Masamune and Ieyasu got better, and the Date would obviously support the Tokugawa when the Sekigahara campaign. Although Masamune himself didn't join the major battle, he, together with his uncle Yoshiaki, managed to prevent the Uesugi army which supported Toyotomi from marching to Sekigahara when the two armies fought at 長谷堂 Hasedou in September 1600. He also joined the Osaka campaign (1614-1615) where he fought Sanada Yukimura at Tennouji. Biography created by: Hondam