Date Munekatsu

• Period: Edo Period
• Occupation: Daimyō
• Family: Date Tsunamura (nephew) Date Tsunamune (brother)
• Birth: 1621
• Death: 1679

Date Munekatsu

Date Munekatsu (伊達宗勝) was a daimyō and member of the Date Clan, brother to Date Tsunamune and uncle of Date Tsunamura.¹ He lived from 1621-1679.²

He devised  a plot to have his brother displaced, having his nephew instated as daimyō so that he could control his nephew and gain control.¹²

This series of events led to the Date Sōdō. During this time in 1666, an attendant of Tsunamura’s died after taste testing his food, with rumours saying Munekatsu was the one behind the plan, by 1670 Munekatsu’s poor governing was reported to the shogunate, and months later Sakai Tadakiyo was murdered by one of Munekatsu’s officials as he was about the sentence him for his bad governing. This assassin was beheaded and Munekatsu was exiled to the Tosa Domain.¹

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.
2. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.

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