Date Masamune: From Yonezawa to Sendai

Date Masamune, later nicknamed the One-Eyed Dragon, was likely born at Yonezawa Castle in what is now Yamagata Prefecture. In 1584, aged 17, he succeeded his father as head of the Date clan. All remaining castle structures were demolished in 1873, and Uesugi Shrine now stands on the site of the donjon. In February, lanterns carved from snow are lit there for the snow lantern festival.

Visitor guidance: Uesugi Shrine and the castle grounds in Yonezawa; the snow lantern festival is held in February.

In 1589 Masamune captured Kurokawa Castle in the Aizu basin from the Ashina clan and made it his base. It did not last: in 1590 he was forced to pledge fealty to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and move north. Kurokawa was the predecessor of Tsuruga Castle, whose tea room, Rinkaku, is open to the public, and where tea ceremonies are sometimes held.

Location precision: Kurokawa Castle was the predecessor of Tsuruga Castle; the pin marks Tsuruga Castle's site.

Visitor guidance: Tsuruga Castle in Aizuwakamatsu; the Rinkaku tea room is open to the public.

After serving Hideyoshi, Masamune was given Iwatesawa and its lands. He moved there in 1591, rebuilt the castle, renamed it Iwadeyama and encouraged a town to grow at its base. He stayed 13 years and turned the region into a major political and economic centre. After the Meiji revolution every remaining structure of the castle was removed or destroyed, so only the site is left.

Tokugawa Ieyasu renamed Mount Aoba "Sendai", and Masamune began building his castle there. In 1604 he moved in with 52,000 vassals and their families, to what was then a small fishing village. Only the foundation of a main keep was ever built. After the castle was destroyed in 1945, the stone base, a few walls and some wooden structures have been rebuilt for visitors.

Masamune rebuilt the Zuigan-ji temple at Matsushima from 1604 to 1609, using lumber brought from Mount Kumano and skilled workmen from Kyoto and Kii Province. Its Main Hall, completed in 1609, was designated a National Treasure in 1953. Its museum, opened in 1974, holds about 30,000 items, including artifacts unearthed during excavations.

Visitor guidance: The temple is five minutes on foot from Matsushima-Kaigan Station.

Masamune died in 1636, aged 68, and was returned to Sendai. He had left instructions for a mausoleum, and Zuihoden was erected the following year. A number of Date daimyo and other clan members are buried in the grounds. It was destroyed in 1945, rebuilt in 1979 and repaired in 2001.