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[[Image:Date_masamune.jpg||thumb|right|Date Masamune - Although he had lost his right eye to a childhood sickness, he apparently requested that this picture be done with both his eyes intact.]]

[[Image:Date_masamune.jpg||thumb|right|Date Masamune - Although he had lost his right eye to a childhood sickness, he apparently requested that this picture be done with both his eyes intact.]]

Date Masaume was the eldest son of [[Date Terumune]], a lord of the Rikuzen area of [[Mutsu province|Mutsu]]. His mother was a daughter of [[Mogami Yoshimori]]. Masamune was born in September 1566 at Yonezawa and first went by the name Botenmaru. He received the name Tojirô Masamune in [[1578]] and the following year was married to the daughter of [[Tamura Kiyoaki]]. He went on his first campaign in [[1581]], helping his father fight the [[Soma clan|Soma family]].  

Date Masamune was the eldest son of [[Date Terumune]], a lord of the Rikuzen area of [[Mutsu province|Mutsu]]. His mother was a daughter of [[Mogami Yoshimori]]. Masamune was born in September 1566 at Yonezawa and first went by the name Botenmaru. He received the name Tojirô Masamune in [[1578]] and the following year was married to the daughter of [[Tamura Kiyoaki]]. He went on his first campaign in [[1581]], helping his father fight the [[Soma clan|Soma family]].  

Masamune assumed control of the [[Date clan|Date]] in [[1584]] with the retirement of his father. Shortly afterwards, he suffered the defection of a Date retainer named [[Ouchi Sadatsuna]] to the [[Ashina clan|Ashina]] of the Aizu region. Masamune declared war on the Ashina in retaliation. However, Masamune's army was halted at Hibara by the Ashina general, [[Iwashiro Morikuni]], and forced to retreat. Three months later, Masamune besieged the [[Ouchi clan|Ouchi's]] stronghold at Otemori and inflicted a terrible price on the traitors, allegedly putting some 800 people of all ages to the sword. When word of this slaughter reached the Ouchi at [[Obama castle|Obama Castle]], they burned Obama and fled. At the same time, tensions between the Date and their traditional rivals the [[Hatakeyama clan|Hatakeyama]] began to flare. The lord of the Hatakeyama, Yoshitsugu, evidently attempted to make peace with Masamune on a number of occasions, but the latter, young and hot-blooded, rebuffed each advance. Finally, Yoshitsugu turned to Terumune to mediate. The two former rivals sat down and feasted together in a most cordial manner. The following day, Yoshitsugu ostensibly came to thank Terumune for the enjoyable dinner. He then kidnapped Terumune at sword point, an act both unheard of and shocking. When Masamune returned from a morning of falconry to learn of his father's abduction, he called his men to arms and set off after Hatakeyama's entourage. They caught up with Hatakeyama near the Abukuma River. Terumune cried out for Masamune to open fire on them, regardless of his own safety, but his son hesitated. In the confusion, Terumune was cut down and Yoshitsugu somehow escaped to his castle of Nihonmatsu.  

Masamune assumed control of the [[Date clan|Date]] in [[1584]] with the retirement of his father. Shortly afterwards, he suffered the defection of a Date retainer named [[Ouchi Sadatsuna]] to the [[Ashina clan|Ashina]] of the Aizu region. Masamune declared war on the Ashina in retaliation. However, Masamune's army was halted at Hibara by the Ashina general, [[Iwashiro Morikuni]], and forced to retreat. Three months later, Masamune besieged the [[Ouchi clan|Ouchi's]] stronghold at Otemori and inflicted a terrible price on the traitors, allegedly putting some 800 people of all ages to the sword. When word of this slaughter reached the Ouchi at [[Obama castle|Obama Castle]], they burned Obama and fled. At the same time, tensions between the Date and their traditional rivals the [[Hatakeyama clan|Hatakeyama]] began to flare. The lord of the Hatakeyama, Yoshitsugu, evidently attempted to make peace with Masamune on a number of occasions, but the latter, young and hot-blooded, rebuffed each advance. Finally, Yoshitsugu turned to Terumune to mediate. The two former rivals sat down and feasted together in a most cordial manner. The following day, Yoshitsugu ostensibly came to thank Terumune for the enjoyable dinner. He then kidnapped Terumune at sword point, an act both unheard of and shocking. When Masamune returned from a morning of falconry to learn of his father's abduction, he called his men to arms and set off after Hatakeyama's entourage. They caught up with Hatakeyama near the Abukuma River. Terumune cried out for Masamune to open fire on them, regardless of his own safety, but his son hesitated. In the confusion, Terumune was cut down and Yoshitsugu somehow escaped to his castle of Nihonmatsu.