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During the Sengoku period, when wars were constant, it was natural for warlords to try to have many children. As a result, there are countless examples of Sengoku warlords with many children However , even in this era, there are not many princesses with many children One of them is Princess Kubo, the wife of Date Harumune, the grandmother .
A warrior with many children and a princess with many children
Warlords in the Sengoku period generally had many children. Even if they had children, they could lose their lives in battle at any time, and even if they didn't, it was an era when medical care was not as advanced as it is today, so they often died young. Also, if they had many children, they could increase their own influence by adopting boys into other families and marrying girls to other families or vassals. For these reasons, many warlords took concubines in addition to their official wives in order to have as many children as possible.
There is probably almost no one who doesn't know about Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, and they are also known for having many children. Oda Nobunaga's biological children, whose existence is confirmed, numbered 11 sons and 6 daughters, and Tokugawa Ieyasu's biological children were also said to have 11 sons and 5 daughters. Nobunaga's father, Nobuhide, is also said to have had 12 sons and 15 daughters, including Nobunaga. The Oda clan was a family with many children for two generations. Another example is Date Tanemune (Masamune's great-grandfather), who is somewhat less well known as a military commander, but is quite amazing as he fathered 14 sons and 6 daughters.
By the way, while there are many "warriors with many children," the number of "princesses with many children" is much smaller. This is because, unlike warlords who could have children with multiple concubines, there is a certain limit to the number of children a single woman can give birth to.
The most famous example is Matsu, the wife of Maeda Toshiie, who served Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Matsu married Toshiie at the age of 12 and gave birth to her first daughter at the age of 13. She gave birth to a total of 11 children in her lifetime: 2 boys and 9 girls.
There are records that rival this for Princess Kubo, the wife of Date Harumune. Princess Kubo and Harumune are said to have had 11 children, six boys and five girls
Who was Princess Kubo, who gave birth to six boys and five girls?
Princess Kubo was born in 1521 as the eldest daughter of Iwaki Shigetaka. She grew up to be known as the most beautiful girl in Oshu, and was also called Ekubo Gozen" (Dimple Lady
Iwaki Shigetaka was the lord of Odate Castle, located in what is now Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture. In order to counter the alliance of the Tamura, Soma, and Date clans, which were in conflict with each other, Shigetaka attempted to marry Princess Kubo to Yuki Harutsuna of Shirakawa. However, Soma Akitane intervened, wanting to marry Princess Kubo to Date Harumune. Shigetaka refused the proposal, but Princess Kubo and her entourage, on their way to marry the Yuki clan, were surrounded by Date Harumune's troops, who had been lying in wait, and were captured alive.
Harumune decided to make Kubohime his legal wife, and it seems that she also liked Harumune, as she repeatedly sent letters to her father, Shigetaka, asking for permission to marry Harumune. Shigetaka reluctantly gave his permission for the marriage, on the condition that if a son was born between Kubohime and Harumune, that child would be adopted by the Iwaki clan.
Harumune must have been very fond of Kubohime, because at least as far as records show, he had no concubines. Harumune's father, Tanemune, had more children than Harumune and Kubohime, as mentioned earlier, but Tanemune is said to have had five concubines.
As promised to Iwaki Shigetaka when Date Harumune and Kubohime married, he became Shigetaka's adopted son and succeeded the Iwaki clan. There are records of his efforts to mediate internal disputes within his family, the Date clan, and to mediate peace among surrounding powers. However, he began to allow the intervention of his wife's family, the Satake clan of Hitachi Province (present-day Ibaraki Prefecture), and his son Tsunetaka eventually became head of the family, so it is believed that he had completely lost power by this time.
Eldest daughter: Princess Anami
She married Nikaido Moriyoshi, the eldest son of the lord of Sukagawa Castle (present-day Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture). Although she had two children, Ashina Moritaka and Nikaido Yukichika, her sons died out one after the other, effectively ending the Nikaido clan. Later, Sukagawa Castle was attacked by her nephew, Date Masamune, but the castle's lord, Princess Anan, also known as Daijoin, is known for her stubborn resistance. At this time, Nikaido's vassals and subjects, determined to fight to defend Sukagawa Castle, gathered with lit torches, which is said to be the origin of Torch Evidence After the fall of Sukagawa Castle, she spent her final years relying on her nephews, Iwaki Tsunetaka and Satake Yoshinobu.
Terumune's older brother, Chikatake, was adopted by the Iwaki clan, so Terumune inherited the Date clan. Even after Harumune retired and handed over the family headship to Terumune, he did not relinquish real power, and eventually the two came into conflict, with real power eventually being handed over to Terumune. greatly expanded the power of the Date clan , in 1585 he was taken hostage by Nihonmatsu (also known as Hatakeyama) Yoshitsugu, the lord of Nihonmatsu Castle, who had supposedly surrendered to the Date clan, and ultimately met an untimely death . He was the father of Date Masamune.
Her real name is unknown. She married Date Sanemoto, the third son of Date Tanemune. Since Sanemoto was Harumune's younger brother, Kyoseiin married her uncle. She gave birth to Date Shigezane, who is known for being a good advisor to Masamune.
By the way, how should we describe the relationship between Masamune and Shigezane? From the perspective of Shigezane's mother, Kyoseiin, Masamune, the son of her brother Terumune, was her nephew, so he was Shigezane's cousin. However, from the perspective of Shigezane's father, Sanemoto, Terumune was her nephew (and brother-in-law), so Masamune was Shigezane's cousin-nephew (child of his cousin). In other words, Masamune was Shigezane's maternal cousin as well as his paternal cousin-nephew. It's confusing, so I feel like it would be better to just say they were cousins.
Third daughter: Princess Masuho
She married Koyanagawa Morimune, a member of a branch of the Date clan who was based in what is now Yanagawa-cho, Date City. Her pen name was Tenkoin.
Third son: Rusu Masakage
He was adopted by Rusu Akimune, the lord of Iwakiri Castle (present-day Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture), and succeeded him. However, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked the Hojo clan in Odawara in 1590, Rusu Masakage did not participate and his territory was confiscated. After that, he served under Date Masamune, and was active after reverting to the surname Date.
Fourth son: Akimitsu Ishikawa
He was adopted by Ishikawa Harumitsu, the lord of Miashi Castle (present-day Ishikawa Town, Fukushima Prefecture), and succeeded him. The "Aki" character in his name was bestowed upon him by Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last shogun of the Muromachi shogunate. After being oppressed by the Satake, Ashina, and Tamura clans, he came under the influence of the Satake clan, which led to his conflict with Date Masamune. He eventually surrendered to Masamune and was given Sukagawa Castle (where his sister, Princess Anan, had been married). Akimitsu also had his territory confiscated because he did not participate in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign against Odawara, and became a subordinate of Masamune.
Fourth daughter: Princess Hiko
She married Ashina Morioki, who was based in Aizu, but lost him at the time of his death. She became the legal wife of Moritaka, who was adopted by Morioki's father. As Moritaka was the child of Harumune's eldest daughter, Ananhime, and Nikaido Moriyoshi, as mentioned earlier, Hikohime remarried her nephew. However, she lost both Moritaka and Moritaka's surviving son, Kameomaru, and she herself died young. The Ashina clan was subsequently attacked by Date Masamune and fell into decline.
Fifth daughter: Hojuin
Her real name is unknown. She married Satake Yoshishige, a Sengoku daimyo of Hitachi. The children she had with Yoshishige were adopted into the Ashina and Iwaki clans. Her eldest son, Yoshinobu, later moved to Akita and became the first lord of the Akita domain.
Fifth son: Kokubu Morishige
He succeeded the Kokubu clan, which had built up its power around present-day Sendai City. However, he was unable to suppress the opposition from within his clan to his support for Date Masamune, and Masamune nearly defeated him. Although he was pardoned, he later fled to Satake Yoshinobu, the son of Hojuin (Moriyoshi's nephew), in 1596. When the Satake clan was transferred to Akita, he was given Yokote Castle (present-day Yokote City, Akita Prefecture).
Sixth son: Sugime Naomune
In 1577, after his father, Harumune, died at Suginome Castle (present-day Fukushima City), where he had retired, he became the lord of the castle and lived there with his mother, Princess Kubo, also known as Saishoin. He later died without having any children, and the Suginome clan became extinct.
What happened to Princess Kubo?
Princess Kubo was blessed with six sons and five daughters, none of whom died young, and each of her children played a role in the Sengoku period (though whether they were successful or not varies). After her husband, Harumune, passed away, she lived in Suginome Castle, and then in 1591, she followed her grandson, Masamune, to Neshiroishi, Miyagi County (present-day Izumi Ward, Sendai City).
He died in 1594 at the age of 74. His grave is located at Mangaji Temple in Izumi Ward, Sendai City.
Not only was she widowed by her second son, Date Terumune, who famously met an untimely death, but also by her eldest son, Iwaki Chikatake, her second daughter, Kyoseiin, her fourth daughter, Hikohime, and her sixth son, Sugime Naomune. Furthermore, many of the families her daughters married into and the families her sons inherited fell into decline and were destroyed due to attacks by her grandson, Date Masamune. What was Princess Kubo thinking about as she spent her final years?
In any case, if Princess Kubo had not been known as the most beautiful woman in Oshu, her marriage to Date Harumune and the birth of her children, including Terumune (and of course her grandson Masamune), might never have happened. If that had happened, the history of the Tohoku region would have been rewritten with records that are completely different from the historical facts.
Information:Mankoji Temple
Facility name: Mankoji Temple
Address: 27 Nishikamicho, Neshiroishi, Izumi-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture
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