Daian-ji Temple, the family temple of the Mizusawa Date clan and Rusu clan in Mizusawa, Oshu (Iwate Prefecture)

Daian-ji Temple sits quietly in the city of Mizusawa in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture . Although it is not well known as a tourist destination, it is home to historical sites that convey the history of Oshu to the present day.

clan of the Mizusawa Date clan once ruled this area . This the family temple of the Rusu clan it is also known as the grave of Takano Choei, a famous Dutch scholar at the end of the Edo period

This article explains the origins of Daian-ji Temple and the history of the Rusu clan, the Mizusawa Date family

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What is Daian-ji Temple?

Daian-ji Temple is a Rinzai sect Myoshinji temple located in Otemachi, Mizusawa Ward, Oshu City

by Date (Rusu) Munetoshi, the founder of the Mizusawa Date clan, as a memorial for his father, Masakage, on Kaoriyama in Ichinoseki (present-day Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture), which was his territory at the time.

After that, under the third lord of Mizusawa Castle Date (Rusu) Munekage , it became the family temple of the Rusu clan. It was built in its current location around 1640, and has since been burned down and rebuilt several times. In 1860, Kichijoji, which was the prayer temple of the Rusu clan, was moved here and used as the main hall, and has undergone several repairs and reconstructions to reach its current state.

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Genealogy of the Mizusawa Date clan and the Rusu clan

The Rusushi clan was a samurai clan whose ancestor was Izawa Iekage , who claimed to be the great-great-grandson of Fujiwara Michikane of the Northern Fujiwara clan.In 1190, after the conquest of Oshu, Iekage was appointed by Minamoto no Yoritomo as the Rusushi of Mutsu Province, and his descendants inherited the position, so they began to use the title as their surname and call themselves Rusushi.

During the Nanboku-cho and Muromachi periods, he became a local lord with his base at Iwakiri Castle (present-day Iwakiri, Miyagino Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture)

Date Masamune's uncle, Masakage, becomes the Rusu clan

Masakage was born in 1549 as the third son of Date Harumune, the grandfather of Date Masamune. In 1567, he was adopted by Rusu Akimune as a result of a political strategy by his father, Harumune, and became the 18th head of the Rusu clan. He subsequently assisted his brother Terumune and nephew Masamune, contributing to the expansion of the power of his family, the Date clan.

During the Battle of Sekigahara, he was ordered by Masamune to take part in the Battle of Hasedō Castle as commander-in-chief of the Date army , and went to the rescue of Mogami Yoshiaki, who was under attack by Uesugi Kagekatsu.

Later, Masamune allowed him to revert to the Date surname, and in 1604 he was granted 20,000 koku of land in Ichinoseki

Date (Rusu) Munetoshi, said to be the ancestor of the Mizusawa Date clan

, Date (Rusu) Munetoshi inherited the family headship and became the lord of Ichinoseki Castle in Iwai County. He made his debut as a vanguard in the Winter Siege of Osaka, and fought bravely in the Summer Siege of Osaka, leading a musketeer unit. However, he incurred the wrath of Masamune by only fielding around 40 soldiers, and in 1616 his fief was reduced to 10,000 koku in Kanegasaki, Isawa County.

However, after the construction of Ishigaki Koji in Edo Castle was completed, the Mizusawa Date clan was allowed to move their castle to Mizusawa Castle in 1629, and the Mizusawa Date clan held the area as their territory until the end of the Edo period

For this reason, the successive heads of the Mizusawa Date family are sometimes counted starting with Masakage, who reverted to the Date surname, and sometimes starting with Munetoshi, who actually occupied Mizusawa

Furthermore, Munetoshi was given the surname Date even before he came of age, so he never actually called himself Rusu. However, since the Mizusawa Date family reverted to the Rusu surname after the Meiji period, the plaque on the bronze statue of Munetoshi erected at Hidaka Shrine in Mizusawa in 1974 reads "Lord Rusu Munetoshi."

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The current Daian-ji Temple and the Rusu family graveyard

Daian-ji Temple is near Mizusawa Station, and just behind it is the main shopping street that runs straight from the station, but the entrance to the temple is in the opposite direction

The side of the temple gate is a residential area, so it has a quiet atmosphere

The plaque on the gate reads "Taibakusan," the mountain's name

Daian-ji Temple is to the grave of Takano Choei, a Dutch scholar from the late Edo period .

Takano Choei was a doctor from Mizusawa who was pursued for criticizing the shogunate's policy of national isolation. His turbulent life is often mentioned in textbooks, but it is not widely known that he is quietly buried in his hometown of Mizusawa

If you go to the left side of this main hall and go behind it, you will find the Rusu family graveyard

The Rusu family graveyard is surrounded by a magnificent wall, giving it the atmosphere of a truly sacred place

The gravestones are arranged irregularly within the cemetery, making it difficult to determine whose gravestone belongs without prior knowledge. However, if you walk straight down the stone pavement from the entrance, you the gravestone of Masamune's uncle, Rusu Masakage, . The four small gravestones to the right of it are said to belong to four vassals who followed Masakage to his death.

was designated a tangible cultural property of Mizusawa City in 1974

Daianji Temple＜Information＞

• Name: Taihakusan Daianji Temple
• Address: 2 Mizusawa Higashimachi, Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture, 023-0818
• Phone number: 0197-23-3425
• Official URL: https://mizusawa-daianji.com/

Google Map

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