Daianji Temple, the family temple of the Mizusawa Date family and the Azuma clan, living in Mizusawa, Oshu [Iwate Prefecture]

Daianji Temple is quietly located in the city center of Mizusawa, Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture . Though it is not well known as a tourist attraction, there is a quiet weight that conveys the history of Oshu to the present day.

The Mizusawa Date family , who once ruled this land, was the Absentee family . It is also known for
the tomb of Takano Nagahide , who became famous as a Dutch scholar at the end of the Edo period In this article, we trace the history of Daianji Temple and the samurai traditions engraved in the region.

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What is Daianji Temple?

Daianji Temple is a temple of the Rinzai sect Myoshinji sect located in Otemachi, Mizusawa Ward, Oshu City.

Munetoshi the founder of the Mizusawa Date family, , Ichinoseki (now Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture), which was his territory at the time, in order to salvation his father, Masakage.

Date (Awayasamu) of Mizusawa Castle , it became the family temple of the Awayasamu clan. It was built on its current location around 1640, and has been burned down and rebuilt several times since then, and in 1860 Kichijoji, which was the prayer temple of the Azumasa clan, was relocated and built as the main hall, and has undergone several repairs and renovations to this day.

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Genealogy of the Mizusawa Date family and the Awaya clan

The Rusushi was a samurai who was founded by Isawa Iekage Kita family of Fujiwara. In 1190 after the conquest of Oshu, Iekage was appointed as the Mutsu Province's absence from the Gen Yoritomo, and since his descendants inherited his position, he began to refer to the Azuma clan as his surname.

During the Nanboku-cho period and Muromachi period, he became a lord of Kunino-no-Kai Castle (now Iwakiri, Miyagino-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture).

Date Masamune's uncle, Masakage, becomes the outskirts of the family.

Masakage was born in 1549 as the third son of Date Harumune, the grandfather of Date Masamune, and was adopted by Akimune in 1567 due to the political strategy of his father Harumune, and became the 18th head of the family of the Abuse clan. He then assisted his older brother, Terumune and nephew Masamune, and contributed to the expansion of his family's Date clan.

At the Battle of Sekigahara, Masamune ordered him to join the Battle of Hasedo Castle as the general of the Date army , and went to rescue Mogami Yoshimitsu, who was under the attack by Uesugi Kagekatsu.

Later, Masamune was allowed to revert to the Date surname, and in 1604 he was given Ichinoseki 20,000 koku.

Date (outside) Munetoshi, said to be the founder of the Mizusawa Date clan

Munetoshi inherited the family headship and became the lord of Ichinoseki Castle in Iwai County, and served as the vanguard in the winter of Osaka, making his first battle, and he also fought in the summer of Osaka, but he was angry at Masamune because he only had 40 soldiers, and in 1616 his territory was reduced to 10,000 koku.

However, since the construction of Edo Castle Ishigaki Koji was completed, the castle was relocated to Mizusawa Castle in 1629, and the Mizusawa Date clan took over the same area until the end of the Edo period.

For this reason, the past heads of the Mizusawa Date family may be counted from Masakage, who has returned to the Date surname, or from Munetoshi, who actually enclosed in Mizusawa.

Furthermore, since Munetoshi had been holding the Date surname even before his original uniform, he never actually took the name of his absence, but since the Mizusawa Date family reverted to the Absentee family since the Meiji period, the nameplate of the statue of Munetoshi, which was erected at Hidaka Shrine in Mizusawa in 1974, is marked "Absentee Munetoshi."

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The current Daianji Temple and the Tomb of the Absent House

Daianji Temple is near Mizusawa Station, and right behind it is the central shopping district that runs straight from Mizusawa Station, but the entrance is in the opposite direction.

The mountain gate side is a residential area, so it has a quiet atmosphere.

The plaque on the mountain gate is marked with the words "Taihakusan" which is the mountain name.

Daian-ji Temple also has the tomb of Takano Choei, a Dutch scholar from the late Edo period

Takano Nagahide is a doctor from Mizusawa and is chased after criticizing the shogunate's policy of isolation. His turbulent life appears in textbooks, but it is not well known that he sleeps quietly in his hometown of Mizusawa.

If you go from the left side of this main hall to the back, you will find the cemetery of the house where you are away.

The cemetery of the house is surrounded by a splendid wall, giving it a truly sanctuary atmosphere.

There are irregular rows of gravestones within the graveyard, so it is quite difficult to tell who is a gravestone without prior knowledge. the gravestone of Masakage, the uncle of Masamune, who received a . The four small gravestones lined up on the right are those of four vassals who died in pursuit of Masakage.

was designated as a tangible cultural property in Mizusawa City in 1974 as it is an important historical site for understanding Mizusawa's history

Daianji Temple <Information>

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

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