---
node: date_masamune
type: person
slug: date_masamune
title: "Date Masamune"
lead: "Date Masamune (1567–1636), the 'One-Eyed Dragon' of northern Japan, began building Sendai — castle and city — in 1600. He also dispatched the first Japanese diplomatic mission to cross both the Pacific and the Atlantic."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
image_file: date_masamune.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Masamune_Portrait.jpg"
image_author: "Unknown author"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Who they were

Date Masamune was the "One-Eyed Dragon" of the north: he lost his right eye to childhood smallpox, and his crescent-moon helmet is iconic. In his youth he unified much of the Tohoku region.

## What they did

He submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590 and sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu at Sekigahara, and was confirmed in a great northern domain. There he began building Sendai Castle in 1600 and developed the castle town and agriculture around it. He dispatched the Keicho embassy (1613–1620): his retainer Hasekura Tsunenaga crossed the Pacific and the Atlantic, reaching Spain and Rome — the first Japanese diplomatic mission across both oceans — though the hoped-for trade came to nothing as Japan closed to Christianity. He died in 1636.

## Legacy

Masamune is honored as the founder-hero of Sendai and remains the flamboyant favorite of Sengoku popular culture.