Date Munenari - Date Munenari

A politician from the end of the Edo period and the early Meiji period. He was born in Edo on August 1, 1st year of the Bunsei era, as the son of the bannerman Yamaguchi Sagami no Kami Naokatsu. In 1829 (Bunsei 12), he was adopted by Date Munetada, the lord of Uwajima Domain in Iyo Province (Ehime Prefecture), and succeeded to the title in 1844 (Koka 1). He worked hard to reform the domain's government, achieving success in promoting industry and commerce, and invited Takano Choei and Omura Masujiro to improve Western-style military equipment. During the Ansei period (1854-60), when the issue of the Shogun succession arose, Shimazu Nariakira, Matsudaira Yoshinaga, and others plotted to support Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, but were unsuccessful, and he retired during the Ansei Purge and handed over his fief to his heir, Shishi Munenori. In 1862 (Bunkyu 2), in response to Shimazu Hisamitsu's movement to unite the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, he entered the central political world, and in December 1863, he was appointed as a councilor in the Imperial Council along with Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, Matsudaira Yoshinaga, Matsudaira Katamori, and Yamauchi Toyonobu, but he clashed with Yoshinobu over the issue of closing the port of Yokohama and became increasingly anti-Bakufu.

In December 1867 (Keio 3), he was appointed as a councilor of the new government, and served as the Governor-General of Foreign Affairs and Governor of Foreign Affairs, in charge of foreign affairs at the beginning of the government's establishment. In 1869 (Meiji 2), he was appointed both Minister of Civil Affairs and Minister of Finance, and in July of the following year, 1870, following the separation of Civil Affairs and Finance, he assumed the full-time position of Minister of Finance. In April 1871, he was appointed as a Minister Plenipotentiary and dispatched to China, where he concluded the Treaty of Amity between Great Japan and Great China (Japan-China Treaty of Amity) on July 29. After returning to Japan, he served as a Musk Chamberlain and was responsible for receiving foreign dignitaries. He died on December 20, 1892.

[Toshihiko Mori]

"The Legend of Date Munenari, by Kenichi Hyodo (2005, Sosendo Publishing)" " The Legend of Date Munenari, Modern Japanese History, by Seiichiro Kusunoki (Asahi Sensho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末・明治時代初期の政治家。文政(ぶんせい)1年8月1日、旗本山口相模守(さがみのかみ)直勝の子として江戸に生まれる。1829年（文政12）伊予(いよ)国（愛媛県）宇和島(うわじま)藩主伊達宗紀(むねただ)の養子となり、1844年（弘化1）襲封。藩政改革に努めて殖産興業に成績をあげ、また高野長英(たかのちょうえい)や大村益次郎(おおむらますじろう)を招いて洋式軍備の充実を図った。安政(あんせい)期（1854～60）将軍継嗣(けいし)問題の際には、島津斉彬(しまづなりあきら)、松平慶永(まつだいらよしなが)らと一橋慶喜(ひとつばしよしのぶ)の擁立を画策したが成功せず、安政の大獄を期に隠居し、封を嗣子(しし)宗徳(むねのり)に譲った。1862年（文久2）の島津久光(しまづひさみつ)の公武合体運動に呼応して中央政界に進出、1863年12月一橋慶喜、松平慶永、松平容保(まつだいらかたもり)、山内豊信(やまうちとよしげ)らと朝議参与に任命されたが、横浜鎖港問題で慶喜と衝突し反幕色を濃くした。

　1867年（慶応3）12月新政府の議定(ぎじょう)に就任、外国事務総督、外国官知事として政府発足当初の外交責任者を務めた。1869年（明治2）民部卿(みんぶきょう)兼大蔵卿、翌1870年7月の民蔵分離によって、大蔵卿専任。1871年4月欽差(きんさ)全権大臣に任命され清国(しんこく)差遣、7月29日大日本国大清国修好条規（日清修好条規）を締結した。帰国後、麝香間祗候(じゃこうのましこう)、外国貴賓の接遇にあたった。明治25年12月20日没。

［毛利敏彦］

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