New Theory Regarding 1613 Keicho Mission

Above, a statue of Date Masamune at the ruins of Sendai Castle that overlooks the city of Sendai, Japan.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the northeastern portion of Japan's main island, Honshu.

Four hundred years earlier, a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the same region. At the time, the region was under the control of the feudal First Lord of Sendai, Date Masamune.

Two years later, in 1613, Masamune sent a trade mission to Europe and Mexico, originally thought to boost his own name and reputation.

Now, a Sendai historian has new theory on why Masamune sent the mission.

According to an article in The Mainichi:

SENDAI (Kyodo) -- Naotsugu Hamada, a historian in Sendai, has proposed a new theory regarding the 1613 Keicho mission that Date Masamune sent to Europe and Mexico, arguing that the feudal lord of Sendai may have intended to use the proceeds from trade with Mexico to reconstruct the region that had been hit by an earthquake two years earlier. 

It was previously believed that Date Masamune (1567-1636), who built Sendai Castle and established the foundations of the city, dispatched the mission only to boost his own name and reputation. 

After Sendai and many other areas in the northeastern Japan region of Tohoku were struck by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, however, Hamada, 73, came up with the new theory.

It is believed by Hamada that Date Masamune devoted himself to the reconstruction of his domain in Sendai, which included the development of new rice paddies and salt fields.

To read the full article, go here.