# Yoshihime

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Mother of Date Masamune

Yoshihime 義姫 Born 1548 Died (1623-08-13)August 13, 1623 Other names Ohigashi-no-Kata (お東の方) Hoshunin (保春院). Spouse Date Terumune Children Date Masamune Date Kojiro Chikohime Senshihime Parent Mogami Yoshimori Relatives Mogami Yoshiaki (brother) Onamihime (sister-in-law) Megohime (daughter-in-law) Family Mogami clan Date clan

**Yoshihime** (義姫, 1548 – August 13, 1623) was a Japanese noble lady and [aristocrat](/source/Aristocracy_(class)) from the [Sengoku period](/source/Sengoku_period). She was a daughter of [Mogami Yoshimori](/source/Mogami_Yoshimori) from the [Mogami clan](/source/Mogami_clan), she married [Date Terumune](/source/Date_Terumune) and gave birth to [Date Masamune](/source/Date_Masamune).[1] Yoshihime became known as the Demon Princess of the Ouu (奥 羽 の 鬼 姫) due to her personality and her attempts to usurp the power of the [Date clan](/source/Date_clan).[2]

## Life

Yoshihime was born at [Yamagata Castle](/source/Yamagata_Castle) in [Dewa province](/source/Dewa_Province). When she married Date Terumune, she continued to help the Mogami clan in many ways. She and her brother [Mogami Yoshiaki](/source/Mogami_Yoshiaki) sent many letters to each other, maintaining a good relationship between them. In 1567 she gave birth to Date Masamune, in the following years she gave birth to Date Kojirou, Chikohime and Senshihime.

### Conflicts with the Date Clan

She hated her firstborn, Masamune, because of his one-eyed condition, and favored his younger brother Kojirou to succeed clan leadership. The conflicts with Yoshihime got worse when she passed on information to her relatives in the Mogami Clan, even when they were fighting against the Date Clan.

In 1578, Date Terumune teamed with other clans at [Kaminoyama Castle](/source/Kaminoyama_Castle) to attack Mogami Yoshiaki. Yoshihime after learning that her husband had entered battle against her brother, she went on a palaquim to the battlefield, holding a spear, she stood in front of the two armies and forced them to make a peace treaty. She manages to maintain a peace treaty between the two clans. During this time, Yoshiaki continued to seize territories near the Date clan, Yoshihime was aware of her brother's ambition to conquer Tohoku, it is said that she actively assisted him in the plan to kill the leader of the Kaminoyama clan.[3]

In 1584, Masamune succeeded the Date family. In 1585 Terumune was killed by [Nihonmatsu Yoshitsugu](/source/Nihonmatsu_Yoshitsugu) and she became a widow. Yoshihime suspected Masamune had murdered Terumune to usurp his influence, so she decided to kill Masamune to allow Kojirou to become leader of the Date clan. During this time she was on the warpath with [Katakura Kita](/source/Katakura_Kita) who was Masamune's mentor and wet nurse.[4]

After Terumune's death, Masamune began to advance in various places, he attacked the Shiomatsu clan who was a close ally of the Mogami clan. Mogami Yoshiaki and Masamune strengthened vigilance to initiate a new invasion, conflicts between Date-Mogami was more serious. This exacerbated Yoshihime's position throughout the Date family. Masamune's attacks made Yoshihime uncomfortable, several clans from [Mutsu Province](/source/Mutsu_Province) allied to defeat Masamune, including the [Nikaido clan](/source/Nikaid%C5%8D_clan), where [Onamihime](/source/Onamihime) (Date Terumune's sister and Masamune's aunt) was the leader.[5]

At the Battle of Ozaki in 1588, Masamune moved to attack the [Ozaki clan](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ozaki_clan&action=edit&redlink=1) [[ja](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E5%B4%8E%E6%B0%8F)], who were allies of Mogami. Yoshiaki sent reinforcements and surrounded Masamune. Under these circumstances, Yoshihime boarded the battlefield again and stood in between the two armies asking them both to retreat. This time she did this to save her son from her brother, and just as in 1578 her plan worked and the Date army retreated without damage. Yoshiaki felt the peace request was a humiliation, but could not refuse his sister's request. For this reason, both sides are peaceful after the truce for about 80 days. After that, Yoshiaki tried to mediate between Date and Ozaki, but Date was unsuccessful because of distrust.[4]

At this time, Yoshiaki asked Yoshihime to take office, revealing that Yoshihime had the confidence of her brother and had the right to speak in the Date family.[5]

### The Odawara Incident

In 1590, when Masamune was participating in [Toyotomi Hideyoshi's](/source/Toyotomi_Hideyoshi) campaign against the [Later Hōjō clan](/source/Later_H%C5%8Dj%C5%8D_clan) at the [Siege of Odawara](/source/Siege_of_Odawara_(1590)), Yoshihime personally brought Masamune a meal laced with poison. Though Masamune consumed the poison, he was able to counteract it with the antidote. It is reported that the confrontation between the mother and the child reached the peak by this matter, and Masamune killed his younger brother Date Kojiro himself.

Even after the murder of Kojiro, Yoshihime remained in the Date family and continued to communicate with her son. There are many theories about the incident, but it is said that Yoshihime was kept in exile. During the time she was in exile, she exchanged letters with her brother and other people. She sent a letter with Korean cotton to Masamune, he was so impressed that he tried to approach his mother.[3]

### Departure and return for the Date clan

In 1594 Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the lords of each clan to send their families to Kyoto. [Megohime](/source/Megohime) who was Masamune's wife went with Katakura Kita. On November 4, Yoshihime went to Kyoto and then returned to the Mogami clan at Yamagata Castle.

Yoshihime's tomb at Kakuban-ji temple (Sendai).

In 1600, the [Sekigahara Campaign](/source/Battle_of_Sekigahara) began. At this time, Masamune received reinforcements from Mogami Yoshiaki at Yoshihime's request. [Katakura Kagetsuna](/source/Katakura_Kagetsuna) advised Masamune to wait for the enemy army to be exhausted. The Uesugi clan attacked the Kaminoyama castle that was defended by the Mogami clan, [Naoe Kanetsugu](/source/Naoe_Kanetsugu) manages to take the castle and Mogami's army fled. Masamune sent reinforcements to the security of Yoshihime who was in the middle of the battle. In the [Siege of Hasedō](/source/Siege_of_Hased%C5%8D), Yoshiaki fights alongside Date clan to repel Uesugi from Yamagata. Tokugawa Ieyasu wins at the Battle of Sekigahara and Uesugi Retreat. After the war, Yoshihime sent a letter of thanks to Masamune.[2][5]

With Yoshiaki's death in 1614, Yoshihime lost her whole family. Later, when the Mogami clan was restructured in 1622 after internal conflicts, Yoshihime could no longer maintain her status in the Mogami clan, and asked Masamune to return to Date, which he allowed. She went to live in [Sendai Castle](/source/Sendai_Castle) and died a year later in 1623 at the age of 76.

She sent a gift from the Mogami family to Megohime and made peace with Masamume. In the last year of Yoshihime's life, Masamune learned of his mother's intelligence, and letters and poems were exchanged between mother and son. Yoshihime died on August 13, 1623, in Sendai Castle. In Masamune's absence, a funeral was held for her.[3]

## In popular culture

### Drama

- In the [NHK](/source/NHK) [taiga drama](/source/Taiga_drama) *[Dokuganryū Masamune](/source/Dokuganry%C5%AB_Masamune)*, she is portrayed by [Shima Iwashita](/source/Shima_Iwashita).

### Games

- Yoshihime is a playable character in [Nobunaga's Ambition](/source/Nobunaga's_Ambition)

- She is a generic officer in [Samurai Warriors 4 Empires](/source/Samurai_Warriors_4)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["最上義守/もがみよしもり 歴代最長期の山形城主"](http://mogamiyoshiaki.jp/?p=log&l=96513) (in Japanese). Mogami Yoshiaki Historical Museum official. Retrieved 26 October 2021.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) 榎本秋 (February 2012). [*秀吉、家康を手玉に取った男 「東北の独眼竜」伊達政宗*](https://books.google.com/books?id=TgvTQNAKNH4C) (in Japanese). マガジンハウス. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9784838723980](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9784838723980).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_3-2) 泉秀樹 (2003-05-21). [*戦国なるほど人物事典: 100人のエピソードで歴史の流れがよくわかる*](https://books.google.com/books?id=mAkpEpe7pIIC) (in Japanese). PHP研究所. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9784569579450](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9784569579450).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_4-1) Yamaoka, Sōhachi (1970). [*Date Masamune*](https://books.google.com/books?id=fe1JAAAAMAAJ) (in Japanese).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:3_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:3_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:3_5-2) [*歴史読本*](https://books.google.com/books?id=1mBMAQAAIAAJ) (in Japanese). 新人物往来社. 2009.

v t e Prominent people of the Sengoku and Azuchi–Momoyama periods Emperor Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei Three major daimyō Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiharu Ashikaga Yoshiteru Ashikaga Yoshihide Ashikaga Yoshiaki Tokugawa Hidetada Other daimyō Amago Tsunehisa Amago Haruhisa Asakura Yoshikage Ashina Moriuji Akechi Mitsuhide Azai Nagamasa Chōsokabe Motochika Date Terumune Date Masamune Hatakeyama Yoshitaka Honda Tadakatsu Hōjō Sōun Hōjō Ujimasa Hōjō Ujiyasu Ii Naomasa Imagawa Yoshimoto Imagawa Ujizane Isshiki Yoshimichi Itō Yoshisuke Kitabatake Tomonori Kuroda Nagamasa Matsunaga Hisahide Miyoshi Nagayoshi Mogami Yoshiaki Mōri Motonari Ōuchi Yoshitaka Ōuchi Yoshinaga Ōtomo Sōrin Rokkaku Yoshikata Ryūzōji Takanobu Saitō Dōsan Saitō Yoshitatsu Sakai Tadatsugu Sakakibara Yasumasa Satomi Yoshitaka Sanada Yukitaka Sanada Masayuki Sanada Nobuyuki Satake Yoshishige Sagara Yoshihi Shimazu Yoshihisa Shimazu Yoshihiro Tachibana Dōsetsu Takeda Nobutora Takeda Shingen Tōdō Takatora Uesugi Kagekatsu Uesugi Kenshin Uesugi Norimasa Ukita Naoie Uragami Munekage Yamana Toyokuni Yamana Suketoyo Swordsmen Marume Nagayoshi Hikita Bungorō Kamiizumi Nobutsuna Miyamoto Musashi Mizuno Katsushige Sasaki Kojirō Tadashima Akiyama Tsukahara Bokuden Tsutsumi Hōzan Yagyū Munenori Yagyū Munetoshi Shinmen Munisai Itō Ittōsai Advisers and strategists Kobayakawa Takakage Kuroda Yoshitaka Naoe Kanetsugu Takenaka Shigeharu Usami Sadamitsu Yamamoto Kansuke Ninja, rogues and mercenaries Mochizuki Chiyome Fūma Kotarō Hatsume no Tsubone Hattori Hanzō Ishikawa Goemon Katō Danzō Kirigakure Shikaemon Kōzuki Sasuke Nakamura Chōbei Ohama Kagetaka Sugitani Zenjūbō Saika Magoichi Suzuki Sadayu Suzuki Shigehide Suzuki Shigetomo Suzuki Magoroku Igasaki Dōshun Umemura Sawano Monks and other religious figures Ankokuji Ekei Hongan-ji Kennyo Hon'inbō Sansa Ishin Sūden Jion Koji Kashin Nankōbō Tenkai Rennyo Sessai Chōrō Shimozuma Chūkō Shimotsuma Rairen Shimozuma Rairyū Takuan Sōhō Female castellans Ashikaga Ujihime Chacha Miyohime Munakata Saikaku Ii Naotora Nene Onamihime Otazu no Kata Otsuya no Kata Seishin-ni Tachibana Ginchiyo Female warriors Akai Teruko Fujishiro Gozen Ichikawa no Tsubone Ikeda Sen Kaihime Kamehime Katakura Kita Katō Tsune Komatsuhime Kushihashi Teru Maeda Matsu Myōki Myōrin Numata Jakō Ōhōri Tsuruhime Okaji no Kata Okyō no Kata Omasa Oni Gozen Shigashi Shirai no Tsubone Ueno Tsuruhime Yuki no Kata Other women Lady Acha Akohime Asahihime Lady Chaa Chikurin-in Gōhime Lady Goryū Dota Gozen Gotokuhime Tsumaki Hiroko Lady Hayakawa Hosokawa Gracia Irohahime Izumo no Okuni Jukei-ni Shimazu Kameju Lady Kasuga Keigin-ni Kitsuno Konoe Sakiko Kōzōsu Kyōgoku Maria Kyōgoku Tatsuko Kyōun'in Matsuhime Megohime Lady Myōkyū Naitō Julia Lady Nata Nōhime Odai no Kata Oeyo Oichi Oinu Ohatsu Lady Ōkurakyo Ōmandokoro Ono Otsū Rikei Lady Saigō Lady Sanjō Seien-in Seikōin Senhime Sentōin Tobai-in Toyotomi Sadako Tomo Lady Toida Tokuhime Tōshōin Lady Tsukiyama Yamauchi Chiyo Yoshihime Yoshihiro Kikuhime Foreign people in Japan Alessandro Valignano Francis Xavier Gaspar Coelho Jacob Quaeckernaeck Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn Julia Ota Luís Fróis Soga Seikan Wakita Naokata Wang Zhi William Adams Yasuke See also List of samurai from the Sengoku period

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Yoshihime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihime) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihime?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.