Feudal lord in the Edo period (approx 400 years ago). Having lost an eye due to smallpox when he was a child, he later became known as the "one-eyed dragon" for his heroic battles. He unified the smaller feudal lords of Tohoku and established power in Sendai. During the era of the warring states, the action all took place in central Japan and was often centered around Kyoto. Because Kyoto is so distant, Date did not have to contend with the intricate alliances among the feudal lords or fight more powerful adversaries there. After the warring states era, when Tokugawa Ieyasu became the first shogun of a unified Japan, Date remained a distant but influential feudal lord.