Junnosuke Date: The Wannabe Samurai Who Became a War Criminal

Tokyo Weekender

a day ago

Many people sometimes feel like they were born in the wrong century. Junnosuke Date — or 'Date Junnosuke' according to pre-Meiji naming conventions — sure did. A descendant of the legendary warlord
Date Masamune
, known as the One-Eyed Dragon, Junnosuke was part of the first wave of Date men since the 12th century who hadn't been born samurai. Junnosuke made the strategic mistake of coming into this world in 1892, a little after the Meiji Restoration abolished the feudal system and, with it, the warrior class. Not being able to be a samurai, Junnosuke went with the next best thing and became a modern ronin in China. Unfortunately, that's not all he became.
List of Contents:
A New Warring States Period
The 'King' of Shandong
The Butcher of Ye
A Fabricated Myth
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Depiction of battle during China's revolutionary war (1911): The imperial army (left), and the revolutionary army (right). Image: Wellcome Collection, Wikimedia.
A New Warring States Period
In 1911, imperial rule in China ended with the toppling of the Qing dynasty during the Xinhai Revolution. In 1916, the resulting power vacuum plunged the country into chaos, with factions of the Chinese military, regional chieftains and mercenaries vying for control in what eventually and aptly came to be known as China's Warlord era. Many young descendants of Japanese samurai families visited the continent during this period, joining or forming paramilitary organizations and seeing themselves as modern ronin, i.e., masterless samurai. Junnosuke was one of them.
Arriving around 1919, he eventually found himself at the head of a volunteer force around Harbin and Manchuria. Made up of both Japanese and Chinese fighters, the group engaged in skirmishes, ambushes and raids all around northern China, effectively making Junnosuke a local warlord in his own right. Stories go that he mainly targeted brutal bandits, disrupted opium routes and kept his men in check, stopping them from committing wanton destruction and rape — but that's not the highest bar to clear. In a place with no central authority or laws, however? Maybe it counted for something.
The 'King' of Shandong
Junnosuke was said to have an actual love for China. He was apparently an avid reader of Confucius and Confucian scholars, and learned to speak Chinese. Later, he even changed his nationality to Chinese and took on the Chinese name Zhang Zongyuan, after his sworn blood-brother, the warlord Zhang Zongchang (aka Chang Tsung-chang).
In the 1930s, Junnosuke/Zongyuan emerged as a regional ruler of Shandong, succeeding Zongchang — who fled the country — and establishing total control over the area. He never took on any official title but had enough authority (and guns) to issue proclamations on trade regulations, levies and things of that sort. However, some sources claim that, in the chaos of the Warlord era, some locals apparently saw him as a stabilizing power and addressed him with the honorific
wang
(king).
Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Japanese army crosses the Huto River near Pingshang, under Chinese bombing. Illustration by Achille Beltrame.
The Butcher of Ye
In 1937, Japan launched the Second Sino-Japanese War and, after absorbing the Junnosuke/Zongyuan unit, ordered it to suppress the unrest in Ye County (modern-day Laizhou in Shandong Province). It resulted in the massacre of over 400 civilians. How exactly does a person go from a modern ronin to a China-loving 'king' and then a butcher of Chinese people? The simple answer is that Junnosuke had never actually been on the side of the angels.
Ever since the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Japan had deployed unofficial agents to China to collaborate with local rebels and bandits and create militias that would aid in destabilizing the region toward a future military campaign. It's all but certain that Junnosuke Date was one of these deep-cover
tairiku goro
(mainland gangsters).
They were apparently instructed to blend in as much as possible, including wearing Chinese clothing or taking on Chinese names. Speaking of — Zhang Zongchang, who inspired Junnosuke's 'Zhang Zongyuan' moniker, was called the 'Basest War Lord' in the world by
Time
magazine for his gleeful brutality and cruelty. And, if we're doing guilt by association, it's probably worth mentioning that Junnosuke was also good friends with Ikki Kita, described by political scientist Masao Maruyama as the 'ideological father of Japanese fascism.'
A Fabricated Myth
Over the years, there has been a push from some writers to rehabilitate the image of Junnosuke Date — or rather, to create it from scratch, since for the longest time he remained a historical footnote. There's very little verifiable information about him out there, and what IS out there is pretty damning. The fact that Junnosuke/Zongyuan kept a disciplined military unit, saw value in Chinese culture (if not all Chinese lives) and did not burn Shandong to the ground when he ruled over it (on behalf of the Japanese military, as it turns out) means jack squat in light of the Ye Massacre.
Really, the best thing that can be said about Junnosuke Date is that he wasn't the
worst
warlord running around Warlord-era China (though he
was
blood-brothers with a top contender for the title). But, in the end, that counts for nothing. China agreed and, after Japan's surrender at the end of WWII, Chinese authorities arrested Junnosuke/Zongyuan for war crimes. He was executed by firing squad in 1948.
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