Tamura

The Tamura were a warrior clan of Tamura district in southern Mutsu who claimed descent from the early Heian general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. The Tamura shoji house held the district from the Kamakura period, fought for the Southern Court and was destroyed after its rising in 1396.

Leadership passed to the Miharu Tamura, who built Miharu castle from 1504 and held nearly a hundred thousand koku. Takaakira submitted to the Date after defeat in 1541, and Kiyoaki married his daughter Megohime to Date Masamune to secure the clan's survival.

Kiyoaki died without a male heir in 1586, and in the 1590 Oshu settlement the Tamura were attainted for missing the Odawara campaign. The house was revived in 1652 when a son of Date Tadamune was enfeoffed at Iwanuma as Tamura Muneyoshi; his line moved to Ichinoseki and continued as a Sendai branch daimyo.