Katsumoto was born into the family of Katagiri Naomasa, who came from an ancient and noble lineage. The Katagiri clan had served the early shoguns of the Minamoto house for over five centuries and held lands in the northern part of Shinano Province.
From a young age, Katsumoto served under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and first distinguished himself in the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583. For his bravery, he was included in the famous group known as the “Seven Spears of Shizugatake” (“Shizugatake no Shichihon Yari”). In 1587, he took part in the campaign to conquer Kyushu and was rewarded with land in the Ibaraki area of Settsu Province.
Despite his noble birth and military accomplishments, Katsumoto’s career advanced more slowly than that of other members of the “Seven Spears,” such as Kato Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori. Hideyoshi preferred to keep him in Osaka and did not send him to distant campaigns. After Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, the position of official guardian to his young heir, Toyotomi Hideyori, was first given to Maeda Toshiie, but after Toshiie’s death the following year, Katsumoto assumed the role. Along with this position, he received an income of 28,000 koku of rice from his estate in Tatsuta, located in Yamato Province.
During the Sekigahara campaign in 1600, Katsumoto maintained a neutral stance. Nevertheless, after the Eastern Army’s victory, Tokugawa Ieyasu granted him new lands and increased his stipend. Soon after, Katsumoto was appointed chamberlain to the Toyotomi family — though some sources describe his role as that of chief of staff. For the next fifteen years, he worked tirelessly to mediate peace between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Lady Yodo (Yodogimi), the mother of Toyotomi Hideyori.
Following the peace agreement that concluded the so-called “Winter Campaign of Osaka” in 1615, Tokugawa forces began filling in the moats around Osaka Castle, claiming the fortifications were no longer necessary after the peace settlement. Lady Yodo accused Katagiri Katsumoto of disloyalty to the Toyotomi family and dismissed him from service. He retired to his estate, but during the subsequent siege of Osaka later that same year, part of his retainers fought on the side of the Tokugawa.
Katsumoto died twenty days after the fall of Osaka Castle. It is widely believed that he committed suicide, filled with regret for failing to reconcile the two opposing factions. His direct family line ended in the 17th century, but the descendants of his younger brother continued to bear the Katagiri name. They retained the status of daimyō until the Meiji Restoration and later held the aristocratic title of viscounts (shishaku) until the abolition of the peerage system in 1946.
See also
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Sakakibara Yasumasa
Yasumasa was the second son of Sakakibara Nagamasa and was born in Ueno in Mikawa Province. From a young age, he began serving Tokugawa Ieyasu and eventually rose to the position of one of his most trusted generals. His wife was the daughter of Osuga Yasutaka. Ieyasu first noticed the young Yasumasa during the suppression of the Ikkō-ikki uprising in Mikawa in 1564. Thanks to his demonstrated abilities, Yasumasa was granted the privilege of using the character “yasu”—the second character of Ieyasu’s own name—in his own. Although he was the second child in his family, he became his father’s heir, though the exact reasons for this remain unknown.
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Sakai Tadatsugu
Tadatsugu was one of the most renowned generals serving Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Ieyasu broke ties with the Imagawa clan, Tadatsugu—an ardent supporter of this decision—was granted command of Yoshida Castle in 1565, which controlled the coastal road from Tōtomi to Mikawa. During the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, he held the right flank of the Tokugawa forces even when the troops sent by Oda fled under the assault of the Takeda army. In the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, he personally requested permission to carry out a night attack on the Takeda camp, which he executed brilliantly together with Kanamori Nagachika.
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Ryuzoji Takanobu
Takanobu was the eldest son of Ryūzōji Takaie and the great-grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane. His father was killed by a man named Baba Yoritiku in 1544. At a young age, Takanobu took Buddhist vows and received the monastic name Engetsu. However, around the age of eighteen, he returned to secular life, and in 1548, after the death of Ryūzōji Tanehide, he became the head of both branches of the Ryūzōji family.
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Ouchi Yoshihiro
Ōuchi Yoshihiro was the second son of Ōuchi Hiroyo, who headed the Ōuchi clan in the western part of Honshu. In 1363, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu confirmed the Ōuchi family in the position of shugo of Suō and Nagato Provinces. In his youth, Yoshihiro assisted his father in strengthening the influence of the Northern Court on the island of Kyushu — they served under Imagawa Ryōsun, who had been tasked with subjugating the nine provinces of Kyushu.
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Ouchi Yoshioki
Ouchi Yoshioki, the ruler of the provinces of Suo, Nagato, and Iwami, was one of the most capable military commanders and politicians of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The son of Ouchi Masahiro, he governed from his residence in Yamaguchi in the province of Suo. In 1499, Yoshioki gave refuge to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane, who had been driven out of Kyoto by Hosokawa Masamoto. Shogun Yoshizumi, Masamoto’s protégé, ordered the lords of Kyushu to unite their forces against Yoshioki; however, they did not dare to do so, fearing the power of a man who by that time controlled six provinces. Having gathered a substantial army, Yoshioki marched from his native Suo toward Kyoto in order to restore Shogun Yoshitane to power.
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Otomo Sorin
Ōtomo Yoshishige came from a noble lineage, being the eldest son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki, the ruler of Funai Province. The roots of the Ōtomo family traced back to Fujiwara Hidesato, the adopted son of Nakahara Chikayoshi. Fujiwara served Minamoto Yoritomo during the Genpei War and took part in battles in Mutsu Province in 1189. In 1193, he was appointed shugo of Buzen and Bungo Provinces, after which he adopted a new surname—Ōtomo.
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Okudaira Sadamasa
Sadamasa was the son of Okudaira Sadayoshi and took part in several battles under Tokugawa Ieyasu, distinguishing himself in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570, where he took two heads. Around 1572 he was forced to enter the service of the Takeda clan, but after the death of Takeda Shingen in 1573 he returned to Tokugawa, leaving Tsukude Castle together with his men. As a result of this defection, Takeda Katsuyori ordered the execution of Sadamasa’s wife and brother, who were being held as hostages.
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Okubo Tadatika
Tadatika, the son of Okubo Tadayō, entered the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the age of eleven, and took his first head in battle when he was sixteen. After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, he was appointed as a rōjū — a senior bakufu official — and was regarded as one of Ieyasu’s most trusted advisors, alongside Honda Masanobu. He is also known for his military chronicle Mikawa Monogatari, which describes Ieyasu’s rise to power and the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate.
