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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Yamagata Masakage
Masakage was one of Takeda Shingen’s most loyal and capable commanders. He was included in the famous list of the “Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen” and also belonged to the inner circle of four especially trusted warlords known as the Shitennō.
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Yagyu Munenori
Yagyū Munenori began his service under Tokugawa Ieyasu while his father, Yagyū Muneyoshi, was still at his side. In 1600, Munenori took part in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. As early as 1601, he was appointed a kenjutsu instructor to Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasu’s son, who later became the second shogun of the Tokugawa clan.
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Yagyu Muneyoshi
A samurai from Yamato Province, he was born into a family that had been defeated in its struggle against the Tsutsui clan. Muneyoshi first took part in battle at the age of sixteen. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was forced to enter the service of the Tsutsui house and later served Miyoshi Tōkei. He subsequently came under the command of Matsunaga Hisahide and in time became a vassal first of Oda and later of Toyotomi.
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Endo Naozune
Naozune served under Azai Nagamasa and was one of the clan’s leading vassals, renowned for his bravery and determination. He accompanied Nagamasa during his first meeting with Oda Nobunaga and at that time asked for permission to kill Nobunaga, fearing him as an extremely dangerous man; however, Nagamasa did not grant this request.
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Hosokawa Sumimoto
Sumimoto came from the Hosokawa clan: he was the biological son of Hosokawa Yoshiharu and at the same time the adopted son of Hosokawa Masamoto, the heir of Hosokawa Katsumoto, one of the principal instigators of the Ōnin War. Masamoto was homosexual, never married, and had no children of his own. At first he adopted Sumiyuki, a scion of the aristocratic Kujō family, but this choice provoked dissatisfaction and sharp criticism from the senior vassals of the Hosokawa house. As a result, Masamoto changed his decision and proclaimed Sumimoto as his heir, a representative of a collateral branch of the Hosokawa clan that had long been based in Awa Province on the island of Shikoku. Almost immediately after this, the boy became entangled in a complex and bitter web of political intrigue.
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Honda Masanobu
Masanobu initially belonged to the retinue of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but later entered the service of Sakai Shōgen, a daimyo and priest from Ueno. This shift automatically made him an enemy of Ieyasu, who was engaged in conflict with the Ikkō-ikki movement in Mikawa Province. After the Ikkō-ikki were defeated in 1564, Masanobu was forced to flee, but in time he returned and once again entered Ieyasu’s service. He did not gain fame as a military commander due to a wound sustained in his youth; nevertheless, over the following fifty years he consistently remained loyal to Ieyasu.
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Honda Masazumi
Masazumi was the eldest son of Honda Masanobu. From a young age, he served Tokugawa Ieyasu alongside his father, taking part in the affairs of the Tokugawa house and gradually gaining experience in both military and administrative matters. At the decisive Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Masazumi was part of the core Tokugawa forces, a clear sign of the high level of trust Ieyasu placed in him. After the campaign ended, he was given a highly sensitive assignment—serving in the guard of the defeated Ishida Mitsunari, one of Tokugawa’s principal enemies—an obligation that required exceptional reliability and caution.
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Hojo Shigetoki
Hōjō Shigetoki, the third son of Hōjō Yoshitoki, was still very young—only five years old—when his grandfather Tokimasa became the first member of the Hōjō clan to assume the position of shogunal regent.
