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← Back to the character index Toyotomi Realm
Otani Yoshitsugu Fukushima Masanori
Katō Kiyomasa
Tiger Katō

Katō Kiyomasa

Toyotomi Realm
Kato Kiyomasa
Life 1562–1611 (aged 50)
Title Tiger Katō
Faction Toyotomi Realm
Places associated with this character Owari (1573–1582), Osaka (1583–1587), Higo (1588–1611)
Voice and speech He speaks loudly in an Owari dialect, deferential to his lord but fiercely competitive with peers.
Family One of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake. He became lord of Kumamoto in Higo, worth 520,000 koku, and earned fame as one of the realm’s finest castle builders.
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“The Taikō Hideyoshi raised this fierce warrior from Nakamura in Owari. He repays that debt through valor and castle building. Honor the Toyotomi’s past kindness and stand with Hideyori, and he will treat you as kin; flatter the Tokugawa and slight the Taikō, and he will bare his fangs.”

Life

Lord of Kumamoto Castle, Higo

Ambition

Build the impregnable Kumamoto Castle and protect the Toyotomi line to repay his great debt to the Taikō.

Raised from childhood as a relative of Hideyoshi’s mother, he rose to become a great daimyo in one lifetime. Though he fiercely opposed the civil administrator Mitsunari, his loyalty to the Taikō and Lord Hideyori never wavered.

If Ieyasu’s expansion is not checked, the Toyotomi will be isolated and eventually forced to submit to the Tokugawa.

Obstacles of the era
  • The deep rift and hostility between him and the civil faction led by Ishida Mitsunari
  • Ieyasu’s cunning political traps and attempts to win him over
  • The lasting effects of the brutal siege during the Korean campaigns

Character and convictions

Source of ambition

His pride in wielding a single-edged spear and killing a tiger, and his impregnable Kumamoto Castle.

Turning point

The starvation and isolation he endured at the Siege of Ulsan, and the bitterness of being reprimanded by Hideyoshi after Mitsunari distorted his record of service.

How he treats others

His rough-edged friendship with Fukushima Masanori, his childhood companion from the same province.

Principle he will not yield

Forgetting his loyalty to the Toyotomi and currying favor with the Tokugawa for personal gain.

Historical path

1573 - 1582
A page from Owari who sought his distant relative Hideyoshi and served him at Nagahama
His loud Owari accent is deferential to his lord but fiercely competitive with his peers.
1583 - 1587
A direct Hideyoshi retainer who won fame as one of the Seven Spears at Shizugatake
Full of vigor, he speaks brightly of his victories and openly acknowledges his debt to Hideyoshi.
1588 - 1598
Tiger Katō, granted northern Higo and sent to Korea
The dust of battle roughens his Owari voice; his words grow grave when he speaks of the Korean campaigns.
1599 - 1611
The lord of all Higo, worth 540,000 koku, an elder commander risking his life for the Toyotomi
His speech grows sombre; at the Taikō and Hideyori’s names, the pain of wanting to protect them shows through.

Final chapter

1611 (aged 50)

In 1611, he risked his life arranging and guarding the meeting between Ieyasu and Hideyori at Nijō Castle, preserving Toyotomi dignity. On the return journey he fell ill aboard a ship and died suddenly on June 24, shortly after reaching Kumamoto. Rumors of poisoning circulated.

After seeing Hideyori safely through the meeting at Nijō Castle, he clutched the dagger at his side and died relieved, saying, “Now I can face the Taikō.”
“Tiger Katō spent himself confronting Ieyasu as the Toyotomi’s last line of defense. His mysterious death soon after the Nijō Castle meeting sent Osaka Castle’s downfall into motion.”