The is a Japanese family which claims its descent from Fujiwara no Toshihito by way of Katō Kagekado. The family entered

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

in the 14th century as subordinates of the Ōsaki clan. However, in 1532, they became retainers of the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

, and remained so until 1872. In the

Sengoku era The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various ...

, the Katakura took part in all the major campaigns of the Date clan. The family's head,

Katakura Kagetsuna was a Japanese samurai of the Katakura clan during the late Sengoku period. Also known by his court title, ''Bichū no Kami'' (備中守), or more commonly, as Katakura Kojūrō. Together with Oniniwa Tsunamoto and Date Shigezane, Kagetsuna was ...

, became renowned throughout the country, even receiving praise from

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

, who granted Kagetsuna a fief (thereby bypassing Kagetsuna's status as vassal to

Date Masamune was a regional ruler of Japan's Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful ''daimyō'' in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all ...

). In the Edo period, the heads of the Katakura clan were hereditary ''

karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

'' in the

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of the i ...

. Their personal fief was centered at

Shiroishi Castle is a flatland-style Japanese castle in what is now the city of Shiroishi, Miyagi. During the Edo period, it was the castle of the Katakura clan, who were hereditary retainers of the Date clan of Sendai Domain. During the Boshin War, it was also t ...

(modern-day

Shiroishi, Miyagi is a city in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 33,330 and a population density of 120 persons per km2 in 14,242 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Shiroishi is in southern Miyagi Prefecture, i ...

Shigenobu Katakura is the memorial shrine of Date Masamune, located in Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, near the site of the former Aoba Castle. The shrine was built in 1873 by petition of former retainers of the Date clan of former Sendai Domain to ensh ...

, the current chief priest of Sendai's

Aoba Shrine is the memorial shrine of Date Masamune, located in Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, near the site of the former Aoba Castle. The shrine was built in 1873 by petition of former retainers of the Date clan of former Sendai Domain to ...

, is a direct descendant of this family.

Head Family

# Katakura Kagekatsu # Katakura Kagefusa # Katakura Kagenobu # Katakura Kageharu # Katakura Kagetsune # Katakura Kagetoki # Katakura Kageshige # Katakura Kagesuke # Katakura Kageyuki # Katakura Kagehiro # Katakura Kagemura # Katakura Kageshige #

Katakura Shigenaga was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. The son of Katakura Kagetsuna, Shigenaga was the second man to bear the common name Kojūrō. His name was originally Shigetsuna; however, to avoid conflict with the ...

Katakura Kagenaga (2nd) was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period, who served as a senior retainer of the Date clan of Sendai han. His childhood name was Sannosueke (三之助) later changed to Kojūrō. He bore the same name as his great-grandfather. The lord of S ...

Katakura Muranaga (1667 – 1691) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain, he was first known as Masanaga (政長). Muranaga was also the fourth Katakura Kojūrō. His childhood name was Sannosueke (三之助) later changed ...

# Katakura Murayasu # Katakura Muranobu #

Katakura Murasada (1676–1744) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain, he was first known as Muratoshi (村利). Retired in 1743 in favor of his adopted son Murakiyo. Murasada was the seventh Katakura Kojūrō. His childh ...

Katakura Murakiyo ( fl. 1743) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain, he was first known as Kagehiro (景寛). Murakiyo was the eighth Katakura Kojūrō. His childhood name was Shigekuro (繁九郎) later Yuunosuke (勇之 ...

Katakura Muratsune (1757–1822) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain, he was first known as Kagenaka (景仲) and Murayasu (村寿). Muratsune was the ninth Katakura Kojūrō. He was appointed as ''bugyō'' (the Sendai eq ...

Katakura Kagesada (1775-1840) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain. Kagesada was the tenth Katakura Kojūrō. His childhood name was Sannosuke (三之助) later Kojuro. His father was Katakura Muratsune and his son was K ...

Katakura Munekage (1798-1871) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain. Munekage was the eleventh Katakura Kojūrō. His childhood name was Sannosuke (三之助) later Kojuro. His father was Katakura Kagesada and his son was ...

Katakura Kuninori (1818–1886) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain. Kuninori was the twelfth Katakura Kojūrō, and saw action under Sendai command in the Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolut ...

Katakura Kagenori (1838–1902) was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period, and served as a senior retainer of the Sendai domain. Kagenori was the thirteenth Katakura Kojūrō. Kagenori moved with his father and a group of the Katakura clan retainers to Hokkaidō. H ...

Katakura Kagemitsu , was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. A senior retainer of the Sendai domain. Kagemitsu was the fourteenth Katakura Kojūrō. Served the Meiji government in the reclamation of Hokkaidō. Kagemitsu became a baron in the new kazoku ...

Katakura Kenkichi (??-??) was a Japanese nobleman of the Meiji era. Kenkichi would have been the fifteenth Katakura Kojūrō. Served as chief priest of Aoba Shrine, in Sendai. Held the title of baron. Family * Father: Date Munemichi (1821-1899) * Foster Father: Ka ...

Katakura Nobumitsu was a Japanese scholar of the early to mid 20th century. A direct descendant of the famed Katakura Kagetsuna, Nobumitsu was a scholar of regional history, focusing on Sendai. Nobumitsu would have been the sixteenth Katakura Kojūrō was the com ...

Others

Katakura Kita Katakura Kita (片倉喜多, 1538 - July, 1610) was a Japanese noble lady, aristocrat and retainer of the Date clan during the Sengoku period. She was the daughter of Oniniwa Yoshinao and Lady Naoko. She was the half-sister of Katakura Kagetsuna an ...

(1538-1610) was the half-sister of Katakura Kagetsuna and teacher of Date Masamune and Kagetsuna.

References

"Katakura-shi" on Harimaya.com
(9 March 2008)

(9 March 2008) Japanese clans {{Japan-clan-stub