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 The was a period in History of Japan, 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 Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. She was the daughter of

Oniniwa Yoshinao also known as Oniniwa Sagetsusai was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period who served Date clan. He was deeply trusted by Date Terumune and Date Masamune. Yoshinao at the age of 73, bravely fought to let Masamune go during the Battle of ...

and Lady Naoko. She was the half-sister of

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 ...

and

Oniniwa Tsunamoto (1549 – July 13, 1640) was a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period through early Edo period. He was the son of Oniniwa Yoshinao. His half-sister, Katakura Kita was also Katakura Kagetsuna's half sister. Together with Katakura Kag ...

. Katakura Kita had knowledge in several areas, she was strategic and had great fighting skills. She was the wet nurse of

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 ...

and mentor of Kagetsuna and Masamune. Kita is best known for became a valued mentor and

political advisor Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

, choosing to dedicate herself to the affairs of Date clan and was actively involved in Masamune's political and strategic decisions.

Biography

Katakura Kita came from the Oniniwa and Katakura clan, who served local lord Date Terumune in

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

(northern Japan). When Naoko gave birth to her, her father's concubine gave birth to a boy (Oniniwa Tsunamoto). The concubine becomes the official wife of Oniniwa Yoshinao and Naoko was divorced. After that, Naoko took Kita again with Katakura Kagenaga, and in 1557 she gave birth to Kita's half-brother, Katakura Kagetsuna. Because of the turbulent circumstances of Kita's life, she was very interested in, and had an aptitude for, both martial arts and military skills. She became the teacher of her younger half-brother, Katakura Kagetsuna, who would succeed the leadership of the Katakura clan later. After the birth of

, Date Terumune offered to Kita to be the wet nurse and mentor of Masamune.

Yoshihime Yoshihime (義姫, 1548 – August 13, 1623) was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the Sengoku period. She was a daughter of Mogami Yoshimori from the Mogami clan, she married Date Terumune and gave birth to Date Masamune. Yoshihime became ...

(Masamune's biological mother) did not want to take care of her own son, it is said that she tried to assassinate him for the political interests of her family, the Mogami clan. However, since Kita was single, she was really a caretaker for children, she had a strong influence on personality formation and Masamune's success Katakura Kita was present in many of the political matters of the clan Katakura and Date clan. She who was the main supporter for Date Masamune succeed the clan's leadership. Yoshihime was against Masamune's succession and gave preference to her other son. This crisis in the Date family ended with Yoshihime's exile and the death of Masamune's brother. In 1584, Masamune succeeded the leadership of the Date clan. When

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 ...

ordered all his vassals to send their families to the

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

palace as hostages, Kita went with

Megohime was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the Azuchi–Momoyama period to the early Edo period. She is the daughter and only child of Tamura Kiyoaki,Ōshima Kōichi, ''Ichinoseki Domain (Clan Stories Series)'', , page 12 the lord of Miharu Ca ...

(Masamune's wife). Hideyoshi was impressed by Kita's intelligence and cunning. He called Kita as "Shonagon" (title that refers to one of the emperor's high councilors). In 1590s, after Japan was unified under the name of the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary un ...

, Kita acted unilaterally on issues that affected the future of the Date family. Hideyoshi had a bad relation to the Date clan since the Siege of Odawara, Hideyoshi asked Masamune to take his concubine for him, but Masamune refused. Kita worried about Hideyoshi's wrath with Masamune, she convinced the concubine and took her to Hideyoshi. One source reports that, when an angry Masamune confronted Kita, she calmly replied:

"I'll gladly die for being so presumptuous as to have done this. Take my head if it will satisfy you."

Date Masamune sent her north to his domain, placing her under exile. Though she wasn't pardoned for several years, Masamune didn't undo Kita's actions. She lived with Katakura Kagetsuna in near Shiroishi Castle. She continued to be active in the policies of the Katakura clan, her expertise in engineering helped reinforce the castle's defenses. Kita have suggested that the Katakura clan use a particularly valuable temple bells that her family possessed as a motif for its battle flag. The black bell flag remained a Katakura banner through 1871, and it remains the Shiroishi City emblem today. Katakura Kita died in 1610, at age 72, in Shiroishi Castle. After a few decades, Date Tadamune (Masamune's son) summoned a distant relative of Kita to take over the leadership of the Katakura clan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katakura, Kita People of Sengoku-period Japan Women of medieval Japan 1538 births 1610 deaths Samurai Kita Japanese women in warfare 16th-century Japanese people Women in 16th-century warfare 16th-century Japanese women 17th-century Japanese women Women in 17th-century warfare Date retainers