Katō Yoshiaki
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was a Japanese ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
'' of the late
Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...
to early
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
; he served as lord of the
Aizu Domain was a Han (Japan), domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871.Ravina, Mark. (1998) ''Land and Lordship in Early Modern Japan,'' p. 222 The Aizu Domain was based at Aizuwakamatsu Castle, Tsuruga Castle in M ...
. As a retainer of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
, Katō fought in the
battle of Shizugatake The took place during the Sengoku period of Japan between Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then Hashiba Hideyoshi) and Shibata Katsuie in Nagahama, Shiga, Shizugatake, Ōmi Province over a period of two days beginning on the 20th day of the fourth month of ...
in 1583 and soon became known as one of the ''shichi-hon-yari'' (七本槍), or
Seven Spears of Shizugatake The were a sobriquet of 7 vassals of Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the battle of Shizugatake in 1583. At the decisive moment in the battle, Hideyoshi ordered them to leave the position and charge at the opposing army of Shibata Katsuie. After Hideyoshi ...
. He was also one of Hideyoshi's seven most trusted and experienced generals. He was additionally involved in the naval battles at Siege of Shimoda in the Odawara Campaign (1590) and fought along the coast of southern Korean peninsula during the first and second Korean Campaigns.


Conflict with Ishida Mitsunari

A popular theory asserts that after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598, the government of Japan had an accident when seven military generals— Fukushima Masanori,
Katō Kiyomasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Azuchi–Momoyama period, Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. His court title was . His name as a child was ''Yashamaru'', and first name was ''Toranosuke''. He was one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi's Seven ...
,
Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was ''Kokushi (officials), Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many ...
, Hosokawa Tadaoki, Asano Yoshinaga, Kuroda Nagamasa, and Katō Yoshiaki—planned a conspiracy to kill
Ishida Mitsunari was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century. He ...
. Some have claimed that the reason for the conspiracy was dissatisfaction toward Ishida Mitsunari for writing bad assessments and underreporting the achievements of the seven generals during the
Imjin War The Imjin War () was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (). The conflict ended in 159 ...
. The seven generals gathered at Katō Kiyomasa's mansion in
Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout Th ...
; from there they moved into Ishida Mitsunari's mansion. However, Ishida Mitsunari learned of this through a report from
Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who united all of Japan toward the end of the Sengoku period. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga. Early life Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's sec ...
's servant Jiemon Kuwajima, after which he fled to Satake Yoshinobu's mansion with Shima Sakon and others to hide. When the seven generals found out that Ishida Mitsunari wasn't in his mansion, they searched the mansions of various feudal lords in Osaka Castle; eventually, Katō Yoshiaki approached Satake Yoshinobu's residence, during which Ishida Mitsunari and his party escaped from the Satake residence and barricaded themselves at Fushimi Castle. The next day, the seven generals surrounded Fushimi Castle with their soldiers, as they knew of Ishida Mitsunari's whereabouts.
Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
, who was in charge of political affairs in Fushimi Castle, tried to arbitrate the situation. The seven generals demanded that Tokugawa Ieyasu hand over Ishida Mitsunari, but he refused. Tokugawa Ieyasu then negotiated that Ishida Mitsunari review the assessment of the Battle of Ulsan Castle in Korea (which had been a major source of this incident); Tokugawa Ieyasu also had his second son,
Yūki Hideyasu was a Japanese samurai who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama period, Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. He was the ''daimyō'' of Fukui Domain in Echizen Province, Echizen. Early life Hideyasu was born as in 1574, the second son of To ...
, escort Ishida Mitsunari to Sawayama Castle. Historian Watanabe Daimon stated that the incident was more of legal conflict between the seven generals and Ishida Mitsunari rather than conspiracy to murder him, in which case Tokugawa Ieyasu's role was not physical protection but rather mediation of complaints. Nevertheless, other historians saw the incident as an extension of the political rivalries of greater scope between the Tokugawa faction and the anti-Tokugawa faction led by Ishida Mitsunari. After the incident, the seven generals would go on to support Tokugawa Ieyasu during his conflict with the Western army led by Ishida Mitsunari, known later as the 1600
Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...
. (In that battle, Katō fought alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu, after which Katō Yoshiaki's fief was doubled from 100,000 ''
koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...
'' to 200,000. For a time, he served lord of Aizu.) Muramatsu Shunkichi argued that the reason of Ishida Mitsunari's failure in his war against Tokugawa Ieyasu was due to his unpopularity among the major political figures of that time. In 1917, he was posthumously granted the courtesy title of junior third rank (''ju san-mi'', 従三位) by
Emperor Taishō , posthumously honored as , was the 123rd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1912 until his death in 1926. His reign, known as the Taishō era, was characterized by a liberal and democratic shift in ...
. "Kanpo" No. 1590 "Investiture and Appointments" (in Japanese) 19 November 1917.


See also

*
Katō Kiyomasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Azuchi–Momoyama period, Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. His court title was . His name as a child was ''Yashamaru'', and first name was ''Toranosuke''. He was one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi's Seven ...
* Siege of Shimoda


Popular culture

* Portrayed by Kim Kang-il in the 2014 film, '' The Admiral: Roaring Currents''. * Portrayed by Kim Sung-kyun in the 2022 film, '' Hansan: Rising Dragon''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kato, Yoshiaki 1563 births 1631 deaths Samurai Daimyo Toyotomi retainers People from Aizu Domain