Katō Kiyomasa

Katō Kiyomasa

Katō fights in Korea

Katō Kiyomasa ( Japanese 加藤 清正 ; * July 25, 1561 - August 2, 1611 ) was an important daimyo of the Sengoku and early Edo periods .

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Born in Nakamura in Owari Province (now Nakamura-ku, Nagoya ), he was called Toranosuke ( 虎 之 助 ) in his childhood . He lost his father at the age of 8. His mother, related to the mother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was then living in Nagahama ( Ōmi Province ), brought Hideyoshi to take care of the son.

In 1585 Kiyomasa received the honorary title Kazue no kami ("Head of the Accounting Office") and three years later, when the governor of Higo Province , Sasa Narimasa ( 佐 々 成 政 ; 1536–1588), was deposed, Kiyomasa received half the province as Domain based in Kumamoto with an income of 250,000 Koku .

Together with Konishi Yukinaga , Kiyomasa commanded the advance troops in the Korean campaign of 1592. Because of his assertiveness, his opponents called him "Devil General" ( 鬼 将官 , Kishōkan ). When Ishida Kazushige , Konishi, and others suggested making peace, Kiyomasa resisted. He was then called back by Hideyoshi.

When the war in Korea broke out again in 1597, Kiyomasa returned to Korea. When he was then enclosed in Ulsan by a large Chinese army, he offered bitter resistance until he was horrified by Kobayakawa Hideaki ( 小早川 秀 秋 ; 1577-1602) and Mōri Hidemoto ( 毛利 秀 元 ; 1579-1650).

After Hideyoshi's death in 1598, Kiyomasa returned to Japan and he joined Tokugawa Ieyasu , who gave him the wife of the daughter of Mizuno Tadashige ( 水 野 忠 重 ; 1541–1600), who had raised Ieyasu. After the Battle of Sekigahara , Kiyomasa also received the other half from Higo, which had been under Konishi Yukinaga until then. His income rose to 520,000 koku .

Kiyomasa died in 1611 amid rumors that Ieyasu had a hand in fear that Kiyomasa might side with Toyotomi Hideyori . Kiyomasa was a staunch opponent of Christianity. He was a follower of Nichiren and is venerated in his temples under the name "Prince Seishō" ( 清正 公 , Seishō-kō ), also at his place of birth in Myōkō-ji. In Yoyogi Park in Tokyo a source is named after him.

literature

• Papinot, Edmond: Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. Reprinted by Tuttle, 1972 edition of 1910 edition. ISBN 0-8048-0996-8 .