Talk:Katō Kiyomasa

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[edit] Moving text from Bushido page

I have been trying to editorialise the Bushido page, and I noticed there is a large section on Kato there as well as being an entry dedicated here. I propose that the text be moved here, rather than appearing twice. The text is as follows:--OzzieB 01:53, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Kato Kiyomasa was one of the most ferocious Samurai who ever lived. The son of a blacksmith, he joined Toyotomi Hideyoshi at age 18 and became legendary for his ferocity in combat, distinguishing himself at the battle of Shizugatake. A senior general, he was awarded lordship of Kumamoto castle in Higo at the age of 26.

Awarded a large fief of 250,000 koku in Higo province, Kato ruthlessly suppressed Christianity. A follower of Nichiren Buddhism, he soon came into conflict with the lord of a neighboring province, a Christian named Konishi Yukinaga. In 1592, Kato Kiyomasa led part of Hideyoshi's army in his campaigns in Korea--along side his rival, Lord Konishi. He occupied the city of Seoul and later crossed the Tumen River into China. Historian Stephen Turnbull describes the horror and destruction of the Korean Invasions in several of his books as seen through the eyes of the Priest Keinen who accompanied the samurai during the campaign. Keinen's diary "Korea Day by Day" was so controversial that it remained unpublished until 1965. Turnbull also described Kato Kiyomasa's motivation for attacking the Jurchens of Manchuria in 1592 was 'to show the savages the mettle of the Japanese'.

Kato stood poised to conquer all of Asia, but a Korean naval blockade prevented him from receiving reinforcements and provisions necessary to support his 150,000 man army.

In 1597, Kato again lead Hideyoshi's forces in Korea. The second invasion did not proceed well for the Samurai, but Kato's reputation for valor only increased. Surrounded at Yolsan, the Samurai army held out against incredible odds. Konishi Yukinaga had run into fierce fighting and tried to negotiate a peace treaty with the Korean and Chinese forces surrounding him.

Kato was infuriated by the surrender attempt and upon his return to Japan, he ravaged the Konishi family's neighboring domain in retaliation. Konishi was mercilessly executed in the aftermath of Sekigahara and his domain was awarded to Kato, bringing his total fiefdom to 540,000 koku.

Known for hunting tigers for sport armed with only a spear, the Koreans greatly feared Kato Kiyomasa and called him "Kishokan"--"The Devil General". William Scott Wilson describes Kato Kiyomasa thus: "He was a military man first and last, outlawing even the recitation of poetry, putting the martial arts above all else. His precepts show the single-mindedness and Spartan attitudes of the man, (they) demonstrate emphatically that the warrior's first duty in the early 17th century was simply to "grasp the sword and die." Contemporary accounts of Kato describe him as awe-inspiring, yet not unfriendly, and a natural leader of men."