Samurai name meaning: Katō Kiyomasa

 

 

Katō Kiyomasa 加藤 清正 was one of the strong Samurai well-known to be good at handling spears and building castles. He was a very tall man (around 190cm) in those days when the height of ordinary men was around 160cm.

He was reared by Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣 秀吉, and he became such a distinguished Daimyo from a pageboy that even Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川 家康 acknowledged his prowess.

Samurai traditionally have several names. (learn more) They change their name to fit different situations and life stages. This was normal within the Samurai rank.

The transition of his names are as follows.

夜叉丸→加藤 虎之助 清正→加藤 主計頭 平 朝臣 清正→加藤 肥後守 豊臣 朝臣 清正

 

 

1. 夜叉丸

 

 

Yasha 夜叉 means “the high spirit in Buddhism” and Maru 丸 means “a chamberpot to expel the devils by stench”. Both words were commonly named among samurai boys.

Kiyomasa was born in 1562 as a son of Katō Kiyotada 加藤 清忠, a sword-smith who once was a samurai. His mother was a relative of Ōmaodokoro 大政所, the mother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Relying on this relationship, Kiyomasa worked as a pageboy for Hideyoshi from 9 years old.

Hideyoshi had no child so reared lots of samurai boys in his house. Kiyomasa was one of them. As a promising relative, Kiyomasa’s growth was anticipated by Hideyoshi, who treated him kindly.

 

 

 

 

2. 加藤 虎之助 清正

 

 

He had a coming-of-age ceremony (元服 Genpuku) when he was 14 in 1576, and called himself Katō Toranosuke Kiyomasa 加藤 虎之助 清正.

Toranosuke means “a strong man like a tiger”. Kiyo 清 of Kiyomasa 清正 is thought to be the Tsuji 通字 or the traditional kanji character of the Katō family, his father KIYO-tada 清忠, his grandfather KIYO-nobu 清信 and his son KIYO-taka 清孝. One theory suggests Hideyoshi gave him the name Kiyomasa.

 

 

 

3. 加藤 主計頭 平 朝臣 清正

 

 

In 1585, Hideyoshi meditated a title from Imperial Court called Kazusanokami 主計頭, the head of Imperial budget bureau, to Kiyomasa. It needed a proof to get the title that he was on the traditional samurai linage which was allowed to appoint, so he manifested that he was a member of the Taira clan. In Imperial Court he might called himself Taira Ason Kiyomasa. He also started to use Kazusanokami as his pseudonym, which shows his high rank among samurai. This appointment became preparations for being a Daimyo, the powerful federal lord.

In 1586 Kiyomasa became the governor of the northern Higo Province. His administration there was a great success, and in particular he exhibited his remarkable ability, beyond the well-known flood control, in commercial policies such as making wheat a local specialty and using it to settle trade with Spain and Portugal.

 

 

 

 

 

4.  加藤 肥後守 豊臣 朝臣 清正

 

 

In 1603, he got a new clan name Toyotomi as a reward of the Battle of Sekigahara. In 1605, he officially got a title called Higonokami 肥後守, the governor of Higo Province. He became a feudal lord of Higo in name and in reality.

The people in Higo respected his administration very much and called Kiyomasa Seishoko-san with affectionate feelings. Nowadays there are some festivals for Kiyomasa.

 

 

 

 

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