Katsura Hisatake

• Died: 1877/9/24
• Japanese: 桂 久武 (Katsura Hisatake)

Katsura Hisatake was a prominent Satsuma han official in the Bakumatsu period and the subsequent Satsuma Rebellion.

Born into the Hioki branch of the Shimazu clan, Katsura was a longtime personal friend of Saigô Takamori. He served as an ômetsuke within Satsuma han for a time, before becoming a karô and continuing in that role through the events of the Meiji Restoration.

Following the Restoration, Katsura became governor of Miyakonojo prefecture for a time; during the Satsuma Rebellion he served as a supply officer.

Katsura was killed in battle at Shiroyama alongside Saigô and many others on Sept 24, 1877, and was buried alongside many of those same compatriots at the Nanshû Cemetery in Kagoshima.

References

• Plaques on-site at the Nanshû Cemetery in Kagoshima.[1]