Changes

*''Born: [[1802]]''

*''Born: [[1802]]''

*''Died: [[1850]]''

*''Died: [[1850]]''

*''Other Names'': 夢酔 ''(retirement name: Musui)''

*''Other Names'': 亀松 ''(childhood name: Kamematsu)''; 夢酔 ''(retirement name: Musui)''

*''Japanese'': [[勝]]小吉 ''(Katsu Kokichi)''

*''Japanese'': [[勝]]小吉 ''(Katsu Kokichi)''

Katsu Kokichi was the father of [[Katsu Kaishu|Katsu Kaishû]], and author of the autobiographical ''[[Musui's Story]]'' (''Musui dokugen'', 夢酔独言).

Katsu Kokichi was the father of [[Katsu Kaishu|Katsu Kaishû]], and author of the autobiographical ''[[Musui's Story]]'' (''Musui dokugen'', 夢酔独言).

Kokichi was born the third son of [[Otani Heizo|Otani Heizô]], who in turn had been the third son of a wealthy moneylender before being adopted into the [[Otani clan]]. The Otani were a low-ranking family with a stipend of 100 ''[[koku]]''. Kokichi's eldest half-brother, Otani Hikoshirô, became head of the Otani family after their father's retirement. Hikoshirô is known as a Confucian scholar, calligrapher, and district administrator. Kokichi's other half-brother, Otani Saburôemon, was adopted into the [[Matsusaka family]], and also served as a district administrator. Their father, Otani Heizô, died in [[1827]] (when Kokichi was 25).

Kokichi was born Kamematsu, the third son of [[Otani Heizo|Otani Heizô]], who in turn had been the third son of a wealthy moneylender before being adopted into the [[Otani clan]]. The Otani were a low-ranking family with a stipend of 100 ''[[koku]]''. Kokichi's eldest half-brother, Otani Hikoshirô, became head of the Otani family after their father's retirement. Hikoshirô is known as a Confucian scholar, calligrapher, and district administrator. Kokichi's other half-brother, Otani Saburôemon, was adopted into the [[Matsusaka family]], and also served as a district administrator. Their father, Otani Heizô, died in [[1827]] (when Kokichi was 25).

Not being the eldest son, and thus not likely to become the next head of the Otani family, Kokichi was adopted at age six into the [[Katsu clan|Katsu family]], later marrying the family's only daughter, Nobuko, and thus becoming the head of the Katsu family. Her parents had passed away prior to Kokichi's adoption, and so he and his wife-to-be were raised by her grandmother. Kokichi married Nobuko when he was seventeen; the two of them, along with her grandmother, then moved into a house on the grounds of his brother's Hikoshirô's home.

Not being the eldest son, and thus not likely to become the next head of the Otani family, Kamematsu was adopted into the Katsu family in [[1808]], at age seven<ref>By traditional Japanese [[age calculation]]; six by Western reckoning.</ref>, and given the name Kokichi. Though he was only seven, he was claimed to be seventeen, and the pate of his head shaved as if he had had his coming-of-age ceremony (''[[genpuku]]''); this was done because shogunate law mandated that one could not be formally adopted before age seventeen. Kokichi would later marry the family's only daughter, Nobuko, and thus become the head of the Katsu family. Her parents had passed away prior to Kokichi's adoption, and so he and his wife-to-be were raised by her grandmother.

 

 

Kokichi married Nobuko when he was seventeen; the two of them, along with her grandmother, then moved into a house on the grounds of his brother's Hikoshirô's home.

Kokichi had four children with Nobuko - a son named Rintarô (who would come to be known as Katsu Kaishû and as "father of the (modern) Japanese navy"), and three daughters.

Kokichi had four children with Nobuko - a son named Rintarô (who would come to be known as Katsu Kaishû and as "father of the (modern) Japanese navy"), and three daughters.