Ii Naokatsu

Who was Ii Naokatsu?

Ii Naokatsu was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period who served the Tokugawa clan. He was also known as Ii Naotsugu. Naokatsu succeeded to family headship following his father's death in 1602. Under Tokugawa Ieyasu's orders, Naokatsu completed construction of Hikone Castle in 1606, and then moved there from Sawayama Castle when it was largely completed. In 1614, as Naokatsu was ill, he sent his brother Naotaka to fight in the Siege of Osaka; Naokatsu himself was assigned to Annaka, where he undertook security duty in the Kantō region. After the siege of Osaka, Tokugawa Ieyasu rewarded Naokatsu's younger brother Naotaka with the Ii family headship, and allowed Naokatsu to form a branch family with holdings at the fief of Annaka in Kōzuke Province, worth some 30,000-koku. Naokatsu retired in 1632, yielding headship to his son Naoyoshi. He died in Ōmi Province in 1662.

His descendants were moved around several times before having their holdings settle at Itoigawa, in Echigo Province.