of Tokugawa Tadanaga, who was ordered to commit seppuku in 1633. Personality A devoted believer of Nichiren Buddhism, Kiyomasa encouraged the building of Nichiren temples across his domains. He came into conflict with Konishi Yukinaga, who ruled the other half of Higo province, and was a Christian, Kiyomasa being noted for brutally suppressing and persecuting Christianity. At the battle of Hondo, he ordered his men to cut open the bellies of all pregnant Christian women and cut off their infants' heads. William Scott Wilson describes Katō 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 Katō describe him as awe-inspiring, yet not unfriendly, and a natural leader of men." Family Kiyomasa married a daughter of Mizuno Tadashige, Shōjō-in, who was adopted by Tokugawa Ieyasu prior to their marriage. Their daughter, Yōrin-in, would go on to marry Tokugawa Ieyasu's 10th son, Tokugawa Yorinobu. Honour In 1910, Kiyomasa was posthumously promoted to junior 3rd court rank (jusanmi 従三位). In popular culture Katō Kiyomasa is a character in the Koei video games Kessen, Kessen III, Samurai Warriors 3, Samurai Warriors 4, Mōri Motonari: Chikai no Sanshi and Age of Empires III. He is a playable character in Pokémon Conquest (Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition in Japan), with his partner Pokémon being Fraxure and Haxorus. See also Katō Yoshiaki Battle of Sendaigawa References Further reading Kitajima Manji 北島万次 (2007). Katō Kiyomasa Chōsen shinryaku no jitsuzō 加藤清正: 朝鮮侵略の実像. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan 吉川弘文館. Honours Junior Third Rank External links Kato Kiyomasa's wiki bio at Samurai Archives 1562 births 1611 deaths 16th-century Japanese people 17th-century Japanese people Daimyo People of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) Samurai Toyotomi retainers Japanese Buddhists Nichiren Buddhists 16th-century Buddhists 17th-century Buddhists Bushido Deified Japanese people People from Nagoya