Hijikata Katsunaga was the son of then 11th
daimyō of Komono, Hijikata Katsuyoshi, and he became
daimyō at the age of seven on his father's death. Because of his youth, he was assisted by his great-uncle Hijikata Yoshiyuki. During this period, as with many of the feudal domains of Japan, the samurai were divided between a pro-
sonnō jōi faction who favored a restoration of political power to the
Emperor of Japan and a stronger foreign policy, and a pro-status quo faction still loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate. On the start of the
Boshin War, Hijikata Katsunaga declared the domain for the imperial cause, and contributed to the eastward march of pro-imperial forces to overthrow the Tokugawa. On the abolition of the position of
daimyō in 1869, he was appointed imperial governor of Komono. However, he was of weak health since childhood and retired in the fall of 1870 in favor of his adopted son,
Hijikata Katsuyuki. The following year, with the
abolition of the han system, he relocated to
Tokyo. He died May 10, 1884, at the age of 34, and his grave is at the
Yanaka Cemetery, in
Taitō, Tokyo. ==References==