Katsumoto Neitan

Katsumoto Neitan (且元ネイタン; 1809-1851), born Nathan Thomas Sauvageau, was a Redonian mercenary who later became a Hinoan samurai. He was involved in the Shino-Fukui Rebellion (1850-1851), when Hinoan daimyo in northern Hinomoto launched a rebellion against the Yamataian annexation of Hinomoto in the Treaty of Fujishima. Due to his unique background as an Amphian who was loyal to the Hinoan independence cause, Neitan is celebrated in Hinomoto alongside the Five National Heroes, which include his master and brother-in-law, Katsumoto Moritsugu.

Katsumoto Neitan was born as Nathan Thomas Sauvageau in Lutèce, Redon, to a middle-class military family. After a brief military career, Sauvageau eventually became a mercenary and travelled to Escar, where he settled in Yamataian Nanyokuni for some time. He was hired in 1845 by his former commanding officer in the Redonian military, who had since also become a mercenary, to train counter-revolutionary security forces for the Hinoan Taikunate in the aftermath of the 1845 Mikawa Revolution. At some point in 1846, Sauvageau abandoned his service of the Taikunate and became associated with Katsumoto Moritsugu, allegedly after he was captured during a botched anti-revolutionary raid. In 1849, Sauvageau married into the Katsumoto clan after wedding Katsumoto Moritsugu's widowed sister, Katsumoto Taka.

During the Shino-Fukui Rebellion, Katsumoto fought alongside his master and brother-in-law Katsumoto Moritsugu, who was a major leader in the Hinoan independence movement. He was allegedly a close confidant of Katsumoto Moritsugu, and appeared in key battles wearing crimson samurai armour. He may also have been present at the Battle of Kuroyama, the final battle of the rebellion, where he allegedly took part in the final cavalry charge against the Yamatai Imperial Army and may have been killed.

The historicity of many aspects of Katsumoto Neitan's life are controversial amongst historians. Some historians maintain that the bulk of Neitan's exploits are fabrications and myths, and that Neitan was merely a mercenary who happened to marry into a samurai clan, playing little role in the Shino-Fukui Rebellion. Others argue that while much of the facts surrounding Neitan's life are uncertain, he did play a major role as an advisor and close confidant of Katsumoto Moritsugu. One of the biggest controversies over Neitan is with regards to his death. While official state records and eyewitness accounts state that he was killed during the Battle of Kuroyama, a Thomas Sauvage appears on passenger manifests for a ship leaving to Chisei in April 1851, suggesting that he fled the country, though it is unclear if this was Katsumoto under a pseudonym or another Redonian traveller.

Neitan nonetheless remains a highly popular folk hero in Hinomoto, representing an exotic foreigner who was converted to Hinoan culture and chose to fight for Hinoan independence. Many of Katsumoto Neitan's exploits, often embellished and exaggerated, have been popularised in various books, movies, manga, douga, and other forms of media. In Hinoan slang, Amphian people in general are often referred to as "Neitan".

Interest in Neitan has also been boosted by the post-handover Hinoan government promoting him as a Yashiman hero in general, downplaying his anti-Yamataian elements and re-framing him as an exotic Amphian traveller who converted to Yashiman culture out of respect for the Yashiman people. This is in line with the Hinoan government's controversial trend of "re-contextualising" the Five National Heroes and other forms of Hinoan nationalism to be more in line with the reality of Yamataian sovereignty over Hinomoto.