In Mito
According to Toryu-Mon, he was born in Mito in 1809 (Bunka 6), the son of a retainer of the domain. He began forging as a hobby in the domain armoury, with Norimune (徳宗), signing at that time 徳一 (Norikazu), and the hobby ended up as his trade.
In Koishikawa
In 1857 (Ansei 4) he went to live at the Mito domain’s residence in Koishikawa, in Edo, where the Kōraku-en garden is today. There, according to Toryu-Mon, he trained with Hosokawa Masayoshi and with Unju Korekazu, signed some blade as Hosokawa Masanori (細川正徳) and was head of the workshop (塚頭, tsukagashira).
Nariaki and the Mito patriots
Toryu-Mon relates that Tokugawa Nariaki, the lord of Mito, forged swords with him and that he is held to have been Nariaki’s master in forging; that he worked in the Yamato manner at his request, and that he was the favourite swordsmith of the Mito rōnin of the Tengu party (天狗党, Tengu-tō), opposed to opening the country to foreigners. The same author considers it probable that the swords of the Sakurada Gate attack (1860) were his, but presents it as a conjecture, without proof. He also records an anecdote: Seki Tetsunosuke, before leaving for Edo, took from his workshop a blade that was waiting for another client and promised to pay for it on his return.
According to a document of Hitachiōmiya city hall, which gives it as local tradition, the swordsmith Yokoyama Sukemitsu met Katsumura Norikatsu in Mito, helped him in his work and so won Nariaki’s favour.
His death and his son
He died in 1872 (Meiji 5), at the age of 64, according to Toryu-Mon. The Japanese Wikipedia counts him among the illustrious men buried in the Tokiwa cemetery (常磐共有墓地, Tokiwa kyōyū bochi), that of the retainers of the Mito domain, which is a historic site of the city. Toryu-Mon gives him a successor: the second Norikatsu, his son and student, of whom few blades are known because the Meiji Restoration cut short his career.