[1] He was accepted into the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of shogi professional Nobuo Mori [ja] in September 1993, promoted to the rank of 1-dan in March 1996, and was awarded full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in April 2004 after winning the 34th 3-dan League (October 2003 – March 2004) with a record of 16 wins and 2 losses.
[5] He was first elected to a two-year term as a director at the association's 64th General Meeting in June 2013,[6] and elevated to executive director at the 66th General Meeting in June 2015.
[7] Near the end of his second term, however, Katagami was one of three board members voted out of office by the JSA membership at an emergency meeting held in February 2017 for their involvement in the 29th Ryūō challenger controversy.
[9] In February 2006, the JSA announced on its official website the engagement of Katagami to women's professional Madoka Kitao.
[10][11] On June 12, 2016, Katagami posted on his personal blog that he had gotten divorced some time ago, and that he had gotten married again to someone else about two months earlier.