[1] Kōetsu was born into a family of sword polishers and connoisseurs who had served the imperial court as well as such major warlords of the Sengoku period (1467–1603) such as Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga.

Kōetsu's father, Hon'ami Kōji (d. 1603), received a regular stipend from the Maeda family, in payment for his services as a sword connoisseur.

Kōetsu would meet many members of the art community through his connections with the Maeda, including tea master Kobori Enshū.

Although trained as a swordpolisher (not a "swordsmith" in the standard Western sense; in Japan the tasks of forging and finishing a blade are performed by different craftsmen), Hon'ami became accomplished in pottery, lacquer, and ceramics as a result of his interest in Japanese tea ceremony, which had been revived and refined only a few decades earlier by Sen no Rikyū.

Even though Kōetsu form was inspired by the Raku family tradition, he was such a great artist he added his own character to his tea bowls.

Though earlier works attributed to him are quite conservative, towards the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th, he began to employ a number of innovative techniques.

In 1615, Hon'ami began an artist community northwest of Kyoto, in a place called Takagamine granted him by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Scholars disagree on whether this community was more focused on art or on religion, specifically Nichiren Buddhism, and whether this land grant was generous, or a form of exile.