Katsutoshi Kawano (河野 克俊, Kawano Katsutoshi, born 28 November 1954)[3] is a retired Japanese admiral who served as the 5th Chief of Staff, Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces from 2014 to 2019, and was the longest-serving person in that position.

He is the son of Imperial Japanese Navy & Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear admiral Katsuji Kawano, and is the fourth child among five siblings.

His father was the Commanding Officer of Sub Area Activity Hakodate and participated in World War II as a young officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy and participated in the Pearl Harbor Attacks as a chief engineer for the Japanese submarine I-16.

[2] He then joined the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, serving in a number of command and staff positions.

His career was temporarily in jeopardy when a ship under his command, the JDS Atago (DDG-177), collided with a fishing boat and caused two fishermen to go missing.