Kiyochika was born Kobayashi Katsunosuke () on 10 September 1847 (the first day of the eighth month of the ninth year of Kōka on the Japanese calendar) in neighbourhood of Honjo in Edo (modern Tokyo). His father was Kobayashi Mohē (), who worked as a minor official in charge of unloading rice collected as taxes. His mother Chikako () was the daughter of another such official, Matsui Yasunosuke (). The 1855 Edo earthquake destroyed the family home but left the family unharmed.