Furuta Shigekatsu served as a bushō and daimyō from the Sengoku to early Edo periods.  Shigekatsu was the first head of the Ise-Matsusaka domain in the Edo period.

According to one account, Shigekatsu was a nephew of Furuta Shigenari, a famous tea master during the same period, but this is not authenticated.

Shigekatsu was born as the eldest son of Furuta Shigenori, in Mino Province.  He served under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, participating in the Conquest of Odawara and the Bunroku Expedition on the Korean Peninsula.  In 1595, Shigekatsu was awarded Matsusaka Castle in Ise Province and set about renovating the site.

In 1600, prior to the Battle of Sekigahara, Shigekatsu headed toward Aizu in Mutsu Province in a conquest of Uesugi Kagekatsu, but, after learning of the rebellion by the western army, quickly returned to Ise.  Mokujiki Ōgo attempted to persuade Shigekatsu to join the western army, but he refused, secluded himself in Matsusaka Castle, and entered into a standoff against Nabeshima Katsushige and others, while sending fifty reinforcements to Tomita Nobutaka and Wakebe Mitsuyoshi who were holed up in Anotsu Castle in Ise.  Owing to his location in Matsusaka Castle during this period, Shigekatsu did not participate in the Battle of Sekigahara, and references in historical records to his participation are considered in error and intended to reference Furuta Shigenari.  After the battle, as a reward for halting the western army, Shigekatsu received an increase of 20,000 koku, becoming a daimyō with fief totaling 55,000 koku.

Later, Shigekatsu was ordered to build stone walls for Edo Castle.  He died in Edo in 1606.  After his death, his son, Kishōmaru, was still in his youth, so Shigekatsu’s younger brother, Shigeharu, succeeded him.