This non-registered cultivar was found near the Katsura River on Shikoku Island in Japan by Hiroshi Masoka of Japan. It forms a medium size mound with narrowly ovate leaves that are slightly rippled and have intensely red petioles. The red color extends up into the leaf blade. It bears pale purple flowers from late August into September.

According to The Hostapedia by Mark Zilis (2009), "...one of the most impressive plants that I saw during a 1995 trip to Japan. This red-petioled H. kikutii relative had been recently found in the wild, growing alongside a green-petioled version..."

The New Encyclopedia of Hostas by Diana Grenfell (2009) states: "One of the best hostas in which the red dots extend up and onto each side of the midrib of the leaf blade."

Mikiko Lockwood in an article on The Hosta Library titled, A Little About Japanese Hosta Terms defines the term beni as red or rouge and the the term -gawa or -kawa as river.

An article by Dr. Ben J.M. Zonneveld in The Hosta Journal (1996 Vol. 27 No. 2) states that, "...I found in the garden of Hideko Gowen,...From her trip with an American part to Japan a plant called provisionally 'Katsuragawa'...It was selected from a wild population for its rather strong red petioles and I think it to be a form of H. longipes. What was remarkable was the fact that a young offset had leaves which were red all over. We must wait to see if this is maintained when the leaves grow older, but it shows at least the possibility for a red-leaved hosta."

An article by Rick Goodenough in The Hosta Journal (2012 Vol. 43 No. 1) states that, “Another “borrowed” plant that I have been particularly pleased with is named ‘Red Legged Plover’. I got the seed, which is out of ‘Katsuragawa Beni’ and a first generation seedling of ‘Kokuryu’, through an exchange with Jeff Moore…H. ‘Red Legged Plover’ was the only yellow viridescent seedling of the lot. It exhibits some nicer-than-average burgundy-toned flowers which was one of Jeff’s objectives for this cross.”