Kuroda Nagahiro
Encyclopedia
Marquess was a Japanese daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of the late Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, who ruled the Fukuoka Domain
Fukuoka Domain
The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Chikuzen Province .-List of lords:*Kuroda clan, 1600-1871 #Nagamasa#Tadayuki#Mitsuyuki#Tsunamasa#Nobumasa...
.
Biography
Nagahiro was the ninth son of Shimazu Shigehide, lord of Satsuma Domain; Kuroda Narikiyo, lord of Fukuoka, adopted Nagahiro in 1822. Nagahiro's mother was a woman of humble origins named Chisa; she had attracted Shigehide's attention with her "sturdy build and great love of sake." Much like his mother, Nagahiro was also well-built. He was close in age to Shimazu NariakiraShimazu Nariakira
was a Japanese feudal lord of the Edo period, the 28th in the line of Shimazu clan lords of Satsuma Domain. He was renowned as an intelligent and wise lord, and was greatly interested in Western learning and technology...
, and the two had a brotherly relationship.
Nagahiro succeeded his adoptive father in 1834. Much like his birth father, Nagahiro was a serious proponent of technological modernization, especially with regards to his domain's military. He built a After Commodore Perry's arrival, Nagahiro (like his close relative, Shimazu Nariakira) was a proponent of opening the country. He greatly encouraged learning amongst his retainers, and sent them to the best schools of Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
, Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, and Nagasaki to absorb the Western knowledge and technical expertise which was entering the country at the time. He himself also engaged in similar efforts, listening to the anatomy lectures of Philipp Franz von Siebold
Philipp Franz von Siebold
Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold was a German physician and traveller. He was the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan...
in 1859.
In the Boshin War
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
, his forces took part in the campaign against the domains of the Tōhoku region
Tohoku region
The is a geographical area of Japan. The region occupies the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region consists of six prefectures : Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata....
.
Nagahiro held the title of Mino no Kami (美濃守) as well as junior 2nd court rank (juni'i 従二位). In the Meiji era, he was created kōshaku (侯爵; marquess
Marquess
A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...
) in the new peerage system.
Further reading
- Kawazoe Shōji 川添昭二 (1983). Ju ni'i Kuroda Nagahiro-kō den 従二位黒田長溥公伝. 2 Vol.s, ed. Fukuoka Komonjo o Yomu Kai. Tokyo: Bunkenshuppan 文献出版.
- Yanagi Takenao 柳猛直 (1989). Hiun no hanshu Kuroda Nagahiro 悲運の藩主・黒田長漙. Fukuoka: Kaichōsha 海鳥社.