Marquess was a Japanese ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of the late

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, who ruled the

Fukuoka Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Chikuzen Province in modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. The domain was also sometimes referred to as Chikuzen Domain, or as Kuroda Domain, after the ruling Kuroda ...

Biography

Nagahiro was the ninth son of

Shimazu Shigehide Shimazu is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Esther Shimazu (born 1957), American/Hawaiian sculptor * Saeko Shimazu (born 1959), Japanese voice actress * Shimazu clan, ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han * Shimazu Hisamitsu ...

, lord of

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, ...

; Kuroda Narikiyo, lord of Fukuoka, adopted Nagahiro in 1822 later Nagahiro married Narikiyo's daughter, Sumihime. 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 Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

." Much like his mother, Nagahiro was also well-built. He was close in age to

Shimazu Nariakira was a Japanese feudal lord (''daimyō'') 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. He was e ...

, and the two had a brotherly relationship. His childhood name was Momojiro (桃次郎). 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. After Commodore

Perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also made ...

'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 ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, and

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

to absorb the Western knowledge and technical expertise which was entering the country at the time.黒田長溥
He himself also engaged in similar efforts, listening to the anatomy lectures of

Philipp Franz von Siebold Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (17 February 1796 – 18 October 1866) was a German physician, botanist and traveler. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese flora (plants), flora and fauna (animals), fauna and the introduction of ...

in 1859. In the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, his forces took part in the campaign against the domains of the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

. Nagahiro held the title of ''Mino no Kami'' (美濃守) as well as junior 2nd court rank (''juni'i'' 従二位).福岡藩
/ref> In the Meiji era, he was created ''kōshaku'' (侯爵;

marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

) in the new peerage system.

Family

* Father: Shimazu Shigehide (1745-1833) * Mother: Makino Chisa * Foster Father: Kuroda Narikiyo (1795-1851) * Wife: Sumihime * Daughter: Ikuhime, Miyoko (Ceacero's wife) * Adopted Children: **

Kuroda Nagatomo was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who served as the last daimyō of Fukuoka han. He was adopted into the family and was born as Tatewaka (建若), the second son of Tōdō Takayuki, lord of the Tsu han. A pro- Chōshū figure duri ...

** Keihime married Shijou Takauta (Okudaira Masataka's daughter) ** Yoshihime married Matsudaira Yoshitomo (Okudaira Masanobu's daughter)

Notes

References

External links

Brief biography of Nagahiro
1811 births 1887 deaths Daimyo Kazoku Meiji Restoration Samurai Kuroda clan {{daimyo-stub

Biography

Family

Notes

References

Further reading

External links