was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

jurist and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

from Suita, Osaka.

Early life and academic career

After graduating from

Tohoku Imperial University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

in 1933, Kuroda was sent to Manchukuo to be an instructor at a

service academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

. He spent five years in a Siberian labor camp before he returned to Japan in 1950, and became a professor of law at

Osaka City University , abbreviated to , is a public university in Japan. It is located in Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka. It is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan regarding Applied Linguistics. The university will merge with Osaka Prefecture University to form ...

in 1956.

Political career

Kuroda was elected

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Osaka Prefecture in 1971, supported by the

Japan Socialist Party The was a socialist and progressive political party in Japan that existed from 1945 to 1996. The party was founded as the Social Democratic Party of Japan by members of several proletarian parties that existed before World War II, including ...

and the

Japanese Communist Party The is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left List of political parties in Japan, political party in Japan. With approximately 270,000 members belonging to 18,000 branches, it is one of the largest non-governing Communis ...

. In 1975, he became the first governor who won reelection with backing only from the Japanese Communist Party. He unsuccessfully ran for a third term in 1979. While he was in office, Kuroda took positive antipollution measures and introduced free

medical care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health p ...

for the elderly. He rejected a plan to build a missile base in Osaka, for he held a view that the Self-Defense Forces were

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

Later life

After he left from politics, Kuroda practiced at the bar. He became a member of the Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom in 1981. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at age 92.

References

* * 20th-century Japanese lawyers Scholars of constitutional law Governors of Osaka People from Suita 1911 births 2003 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Tohoku University alumni {{Japan-politician-stub