The was a Japanese samurai clan which came to prominence during the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

Origins

The Kuroda clan claimed its origins in

Tōtōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa Province, Mikawa, Suruga Province, S ...

Sengoku period

In the 16th century, the Kuroda clan was located in

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During th ...

. Under the headship of

Kuroda Yoshitaka , also known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku through the early Edo period. Renowned as a man of great ambition, he succeeded Takenaka Hanbei as a chief strategist and adviser to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Kuroda b ...

, the clan served the Oda and later Toyotomi clans. Yoshitaka specifically worked as a battle tactician, and was considered to be on par with Takenaka Shigeharu, another prominent tactician of the era. For his service, Yoshitaka received lordship of Nakatsu Castle, in 1587."Kuroda-shi" on Harimaya.com
(accessed 28 Sept. 2008) In 1600, Yoshitaka and his son

Kuroda Nagamasa was a ''daimyō'' during the late Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. He was the son of Kuroda Kanbei, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's chief strategist and adviser. Biography Nagamasa's childhood name was Shojumaru (松寿丸). In 1577 his fathe ...

took part in the

Sekigahara Campaign The Sekigahara Campaign was a series of battles in Japan fought between the Eastern Army aligned with Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Western Army loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, culminating in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. The conflict was sparked by a ...

on the side of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

. Yoshitaka was also a Roman Catholic with the baptismal name of "Don Simeon".

Edo period

At the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

in 1600,

's Eastern Army defeated

Ishida Mitsunari was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century. He ...

's Western Army, and Ieyasu emerged as the dominant power figure in Japan. Kuroda Yoshitaka and his son Nagamasa supported Ieyasu in combat, and were rewarded for their service with a transfer to the

Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagamasa, the 1st daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagahiro, the 11th next to last daimyo of Fukuoka Domain 270px, Kuroda Nagatomo, final daimyo of Fukuoka Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was assoc ...

, rated at 520,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' of land. Two branches of the family were founded in 1623. Kuroda Nagamasa's 3rd son Nagaoki founded the first; he was given 50,000 ''

'' of land which became the Akizuki Domain. Nagamasa's fourth son Takamasa founded the second; he was given 40,000 ''

'' of land which became the Tōren-ji Domain."Tōren-ji han" on Edo 300 HTML
(accessed 28 Sept. 2008) The forces of the Kuroda clan of Fukuoka took part in the

Shimabara Rebellion The , also known as the or , was an rebellion, uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638. Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpo ...

in 1638. 18,000 men under Kuroda Tadayuki assisted in laying siege to Hara Castle. In 1784, two schools were founded for the Fukuoka domain's samurai sons, Shūyū-kan and Kantō-kan. Of the two, Shūyū-kan still exists as Shūyū-kan Prefectural High School.

Boshin war

During the Boshin War of 1868–69, the Kuroda clan supported the imperial government. Troops from Fukuoka took part in the

Battle of Aizu The Battle of Aizu () was fought in northern Japan from October to November in autumn 1868, and was part of the Boshin War. History Aizu was known for its martial skill, and maintained at any given time a standing army of over 5000. It was oft ...

and the

Battle of Hakodate The was fought in Japan from December 4, 1868 to June 27, 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate army, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the armies of the newly formed Imperial government (composed ...

, among others.

Meiji and beyond

Key genealogies

Fukuoka #Kuroda Takamune #Kuroda Takamasa (d. 1523) #Kuroda Shigetaka (1508–1564) # Kuroda Mototaka (1524-1585) #

(1546-1604) #

(1568-1623) #Kuroda Tadayuki (1602–1654) #Kuroda Mitsuyuki (1628–1707) #Kuroda Tsunamasa (1659–1711) #Kuroda Nobumasa (1685–1744) #Kuroda Tsugutaka (1703–1775) #Kuroda Haruyuki (1753–1781) #Kuroda Harutaka (1754–1782) #Kuroda Naritaka (1777–1795) #Kuroda Narikiyo (1795–1851) # Kuroda Nagahiro (1811–1887) # Kuroda Nagatomo (1839–1902) #Kuroda Nagashige (1867–1939) #

Nagamichi Kuroda was a Japanese ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of orni ...

(1889–1978) # Nagahisa Kuroda (1916–2009) #Nagataka Kuroda (1952–) #Kenji Kuroda (1934-) #Yasushi Kuroda (1963-) #Hiroshi Kuroda (1965-) #Alexander Kuroda (2006-) #Nicholas Kuroda (2010-) Akizuki *Kuroda Nagaoki (1610–1665) *Kuroda Nagashige *Kuroda Naganori *Kuroda Nagasada *Kuroda Nagakuni *Kuroda Nagayoshi *Kuroda Nagakata *Kuroda Naganobu *Kuroda Nagatsugu *Kuroda Nagamoto *Kuroda Nagayoshi *Kuroda Naganori Tōren-ji *Kuroda Takamasa (1612–1639) *Kuroda Yukikatsu (1634–1663) *Kuroda Nagahiro (1659–1711) (as Naogata domain) *Kuroda Nagakiyo (1667–1720) Kuroda Yasushi(1963~) Kuroda Alexander(2006~) Kuroda Nicholas(2010~)

Notes

References

Japanese
"Akizuki-han" on Edo 300 HTML
(accessed 28 Sept. 2008)

(accessed 28 Sept. 2008)

(accessed 28 Sept. 2008)

(accessed 28 Sept. 2008)