Kuroda clan

Kuroda
Family name

Corner tower of Fukuoka castle, residence of the Kuroda main clan during the Edo period.
Pronunciation Matsudaira
Region of origin Japanese
Related names Sasaki, Kodera
In this Japanese name, the family name is Kuroda.

The Kuroda clan (黒田氏 Kuroda-shi) was a Japanese samurai clan which came to prominence during the Sengoku period.

Origins

Main articles: Kamakura era and Muromachi era

The Kuroda clan claimed its origins in Tōtōmi Province.

Sengoku era

Main article: Sengoku era

In the 16th century, the Kuroda clan was located in Harima Province. Under the headship of Kuroda Yoshitaka, 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.[1] Yoshitaka was also a Roman Catholic with the baptismal name of "Don Simeon."

Edo era

Main articles: Edo era and Fukuoka Domain
Kuroda Nagamasa on horseback

At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army defeated Ishida Mitsunari's Western Army, and Ieyasu emerged as the dominant power figure in Japan. Kuroda Yoshitaka and his son Nagamasa supported Ieyasu in combat,[1] and were rewarded for their service with a transfer to the Fukuoka Domain, rated at 520,000 koku of land.[2]

Two branches of the family were founded in 1623. Kuroda Nagamasa's 3rd son Nagaoki founded the first; he was given 50,000 koku of land which became the Akizuki Domain.[3] Nagamasa's fourth son Takamasa founded the second; he was given 40,000 koku of land which became the Tōren-ji Domain.[4]

The forces of the Kuroda clan of Fukuoka took part in the Shimabara Rebellion 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

Main article: 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 and the Battle of Hakodate, among others.

Meiji and beyond

Main article: Meiji era

Key Genealogies

Fukuoka
  • 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)

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)

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Kuroda-shi" on Harimaya.com (accessed 28 Sept. 2008)
  2. ↑ "Fukuoka-han" on Edo 300 HTML (accessed 28 Sept. 2008)
  3. ↑ "Akizuki-han" on Edo 300 HTML (accessed 28 Sept. 2008)
  4. ↑ "Tōren-ji han" on Edo 300 HTML (accessed 28 Sept. 2008)
  5. ↑ www.bioone.org article (accessed 14 Aug. 2015)

References

Japanese

Further reading

Japanese

On Kuroda Yoshitaka

Media related to Kuroda clan at Wikimedia Commons

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