Kuroda Kiyotaka

Satsumi Samurai

Come from a family of low-ranking samurai from Satsuma province who served as daimyo Shimazzu .

In 1862, Kuroda was involved in the Namamugi incident , when the samurai of the Satsuma princedom killed one and severely wounded two British sailors who violated the rules of Japanese etiquette without bowing to the daimyo. This led to the beginning of the Satsum-British War , in which Kiyotaka played a significant role. After the war, he came to Edo to study artillery .

During the Restoration, Meiji became an active participant in the alliance of the rebellious principalities Satsuma and Choshu , who fought against the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate for the restoration of imperial rule. One of the military leaders in the war, Boshin , became known after he spared and captured Enomoto Takeaki , who opposed Kuroda’s army in the Battle of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido ; Enomoto tried to organize a sovereign republic in Hokkaido.

Political and diplomatic career

After the establishment of Emperor's rule, Meiji Kuroda became the first diplomat to come to Carafuto (Sakhalin), which was claimed by both the Russian Empire and Japan. The advance of the Russians to the east horrified Kuroda, he returned to Tokyo and insistently recommended the early settlement of Karafuto and the establishment of border fortifications. In 1871, he traveled to Europe and the USA, and then, in 1872, he was appointed head of the Hokkaido colonization.

In 1874, Kuroda became the director of the Hokkaido Colonization Society ( Japan 北海道 я の 歩 Hokkaido: takusyoko simpo ) , who developed an organizational chart for settling the island with former samurai and retired soldiers who would simultaneously become farmers and maintain internal order. Kiyotaka received the rank of lieutenant general in the imperial Japanese army. Kuroda invited foreign advisers from countries with a similar Japanese climate, visit Hokkaido and provide advice on improving agriculture.

Kiyotaka became ambassador to Korea in 1875, he participated in the signing of the Peace Treaty in Ganghwado , which opened Korea to Japanese trade in 1876. In 1877, he was sent as part of the anti-insurgency forces to pacify the Satsuma uprising , and a year later, after the assassination of former samurai Okubo Tosimichi, de facto became the ruler of Satsuma.

Shortly after he left his office in Hokkaido, Kuroda became the central figure of the 1881 scandal around the Hokkaido Colonization Society. Kiyotaka, in the framework of the privatization program, tried to sell the Company's assets to a trade syndicate owned by one of Satsuma’s old friends at a low price. When the press found out the terms of the deal, the hype around them forced the parties to cancel the agreement. In addition, in 1881, Kuroda’s wife died of a lung disease, but rumors spread that Kiyotaka got drunk and killed her; the body was exhumed, suspicions were not confirmed, but rumors of his drunkenness continued.

Prime Minister

Kiyotaka became the second prime minister of Japan (after Ito Hirobumi ). During his term he prepared the publication of the constitution. The annoying misses with unequal treaties that Japan had to accept caused a negative reaction. When drafts of Okuma Shigenobu describing future changes were published, Kuroda was forced to resign.

Follow Life

Kuroda has been Minister of Communications since 1892. In 1895 he became general Genro and Chairman of the Privy Council . Kuroda died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1900, Enomoto Takeaki led the funeral ceremony. Kuroda's grave is located at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.

• Kuroda Kiyotaka // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 t. (82 t. And 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
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