Editing Kuroda Kiyotaka

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Japan from 1888 to 1889}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{family name hatnote|Kuroda|lang=Japanese}}
{{Expand Japanese|topic=bio|黒田清隆|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Junior First Rank]]<br />[[Kazoku|Count]]
| name             = Kuroda Kiyotaka
| native_name      = {{No bold|黒田 清隆}}
| native_name_lang = ja
| image            = Kiyotaka Kuroda formal.jpg
| office           = [[Prime Minister of Japan]]
| monarch          = [[Emperor Meiji|Meiji]]
| term_start       = 30 April 1888
| term_end         = 25 October 1889
| predecessor      = Itō Hirobumi
| successor        = [[Sanjō Sanetomi]] (acting)
| office1          = [[Privy Council of Japan|President of the Privy Council]]
| monarch1         = Meiji
| vicepresident1   = [[Higashikuze Michitomi]]
| term_start1      = 17 March 1894
| term_end1        = 23 August 1900
| predecessor1     = [[Yamagata Aritomo]]
| successor1       = [[Saionji Kinmochi]]
| office2          = Acting [[Prime Minister of Japan]]
| monarch2         = [[Emperor Meiji|Meiji]]
| term_start2      = 31 August 1896
| term_end2        = 18 September 1896
| predecessor2     = [[Itō Hirobumi]]
| successor2       = [[Matsukata Masayoshi]]
| office3          = [[Ministry of Communications (Japan)|Minister of Communications]]
| primeminister3   = Itō Hirobumi
| term_start3      = 8 August 1892
| term_end3        = 17 March 1895
| predecessor3     = [[Gotō Shōjirō]]
| successor3       = [[Watanabe Kunitake]]
| office4          = [[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce|Minister of Agriculture and Commerce]]
| primeminister4   = Itō Hirobumi
| term_start4      = 17 September 1887
| term_end4        = 30 April 1888
| predecessor4     = [[Hijikata Hisamoto]]
| successor4       = [[Inoue Kaoru]]
| office5          = [[Hokkaidō Development Commission|Director of the Hokkaidō Development Commission]]
| monarch5         = Meiji
| term_start5      = 2 August 1874
| term_end5        = February 1882
| predecessor5     = [[Higashikuze Michitomi]] (1871)
| successor5       = [[Saigō Jūdō]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1840|11|9|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Kagoshima]], [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]], [[Tokugawa shogunate|Japan]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1900|8|23|1840|11|9|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Tokyo]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_cause      = [[Intracerebral hemorrhage]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|Kuroda Taki|1880}}
| party            = [[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
| signature        = KurodaK kao.png
| module           = {{Infobox Chinese
| child            = yes
| kyujitai         = 黑田 淸隆
| shinjitai        = 黒田 清隆
| romaji           = Kuroda Kiyotaka
}}
}}
[[Count]] {{Nihongo|'''Kuroda Kiyotaka'''|黒田 清隆||9 November 1840 – 23 August 1900}} was a Japanese politician and general who served as [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime minister of Japan]] from 1888 to 1889. He was one of the ''[[genrō]]'', or senior statesman of the [[Meiji era]]. Born in the [[Satsuma Domain]] to a [[samurai]] family, Kuroda was involved in the colonization of [[Hokkaido]], the [[Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876]], and the suppression of the [[Satsuma Rebellion]] in 1877. After his tenure as prime minister, which ended due to his inability to revise the [[Ansei Treaties|unequal treaties]] imposed on Japan, Kuroda also served as [[Ministry of Communications (Japan)|Minister of Communications]] and [[Privy Council of Japan|President of the Privy Council]].

==Biography==
[[File:Nishiki-e painting (a kind of Ukiyo-e in Meiji period) of Kuroda Kiyotaka, with Inoue Kaoru behind him.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Nishiki-e painting of Kuroda Kiyotaka]]
===As a Satsuma samurai===
Kuroda was born to a [[samurai]]-class family serving the [[Shimazu clan|Shimazu]] ''[[daimyō]]'' of [[Kagoshima]], [[Satsuma Domain]], in [[Kyūshū]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=黒田清隆｜近代日本人の肖像 |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/datas/71/ |access-date=2022-03-02 |website=近代日本人の肖像 National Diet Library |language=ja}}</ref>

In 1862, Kuroda was involved in the [[Namamugi incident]], in which [[Satsuma domain|Satsuma]] retainers killed a British national who refused to bow down to the ''daimyo's'' procession. This led to the [[Anglo-Satsuma War]] in 1863, in which Kuroda played an active role. Immediately after the war, he went to [[Edo]] where he studied gunnery.

Returning to Satsuma, Kuroda became an active member of the [[Satchō Alliance|Satsuma-Chōshū]] joint effort to overthrow the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. Later, as a military leader in the [[Boshin War]], he became famous for sparing the life of [[Enomoto Takeaki]], who had stood against Kuroda's army at the [[Battle of Hakodate]].

===Political and diplomatic career===
[[File:Kiyotaka Kuroda 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Kiyotaka Kuroda at a young age]]
[[File:KurodaNagahiro.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Marquess [[Kuroda Nagahiro]] of [[Fukuoka Domain]]. Kuroda Kiyotaka received supports from [[Fukuoka Domain]] which later proved their critical roles in Kuroda's political career.]]
Under the new [[Meiji government]], Kuroda in 1870 became a pioneer-diplomat to [[Sakhalin]], then known in Japanese as Karafuto and claimed by both Japan and the [[Russian Empire]]. Terrified of Russia's push eastward, Kuroda returned to Tokyo and advocated quick development and settlement of Japan's northern frontier.

In 1871, he traveled to [[Europe]] and the [[United States]] for five months, and upon returning to Japan in 1872, he was put in charge of colonization efforts in [[Hokkaidō]].

In 1874, Kuroda was named director of the [[Hokkaidō Colonization Office]], and organized a colonist-militia scheme to settle the island with unemployed ex-samurai and retired soldiers who would serve as both farmers and as a local militia. He was also promoted to [[lieutenant general]] in the [[Imperial Japanese Army]]. Kuroda invited [[o-yatoi gaikokujin|agricultural experts from overseas countries]] with a similar climate to visit Hokkaidō, and to provide advice on what crops and production methods might be successful.

Kuroda was dispatched as an envoy to [[Korea]] in 1875, and negotiated the [[Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876]]. In 1877, he was sent as part of the force to suppress the [[Satsuma Rebellion]]. In 1878, he became de facto leader of Satsuma Domain following the assassination of [[Ōkubo Toshimichi]].

Shortly before he left office in Hokkaidō, Kuroda became the central figure in the Hokkaidō Colonization Office Scandal of 1881. As part of the government's privatization program, Kuroda attempted to sell the assets of the Hokkaidō Colonization Office to a trading consortium created by some of his former Satsuma colleagues for a nominal price. When the terms of the sale were leaked to the press, the resultant public outrage caused the sale to fall through. Also in 1881, Kuroda's wife died of a [[lung disease]], but on rumors that Kuroda had killed her in a drunken rage, the body was exhumed and examined. Kuroda was cleared of charges, but rumors of his problems with [[alcoholism|alcohol abuse]] persisted.
[[File:Imperial Japanese Navy in Pusan 16 Jan 1876.png|thumb|The embassy of Kuroda Kiyotaka, in [[Pusan]], on its way to [[Ganghwa Island]] (江華島), Korea, 16 January 1876. There were 2 warships ({{ship|Japanese warship| Nisshin||2}}, {{ship|Japanese warship|Moshun||2}} and 3 troop transports of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]], and one liner for the embassy led by Kuroda.]]

In 1887, Kuroda was appointed to the cabinet post of [[Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce|Minister of Agriculture and Commerce]].

===Prime minister===
Kuroda Kiyotaka became the 2nd [[Prime Minister of Japan]], after [[Itō Hirobumi]] in 1888. During his term, he oversaw the promulgation of the [[Meiji Constitution]]. However, the vexing issue of Japan's inability to secure revision of the [[unequal treaties]] created considerable controversy. After drafts of proposed revisions drawn up by his foreign minister [[Ōkuma Shigenobu]] became public in 1889, the plan to appoint foreigners as judicial officers to abolish consular jurisdiction met with great opposition, and on 18 October a bombing occurred. In response to this, nearly all cabinet members abandoned amending the treaty, and Kuroda had no choice but to agree. On 25 October, Kuroda was forced to resign. He was succeeded by [[Sanjō Sanetomi]] as acting prime minister. Then, on 24 December 1889, [[Yamagata Aritomo]], an army [[Field Marshal]] ([[Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army)|Gensui]]) became the next [[prime minister of Japan]].

===Later life===
Kuroda served as [[Ministry of Communications (Japan)|Minister of Communications]] in 1892 under the 2nd Ito Cabinet. In 1895 he became a ''[[genrō]]'', and chairman of the [[Privy Council (Japan)|Privy Council]]. 

Kuroda died of a [[brain hemorrhage]] in 1900 and Enomoto Takeaki presided over his funeral ceremonies. His grave is at the [[Aoyama Cemetery]] in Tokyo.

==Honours==
''From the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article''
*Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]] (2 November 1877)
*Count (7 July 1884)
*Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (20 August 1895)
*Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Chrysanthemum]] (25 August 1900; posthumous)

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan|Biography}}
*[[List of Ambassadors from Japan to South Korea]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[[Michael Auslin|Auslin, Michael R.]] (2006). ''Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01521-0}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56493769 OCLC 56493769]
*[[Marius Jansen|Jansen, Marius B.]] (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|9780674003347}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44090600 OCLC 44090600]
*[[Donald Keene|Keene, Donald]]. (2002). ''Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912.'' New York: [[Columbia University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-231-12340-2}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/46731178 OCLC 46731178]
*Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC ''Japan encyclopedia.''] Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58053128?referer=di&ht=edition OCLC 58053128]
*Sims, Richard L. (2001). ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|9780312239145}}; {{ISBN|9780312239152}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45172740 OCLC 45172740]

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Kiyotaka Kuroda}}

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{{Prime Ministers of Japan}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuroda, Kiyotaka}}
[[Category:1840 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century prime ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese generals]]
[[Category:Kazoku]]
[[Category:Boshin War]]
[[Category:Meiji Restoration]]
[[Category:People from Kagoshima]]
[[Category:People from Satsuma Domain]]
[[Category:People of Meiji-era Japan]]
[[Category:People of the Boshin War]]
[[Category:Samurai]]
[[Category:Shimazu retainers]]
[[Category:Burials at Aoyama Cemetery]]