Kuroda Kanbei and Kuroda Nagamasa

Labels: Factdocumented　Likelysupported by most sources　Legendoral tradition　Urban legendlocal lore and rumour

Kanbei, Hideyoshi's strategist

FactKuroda Kanbei (Yoshitaka, 1546–1604) was born into a family of retainers of the Kodera clan in Harima. Seeing the strength of Oda Nobunaga, he brought his lord over to Nobunaga's side, and he went on to serve as a chief strategist in Hashiba (later Toyotomi) Hideyoshi's campaign in the Chugoku region.

FactIn 1578 Kanbei went into Arioka Castle (Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture) to persuade Araki Murashige, who had rebelled against Nobunaga, but he was seized on the spot and held for about a year in an earthen dungeon. By the time he was rescued, it is said, he had lost the full use of his legs. Even so, Kanbei kept working for Hideyoshi and took part in the "Great Return from Chugoku" after the Honnoji Incident and in the conquest of Kyushu.

FactKanbei was also a Christian daimyo (feudal lord), baptised with the Christian name "Simeon". He later became a lay monk and took the name "Josui".

Behind Sekigahara

FactAt the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Kanbei's son Kuroda Nagamasa (1568–1623) sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army and played a major part by secretly winning Kobayakawa Hideaki and others over to the Eastern side. For this he was granted Chikuzen Province, worth about 520,000 koku, and became the first lord of the Fukuoka domain.

FactAround the same time, the retired Josui gathered masterless samurai (ronin) and farmers in Nakatsu (Oita Prefecture) into a hastily raised army and took one Western Army castle in Kyushu after another.

LegendLater generations told the story that if the Sekigahara campaign had dragged on, Josui meant to ride his momentum all the way to ruling the country himself, but what he really intended is unclear.

LegendThere is an anecdote that when Nagamasa told his father how Ieyasu had taken him by the right hand to thank him for his services at Sekigahara, Josui replied, "And what was your left hand doing at that moment?", meaning that his son had had the chance to stab Ieyasu with his left.

The spear Nihongo and Kuroda-bushi

LegendNagamasa's retainer Mori Tahei was known as a mighty drinker. The story goes that when he visited the residence of Fukushima Masanori on an errand for Nagamasa, he was told he could have whatever he wanted if he drained a huge cup of sake. He emptied it in fine style and walked away with "Nihongo", a famous spear that Masanori had received from Hideyoshi.

FactThis tale is sung in the Fukuoka folk song "Kuroda-bushi", which made it known across Japan. Kuroda-bushi grew out of an imayo song (Chikuzen imayo) once sung by samurai of the Fukuoka domain, and it became widely popular in the early Showa period. The real Nihongo spear is kept at the Fukuoka City Museum.

FactIn front of the Hakata Exit of Hakata Station stands a statue of Mori Tahei holding his great cup and the spear. For locals it is also a familiar meeting spot.

Main sources: Fukuoka City Museum, exhibition materials on the Kuroda family / Kuroda Kafu (Kuroda Family Records) / Fukuoka City Museum, notes on the famous spear Nihongo / Fukuoka Prefecture, notes on Kuroda-bushi