14/02/2017
《 ABOUT KURODA KANBEI 》
Born in 1546 at Himeji Castle in Harima Province(Okayama Prefecture), he served as samurai advisor of Kodera Masamoto. At the age of 21 he married Teruhime, Kodera Masamoto’s niece and the daughter of Kushihashi Koresada. When he was 29 he met Oda Nobunaga and began to serve under Hideyoshi. At 32 he went to persuade Araki Murashige not to mount an insurrection against Nobunaga, as he was rumored to be considering. In doing so Kanbei was captured and subsequently incarcerated for about one year. Nobunaga, thinking that Kanbei had switched allegiances to Araki after his failure to return, commanded Hideyoshi to kill Kanbei’s son Nagamasa. After Kanbei was rescued, Nobunaga regretted having ordered Shojumaru to be killed, but in what is now a famous tale in Japanese history, Shojumaru was alive and well, having been sheltered by another famous general, Takenaka Hanbei. Kanbei went on to serve as general in various battles, and when Nobunaga died in the Honnoji Incident(1582), Kanbei advised Hideyoshi that it was his time to take the reins of power and accordingly offered his services. While Hideyoshi depended on Kanbei, he also feared that if anyone were to replace him, it would be Kanbei. To put Hideyoshi at ease, Kanbei transferred the family estate early(at the age of 44) to Nagamasa, changed his name to Josui and began his retirement. After initially retiring to Dazaifu, he lived quietly with his wife Teruhime inside Fukuoka Castle once his living quarters, the Otakayashiki, were built. Kanbei died at the age of 59 in Kyoto, and is enshrined at Ryokoin(in Kyoto) and Sofukuji(in Fukuoka).
写真:福岡市博物館所蔵