SAMURAI WISDOM: KURODA KANBEI - Time and Tide

In the 16th century, Japan's samurai clans were locked in a bloody struggle for dominance. Alliances formed, fell apart, and reformed in a crucible of military force. But the history of these conflicts, preserved for generations, proves that force alone was not enough to reach the pinnacle of power. This is a command baton, known as a saihai. The saihai was used by generals commanding an army on the battlefield. Because a single sweep of the saihai could decide the outcome of a battle, it became a symbol of strategic wisdom. Wisdom was also essential for any samurai intent on supremacy. The man who once wielded this very baton is also known for having the sharpest intellect of that turbulent era. His name was Kuroda Kanbei. He was the greatest military strategist of his time. Other samurai feared his prowess. With a single command, he repelled an army ten times larger than his own. The power of nature, he toppled a fortress said to be impregnable. Explore the life of a samurai who blazed a trail of wisdom through chaos. Japan, home of the samurai. They were much more than mighty warriors, also possessed of surpassing wisdom. A wisdom they would use to change their world and bring forth a new era of peace. A wisdom bequeathed to the people of modern day Japan. Samurai Wisdom. Himeji, in Hyogo Prefecture. For centuries, the city has been a thriving hub for commerce. It is also home to Himeji Castle, a world heritage site. Kuroda Kanbei was born in this region in 1546. At the time, there were no major castles. The area wasn't even part of a domain. It was a blank spot on the map, surrounded by powerful warrior clans. These clans fought constantly over small pieces of territory. Kanbei was born to a minor samurai family that had aligned itself with one of these clans. It was an unlikely beginning for a man destined to rise to the heights of military fame. The annals compiled by the Kuroda family include a description of Kanbei in his youth. At 17 or 18, he devoted himself to the study of poetry. Aspiring to master the art of Waka. Waka is a form of traditional Japanese poetry. As a studious young man, Kanbei was deeply devoted to literary arts. Such pursuits were rare among young samurai in the 16th century. So says historian Owada Tetsuo. While other men of his generation practiced martial arts, Kanbei immersed himself in books. His thirst for knowledge extended beyond Waka to Chinese texts on military strategy. His wide-ranging intellect would lead him to become an exceptional strategist. His extraordinary abilities revealed themselves when he was 30. In 1575, Kanbei's homeland was drawn into a conflict between two great powers. One from the east, the other from the west. Only Kanbei argued that allegiance with the Oda clan, the power to the east, would be the wisest choice. In 1575, the famous Battle of Nagashino-Shitadagahara took place. The Oda-Nobunaga-Tokugawa-Ieyasu alliance defeated Takeda Katsuyori. Kanbei was aware of this news. The Oda clan deployed a large number of matchlock guns. These new weapons were an advanced technology. With them, they defeated a cavalry force that was supposed to be unbeatable. But how did Kanbei quickly learn the outcome of a faraway battle? The secret was Hiromine Shrine, close to his birthplace. The shrine had had close ties to his family for generations. The history of Hiromine Shrine is very old. I think Kanbei used the information that Hiromine had to his advantage. There were many teachers in Hiromine Shrine. So there was a strong connection between each region. I think Hiromine had a good grasp of the important information of western Japan. The time to choose sides had come. In an audience with Oda-Nobunaga, Kanbei proposed they join forces against their mutual enemy, the Mori. After hearing him out, Nobunaga said, That is exactly what I was thinking. To seal the agreement, he presented Kanbei with one of his favorite swords. That sword is now a national treasure. Nobunaga was impressed by Kanbei's strategic reasoning and made him one of his advisors. Kanbei's move enraged the Mori. Learning that Kanbei had sided with Nobunaga, they launched an amphibious assault against him with 5,000 men. Kanbei's force numbered a mere 500. Faced with a dire situation, Kanbei responded with brilliant ingenuity. Mori left some of their troops aboard the ships, but the majority went into camp on land. Kanbei's surprise dawn attack plunged the enemy into chaos. Kanbei was ready with his next strategy, psychological warfare. Already distributed many of his battle flags to farmers hiding in the hills and fields, during the battle, they raised these flags in unison. Mori mistook this for the arrival of enemy reinforcements and withdrew in a panic. Kanbei's tactics skillfully exploited human weakness. But what truly made his name was the siege of Bichu Takamatsu Castle in 1582. The castle was well defended with 5,000 enemy soldiers manning the battlements. The castle was surrounded by marshland. Attackers slogging through the mire would make easy targets. So Kanbei launched a remarkable strategy to capture the castle. The account is preserved in the Kuroda clan records. His chosen strategy was a water siege. By damning a nearby river, Kanbei flooded a wide area around the enemy castle, turning it into an island. Then as now, the strategy seemed to defy common sense. But Kanbei possessed reliable intelligence that it was feasible. He had learned from local farmers that rivers in the region often flooded in the rainy season. So he put his men and even local farmers to work on a large-scale engineering project, with speed as the key. It's been said Kanbei completed a massive embankment, seven meters high and three kilometers long, in just 19 days. But what really made his name was the siege of Bichu Takamatsu Castle in 1582. With the castle's supply routes cut off, defeat was a matter of time. And so the enemy surrendered. A late blooming warrior from a provincial backwater had risen to become a formidable strategist capable of brilliant victories. In 1590, Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi rewarded Kanbei's loyalty with a domain. But the domain was in a remote part of Kyushu, far from Osaka and Hideyoshi. The reward failed to reflect the value of Kanbei's support. But Kanbei never showed any resentment of this treatment. Behind his remarkable patience was a bitter experience from his younger days. He once tried to reign in a retainer disloyal to his master. But his reward for these efforts was arrest and imprisonment by the very same man. He was released a year later. His confinement is said to have left him physically impaired for the rest of his life. The experience transformed Kanbei into a more resilient and cunning samurai. This was reflected in the castle he built at Nakatsu. Information was Kanbei's lifeline. To ensure timely access to it, he built a castle with access to the sea. The overland journey from the castle to Osaka took 10 days. But ships could reach Osaka in three days. From his domain in far-off Kyushu, Kanbei waited patiently for his moment, like a tiger on the hunt. Then, in 1598, at the age of 53, his chance arrived. Toyotomi Hideyoshi passed away. Once again, the forces of war began to stir. The Toyotomi forces in the west versus the Tokugawa in the east. It was a matter of time before one clan would assert control over the nation. In 1600, the decisive battle for supremacy took place at Sekigahara. 160,000 samurai fought in the largest clash in Japan's feudal history. Based on his intelligence, Kanbei bet on the eastern army. He believed its commander, Tokugawa Ieyasu, would become the next shogun of Japan. So he sent his son to support Ieyasu with a force of 5,000. Yet Kanbei himself stayed in Kyushu and did not take part in the decisive battle. Why did he forego this opportunity for military glory? Kyushu, before Sekigahara, was a complex map of opposing loyalties. The situation was tense, the future hard to predict. But for Kanbei, the chaos was the perfect opportunity to carve out territory for himself. Records show he even secured a promise from Ieyasu that he would be granted any territory he conquered. Unfortunately, most of his soldiers were at Sekigahara. So Kanbei opened his treasury and recruited ronin, masterless samurai from all over his domain, building an army of 9,000 men. He used this force to launch attacks on domains loyal to the western army. Many poorly defended domains fell without resistance. In yet another strategic masterpiece, Kanbei brought most of Kyushu under his control in 50 days. As a reward for Kanbei's support at Sekigahara and in Kyushu, Ieyasu agreed to triple the territory controlled by the Kuroda. The power and prestige of Kanbei's clan rose immensely. Fukuoka became the center of the Kuroda domain after the Battle of Sekigahara. Kanbei moved to Dezaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka and spent many of his later years there. Artifacts linked to his life are carefully preserved at the shrine. This waka poem is said to have been composed by Kanbei. It depicts the tranquil spring scenery he saw in Fukuoka. Kanbei also loved to hold poetry gatherings, but not just for the poetry. Even in his old age, Kanbei was still gathering intelligence. But in 1604, at the age of 59, his gathering ceased upon his death. Yet his spirit seems to have transcended time and continues to live on in Fukuoka. The Shuyu-Kan High School continues Kanbei's intellectual legacy. Its founding dates back 240 years. Kanbei's philosophy is enshrined in the school's guiding principles. Leaders should engage in scholarship to pursue truth, use creativity and ingenuity, and cultivate deep compassion. What is the purpose of learning? It is for the sake of the world and the people. Therefore, the Shuyu-Kan High School's current goal is to open up the future and cultivate talent. That is what I believe in. Dan Takuma modernized the Miike coal mine, doubling its output and laying the foundation for Japan's energy industry. But perhaps the person most influenced by Kanbei was Kaneko Kentaro. Kaneko Kentaro studied in the U.S. and absorbed a lot of knowledge before coming back to Japan. He was the right-hand man of Ito Hirobumi. He traveled in secret to America and made contact with Theodore Roosevelt. He also gave Roosevelt a copy of Bushido, a book on the way of the samurai and their moral code. Kaneko had known Roosevelt since his student days, and he believed that an understanding of the samurai spirit was the key to winning his support. Thanks to Kaneko's farsighted move, Japan won America's backing and signed the treaty with Russia the following year. The man Kaneko most revered as his lifelong mentor was none other than Kuroda Kanbei. He even wrote a biography of Kanbei to share his achievements with the world. In it, he showed his deep admiration by expressing Kanbei's character in a simple phrase. It means unsurpassed wisdom and strategy. Modern city of Fukuoka is a metropolis with a population of 1.6 million. Each July, the city hosts a spirited festival of floats bearing depictions of samurai that wind their way through the streets. In Fukuoka, the spirit of the samurai who blazed a trail of wisdom in a turbulent era lives on.