About Kuroda Kiyotaka
Count Kuroda Kiyotaka was a Japanese politician and general who served as 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 unequal treaties imposed on Japan, Kuroda also served as Minister of Communications and President of the Privy Council. 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. Returning to Satsuma, Kuroda became an active member of the Satsuma-Chōshū joint effort to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. 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. Shortly before he left office in Hokkaidō, Kuroda became the central figure in the Hokkaidō Colonization Office Scandal of 1881.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.