Born into a samurai family of the Fukuoka domain in Chikuzen (Fukuoka).
He entered the Fukuoka domain's service but later angered the lord and lived for a time as a masterless samurai.
Reinstated, he was sent at the domain's expense to Kyoto, where for about seven years he studied Neo-Confucianism and herbal science.
Back in Fukuoka, he served as domain scholar, lecturing the lord and writing books.
He compiled the Kuroda Kafu, a history of the ruling Kuroda family.
He completed a Chikuzen gazetteer based on his travels, and that same year published Yamato Honzō, a survey of Japan's plants, animals and minerals.
He published Wazoku Dōjikun on raising children. Writing learned matters in plain language, he was widely read.
He wrote Yōjōkun, precepts for a healthy long life—warning against overeating and urging a calm mind—still read today.
He died in his eighties. He is also remembered for the journeys he enjoyed with his wife Tōken.
Yamaga SokoSakai TadakiyoItō JinsaiTokugawa MitsukuniShibukawa HarumiKeichūTokugawa IetsunaIhara Saikaku
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.