Kusaka Genzui

Kusaka Genzui
Native name	久坂 玄瑞
Born	Kusaka Hidezaburō 1840 Hagi, Nagato Province
Died	20 August 1864 Kyoto
Nationality	Japanese

Kusaka Genzui (久坂 玄瑞, 1840 – 20 August 1864) was a samurai of the Japanese domain of Chōshū who was active during the Bakumatsu period and a key proponent of the sonnō jōi movement. Troops from Satsuma Domain killed Genzui during a battle outside the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

Kusaka Genzui was born with the given name Hidezaburō in 1840 in Hagi, a town in Nagato Province in Chōshū Domain. He was the third son of the physician Kusaka Ryōteki and Tomiko; their eldest son was named Genki, and their second died while still young. The family belonged to a 7th-rank samurai family, but received a stipend of only 25 koku of rice.

From a young age Genzui learned the Four Books by rote at a private juku that Takasugi Shinsaku also attended. He then attended the domain's Kōseikan medical school. At fourteen his mother died, and the following year so did his brother Genki and then mere days later his father as well. As the sole surviving member of his family Genzui became the head of the family and the family's medical practice; he thus shaved his head and took the name Genzui. At 17 his academic achievements won Genzui a dormitory placement at the Kōseikan at the domain's expense.

In 1856 Nakamura Michitarō recommended Genzui study in Kyushu. He travelled around Kyushu visiting sights and well-known literary figures, and wrote poetry that later appeared in a collected volume. While visiting Kumamoto, the samurai Miyabe Teizō () strongly encouraged Genzui to study under Yoshida Shōin, as had a friend of his brother's for some time. Upon returning to Hagi he wrote Shōin, and with the help of a friend of Shōin's, Tsuchiya Shōkai, applied to study with the master.

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