During his early career, he was overshadowed by the 1996 first-round draft pick, Toshikazu Sawazaki, who was the same age as Kuroda and won the Japanese Rookie of the Year award in 1997.

He also made his first save that year on October 16 against the Chunichi Dragons, and led the league in complete games over a six-year period from 1999 to 2005.

During the off-season, he traveled to the United States to receive cleaning surgery in his right elbow at the suggestion of manager Marty Brown.

Though Kuroda had been most effective during the summer in past years, he struggled to make quality starts during the later half of the season, perhaps due to the surgery he had received during the off-season.

Along with Shinobu Fukuhara, Daisuke Miura, and Shingo Ono, Kuroda was known for receiving very poor run support in Japan.

The Hiroshima Toyo Carp had a staunch policy against free agency because it would lead to higher salaries which the team would not be able to provide due to lack of financial structure.

Numerous teams showed interest in Kuroda, including the Seibu Lions and Hanshin Tigers, who had lost their key starters Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kei Igawa to the posting system.

The well-financed Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks aggressively pursued Kuroda, while the Chunichi Dragons and Yomiuri Giants, who had been in pursuit of free agent Michihiro Ogasawara, were also thought to have interest.

Despite the team's anti-free agent policy, the Carp was facing serious problems with its weak pitching staff, which had kept them in the bottom half of the standings since 1997.

On October 15, 2006, the team offered a 4-year, 1 billion yen deal with post-retirement benefits, showing that they were absolutely intent on retaining Kuroda.

However, this was a major step-up for the Carp management considering that only two other players on the team (Tomonori Maeda and Tomoaki Kanemoto) had ever been paid more than 200 million yen per year.

This new contract included a provision that Kuroda would be able to negotiate with major league teams as a free agent at any point during the 4-year deal.

However, Kuroda had repeatedly expressed a desire to win a championship, and there was a high possibility that he would leave for the major leagues if the team continued to play poorly.

The Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Los Angeles Dodgers showed varying degrees of interest in signing Kuroda, and he signed a three-year, $35.3 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 12, 2007.

[3] In his first start for the Dodgers, Kuroda pitched seven innings against the San Diego Padres, holding them to 1 run and getting the first win of his American baseball career.

[5] On September 15, 2008, Kuroda was deprived of the opportunity to become the first Dodgers pitcher since Hideo Nomo to throw 3 complete game shutouts in a single season.

After pitching 7 innings in which he allowed only 3 hits and no walks, Kuroda was taken out of the game, with an 8–0 lead, so that the Dodgers could give Brad Penny and Takashi Saito some live practice.

He gave a remarkable 61⁄3 shutout inning performance, winning the game and helping the Dodgers complete the sweep of the Cubs to advance to the next round National League Championship Series.

On August 15, 2009, while pitching in the bottom of the 6th inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kuroda was hit on the side of his head by a line drive off the bat of Rusty Ryal.

He was named the Game 3 starter in the NLCS against the Phillies even though he had missed the first round of the playoffs with a "bulging disk in his neck".

On August 30, 2010, Kuroda took a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the visiting Phillies; with one out, Shane Victorino broke up the Dodger hurler's "no-no" with a line drive single to right field.

On July 27, 2011, Kuroda lost to the Colorado Rockies 1–3, becoming the first Dodger starting pitcher to have two consecutive seasons of at least 13 losses since Orel Hershiser in 1992 and 1993.

[16] On December 26, 2014, it was reported that Kuroda had decided to return to Japan for the 2015 season and would sign with his old team, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, on a one-year $3.3 million contract.