Background
Kōzui Ōtani was born on 27 December 1876 in Kyoto. He was a son of the twenty-first hossu Otani Koson. His childhood name was Takamaro.
大谷 光瑞
Kōzui Ōtani was born on 27 December 1876 in Kyoto. He was a son of the twenty-first hossu Otani Koson. His childhood name was Takamaro.
He entered the clergy in 1885 and studied at the Peers’ School and elsewhere.
He went to China in 1899, and after a brief return to Japan, set out once more at the end of the year, traveling to Europe by way of India. In 1902 he left London and, after traveling through Russia, embarked upon an exploration trip of Central Asia, eventually making his way to India.
In 1903, with the death of his father, Koson, he became twenty- second hossu. He went to Europe for a second visit in 1909-10.
He three times sent parties of explorers to Central Asia to carry out surveys of the area. Because of involvement in a financial scandal in 1914, he resigned his position as hossu. He turned his attention to business activities overseas and became an advocate of Japanese expansion in Asia, cooperating with the government to carry out such expansion.
In 1910 he lost his wife, Kazuko, third daughter of Duke Kujo Michitaka and elder sister of the consort of the Emperor Taisho; he remained single for the rest of his life, devoting his energies to the training of young people.
