was a Japanese explorer of Central Asia.

Biography

He made three trips to Central Asia between 1902 and 1910, all financed by

Count Otani Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

. Although he travelled as a priest of the

Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran ( ...

sect, he was suspected by British and Russian Intelligence of being an officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Tachibana was instrumental in delivery of the part of Dunhuang manuscripts to Japan in 1912.Galambos 2012: ''For more details of Tachibana's expeditions, see Expeditions of Count Otani''.

References

* Galambos, Imre (2010).
Japanese ‘spies’ along the Silk Road: British suspicions regarding the second Otani expedition (1908-09)
. ''Japanese religions'', Vol. 35 (1 & 2), pp. 33–61. * Galambos, Imre and Kitsudo Koichi (2012). "Japanese exploration of Central Asia: The Ōtani expeditions and their British connections". ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 75'', pp. 113–134. *

Hopkirk, Peter Peter Stuart Hopkirk (15 December 1930 – 22 August 2014) was a British journalist, author and historian who wrote six books about the British Empire, Russia and Central Asia. Biography Peter Hopkirk was born in Nottingham, the son of Frank St ...

(1980). ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia''. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press. .

Biography

References

See also