Born in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture in 1880 (Meiji 13), Magosaburo Ohara inherited his family’s property in 1904 (Meiji 37) and became a leading figure in Kansai business circles, serving as president of the Chugoku Bank, Kurashiki Silk Textile Co. He also invested his private fortune in establishing the Ohara Institute of Social Problems, the Ohara Institute of Labor Science, and the Ohara Institute of Agricultural Research, where he had many scholars engaged in research, all of which made significant contributions to the world of business. He also collected Western masterpieces and contributed to the development of anti-aristocratic ceramics through his involvement in Japanese archaeology and the Japanese folk art movement. The Kurashiki Archaeology Museum, Kurashiki Folk Crafts Museum, and Pottery Museum were also built in recent years.
