Kirihara Taizou

Kirihara Taizou is the founder of Kirihara Industries (桐原産業 Kirihara Sangyou) and leader of the Kyouto House. He is an elderly industrialist who built his wealth upon the mining of sakuradite. During the Kururugi administration, he used his considerable influence to support the government as a behind-the-scenes administrator and was even powerful enough to withhold the news of Genbu Kururugi's death for a time from the nation. Kirihara also assigned Toudou to be Suzaku's sensei when Suzaku was young. He was regarded as a traitor to the Japanese people following the Britannian invasion for his public role as an accomplice to imperial colonization. Secretly, however, he manages resistance movements against the colonial government. He came to know both Lelouch and Nunnally while they were living at the Kururugi Shrine.

Spoiler

When Lelouch reveals his identity to Kirihara, he grants the Black Knights vital funding and weapons. After the Black Rebellion, he is executed for supporting the Black Knights.