Biography
Not much is known about Kōwa's personal life. His birthplace has been indicated as either Fujioka in Gunma prefecture, or Edo, and his birth date ranging anywhere from 1635 to 1643.
He was born to the Uchiyama clan, a subject of Ko-shu han, and later adopted into the Seki family, a subject of the Shogun. While in Ko-shu han, he was involved in a surveying project to produce a reliable map of his employer's land. He spent many years in studying 13th century Chinese calendars to replace the less accurate one used in Japan at that time.
Read more about this topic: Seki Takakazu
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