Born in 695 into the Kibi clan, a powerful lineage in western Honshu during an era of rapid state centralization. The Yamato court was adopting ritsuryo codes modeled on Tang China, creating new paths for learned officials.

As a youth, he lived through the court's move to Heijo-kyo (Nara) in 710, a city planned on Chinese models. The new capital expanded bureaucratic offices and schools, increasing demand for classical learning and capable scribes.

In 717 he departed with a Japanese embassy (Kentoshi) bound for Tang China, a hazardous voyage across the East China Sea. Such missions sought law, ritual, calendars, and administrative expertise from the Tang court's cosmopolitan center.

After landing on the Chinese coast, he traveled inland through Tang administrative hubs toward the imperial center. The journey exposed him to standardized prefectural governance, large-scale taxation systems, and the cultural authority of Tang institutions.

In Chang'an, he pursued rigorous study of Confucian classics, law, and bureaucratic practice associated with Tang officialdom. He learned how examinations, archives, and ministries structured the empire, knowledge later prized by the Nara court.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign, he saw Chang'an at the height of Tang prosperity, with flourishing academies and international envoys. The scale of the capital and its ritual order offered a powerful template for Japan's own imperial ceremonies.

As his long residence neared its end, he organized books, notes, and practical knowledge to carry back to Japan. Networks with Tang scholars and exposure to calendrical and administrative methods strengthened his reputation as an elite mediator.

He returned in 735 after roughly two decades abroad, an unusually long immersion compared with many envoys. Back in Nara, the court valued his firsthand experience of Tang governance, scholarship, and metropolitan culture as strategic capital.

He entered service as a learned official, explaining Tang legal forms, bureaucratic routines, and classical scholarship to Japanese administrators. His expertise complemented the ritsuryo state and helped translate foreign models into workable court practice.

In the 740s, the court faced factional pressure and regional unrest, testing the resilience of Nara institutions under Emperor Shomu. Kibi's value lay in practical counsel and record-keeping discipline, skills vital when politics became volatile.

The 750s saw state Buddhism peak with major projects like Todai-ji and court-sponsored rituals that projected imperial authority. As a senior scholar-official, he operated within this milieu, where learning, ceremony, and governance were tightly linked.

After Emperor Junnin's accession, court politics increasingly involved powerful intermediaries and competing noble houses. Kibi's standing depended on credible expertise and careful alignment with the throne's administrative needs amid shifting patronage.

When Empress Shotoku regained power in 764, the court underwent sharp realignment following the suppression of Fujiwara no Nakamaro. Kibi served in the restored regime, where experienced bureaucrats were needed to stabilize appointments and policy.

In the late 760s he reached senior ministerial rank, reflecting the court's confidence in his judgment and learning. His authority helped connect scholarly expertise with day-to-day state management, from documentation to ceremonial governance.

After Empress Shotoku's death in 770, the succession brought renewed negotiation among court factions and ritual priorities. As an elder statesman, Kibi's experience offered continuity while younger officials competed to shape the next political order.

In his final years, he was remembered for deep knowledge gained abroad and for applying it to Japan's bureaucratic culture. Stories and later legends grew around his brilliance, reflecting how rare long-term Tang expertise seemed at court.

He died in 775, closing a career that connected Japan's ritsuryo state to Tang intellectual and administrative models. His life illustrated how diplomacy, scholarship, and court politics could fuse into enduring influence across generations.