Horikiri was born in Fukushima Prefecture. After his graduation from Tokyo Imperial University, he entered the Home Ministry. As Director of the Censorship Department within the Home Ministry from 1917-1918, he ordered that publication of articles in newspapers concerning the Rice Riots of 1918 be banned, as they appears to be inciting violence. From 1925-1926, Horikiri was governor of Kanagawa Prefecture. The following year, he returned to the Home Ministry as Director of the Reconstruction Bureau, which was in charge of urban planning and the rebuilding of Tokyo in the aftermath of the Great Kantō earthquake. In 1929, Horikiri was appointed Mayor of Tokyo City, and at the end of 1930 was Vice Minister of the Ministry of Colonial Affairs.