Daizen Victoria

Brian Daizen Victoria is a native of Omaha, Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. He holds a M.A. in Buddhist Studies from Sōtō Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, and a Ph.D. from the Department of Religious Studies at Temple University.

In reverse chronological order, Brian’s major writings include "Zen Terror in Prewar Japan: Portrait of an Assassin" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020), a 2nd, enlarged edition of "Zen At War" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006); "Zen War Stories" (RoutledgeCurzon, 2003); an autobiographical work in Japanese entitled "Gaijin de ari, Zen bozu de ari" (As a Foreigner, As a Zen Priest), published by San-ichi Shobo in 1971; "Zen Master Dōgen", coauthored with Prof. Yokoi Yūhō of Aichi-gakuin University (Weatherhill, 1976); and a translation of "The Zen Life" by Sato Koji (Weatherhill, 1972). In addition, Brian has published numerous journal articles, focusing on the historical relationship of not only Buddhism but religion in general to violence and warfare.

Many of Brian’s articles are available at the website of "The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus" here:

http://apjjf.org/site/search/level/2/author/Brian%20Victoria

Additional articles may be found on "The Zen Site" here:

http://www.thezensite.com/MainPages/critical_zen.html

Among other universities, Brian has taught Japanese Studies at Bucknell University in the US; University of Auckland in New Zealand and the University of Adelaide in South Australia. From 2005 to 2013 Brian was a professor of Japanese Studies and director of the AEA “Japan and Its Buddhist Traditions Program” at Antioch University in Yellow Springs, OH. From 2013-2015 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, Japan. Brian currently lives in Kyoto, Japan where he continues his research as a non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. He is a citizen of Australia, New Zealand and the United States. He is also a fully ordained Buddhist priest in the Sōtō Zen sect.