Biography
Dr Brian Victoria is a native of Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University, United States. He holds an MA in Buddhist Studies from Sōtō Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, and a PhD from the Department of Religious Studies at Temple University, United States.
In addition to a second, enlarged edition of Zen At War (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), Brian's major writings include Zen War Stories (RoutledgeCurzon, 2003); an autobiographical work in Japanese titled 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 Professor Yokoi Yūhō of Aichi Gakuin University (Weatherhill, 1976); and a translation of The Zen Life by Sato Koji (Weatherhill, 1972). In addition, Dr Victoria has published numerous journal articles focusing on the relationship between religion, particularly Buddhism, and violence and warfare.
Dr Victoria was a Professor of Japanese Studies and Director of the AEA Japan and Its Buddhist Traditions Program at Antioch University, United States from 2005 to 2013. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, Japan from 2013 to 2015. His latest book, Zen Terror: The Death of Democracy in Prewar Japan was published by Rowman & Littlefield in February 2020. Dr Victoria is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and a fully ordained Buddhist priest in the Sōtō Zen sect.
Keynote Presentation (2025) | The Shōwa Restoration in 1930s Japan: True National Socialism
Previous Presentations:
Keynote Presentation (2023) | To Whom Do the Senkaku (Ch. Diaoyu) Islands Belong and Why Should We Care?
Keynote Presentation (2022) | The “Zen” of Zen Gardens: Fact or Fiction?
Keynote Presentation (2021) | 'Holy War' as Portrayed in Japanese Films, 1937-45
