Masao Abe (1915-2006) was a disciple of both Hisamatsu Shin’ichi and Nishitani Keiji, and maintained a close contact with D. T. Suzuki during the last ten years of Suzuki’s life.

After studying law, philosophy, and comparative religion at Japanese universities, Abe attended Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary on a Rockefeller Research Fellowship. He was lecturer at Otani University, Kyoto University, and Hanazono Zen College and a full professor of philosophy at Nara University of Education. He has held numerous visiting professorships, among others at Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Carleton College, Claremont Graduate School, Princeton University, etc., and was appointed full professor at Claremont College. He has lectured with exceptional frequency in Japan and the United States, including such important lectureships as the Berry Lecture at the University of Hawaii and the Stewart Lecture in World Religion at Princeton University.

The Japan Foundation sponsored his study trips to England, the European continent, India, etc., where he also presented noted papers at innumerable conferences and symposia. Professor Abe is a prolific writer whose essays appear frequently in such learned journals as The Eastern Buddhist, Japanese Religions, Japan Studies, Indian Philosophy and Culture, Young Buddhist, International Philosophical Quarterly, Religious Studies, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Theologische Zeitschrift, etc., and he contributed chapters to many books as well as articles in Japanese.

Masao Abe has also translated classics like Dogen and works by Nishida and Hisamatsu into English. His essay “God, Emptiness, and the True Self” The Buddha Eye.

His professorship at Claremont College may well be seen as a first bridgehead of the Kyoto School on the American continent.