Brian Andre Victoria (born 1939) is an American educator,

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

, writer and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

priest in the Sōtō Zen sect. He has published numerous works on the relationship of religion to violence, with a focus on the relationship between Buddhism and

Japanese militarism refers to the ideology in the Empire of Japan which advocates the belief that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and the belief that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation. Histo ...

around World War II.

Education

Victoria is a native of Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated in 1961 from

Nebraska Wesleyan University Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a private Methodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it has approximately 2,100 students including 1,500 full-time students and 300 ...

in Lincoln, Nebraska. He trained at the Sōtō Zen monastery of

Eihei-ji 250px is one of two main temples of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, the largest single religious denomination in Japan (by number of temples in a single legal entity). Eihei-ji is located about east of Fukui in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. In ...

and holds a M.A. in Buddhist Studies from the Sōtō Zen–affiliated

Komazawa University , abbreviated as 駒大 ''Komadai'', is one of the oldest universities in Japan. Its history starts in 1592, when a seminary was established to be a center of learning for the young monks of the Sōtō sect, one of the two main Zen Buddhist tr ...

in Tokyo. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Religious Studies at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

Vietnam era

Victoria was a war protester during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Affiliation

Victoria has taught Japanese language and culture at the

University of Nebraska at Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

, and

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineerin ...

in the United States and lectured in the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. He was a Senior Lecturer in the Centre in Asian Studies at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

. He has also been

Yehan Numata was a Japanese industrialist and Buddhist missionary. Early life Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Numata was the third son of a priest of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism. He studied at Kyoto Heian Junior High School (today Heian High School) and ...

Distinguished Visiting Professor, Buddhist Studies at the

University of Hawaii-Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

. From 2005 to 2013, he was a professor of Japanese Studies and director of the Antioch Education Abroad “Japan and Its Buddhist Traditions Program” at Antioch University in Yellow Springs, OH. Since 2013, he a Fellow at Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies at the University of Oxford and a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto.

Zen at War

First published in 1997, ''Zen at War'' is based on the work of Japanese scholars and Victoria's own studies of original Japanese documents. It describes the influence of state policy on Japanese Buddhism before and during WWII and conversely the influence of Zen philosophy on the Japanese military. The book has been hailed as a major contribution to a previously unexamined aspect of Japanese religious history, and criticized for imposing anachronistic values when evaluating the words and deeds of the time.

Criticisms

There are a number of criticisms directed at Victoria's methodology in critiquing a number of individuals. Most prominently in ''Zen at War'', but also in subsequent articles. The criticisms have focused on Victoria's portrayals of

D. T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

, Kōdō Sawaki, and

Tsunesaburō Makiguchi Tsunesaburō Makiguchi (牧口常三郎, ''Makiguchi Tsunesaburō''; 23 July 1871 (lunar calendar date 6 June) – 18 November 1944) was a Japanese educator who founded and became the first president of the Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai (Value-Creating ...

. Henry Schliff of the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, in reviewing the essay compilation ''Buddhist Warfare'', cites the methodology of Victoria's essay, “A Buddhological Critique of 'Soldier-Zen' in Wartime Japan", as the one major flaw in the book:

Works

Books

* *(With Yuho Yokoi) * * * Zen Terror in Prewar Japan: Portrait of an Assassin. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2020. ISBN 978-1538131664.

Articles

*"When God(s) and Buddhas Go to War." In ''War and State Terrorism: The United States, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century''. Edited by Mark Selden and Alvin Y. So. 2003. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 91–118. *(With Muneo Narusawa
"'War is a Crime': Takenaka Shōgen and Buddhist Resistance in the Asia-Pacific War and Today"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 12, Issue 37, No. 4, September 15, 2014.
"Sōka Gakkai Founder, Makiguchi Tsunesaburō, A Man of Peace?"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 12, Issue 37, No. 3, September 15, 2014.
"Zen Masters on the Battlefield (Part II)"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 11, Issue 27, No. 4, July 7, 2014.
"Zen Masters on the Battlefield (Part I)"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 11, Issue 24, No. 3, June 16, 2014.
"A Zen Nazi in Wartime Japan: Count Dürckheim and his Sources—D.T. Suzuki, Yasutani Haku’un and Eugen Herrigel"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 12, Issue 3, No. 2, January 20, 2014.
"D.T. Suzuki, Zen and the Nazis"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 11, Issue 43, No. 4, October 28, 2013.
"Zen as a Cult of Death in the Wartime Writings of D.T. Suzuki"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', Vol. 11, Issue 30, No. 4, August 5, 2013.
"Buddhism and Disasters: From World War II to Fukushima"
(). ''The Asia-Pacific Journal", n.d.
"Karma, War and Inequality in Twentieth Century Japan"
''The Asia-Pacific Journal'', n.d.

Notes

External links

Brian Victoria
– List of articles at The Asia-Pacific Journal

- List of articles at the zensite {{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria, Brian Zen Buddhism writers American Buddhists American Zen Buddhists Soto Zen Buddhists Zen Buddhist priests Temple University alumni Komazawa University alumni Nebraska Wesleyan University alumni Living people 1939 births Writers from Omaha, Nebraska Buddhism in Nebraska