It was in 1926 that Nishida Kitarō (1870-1945) formulated the logic of ‘basho’ (place) and published an essay on it. The theme of the 2021 5th Conference of the International Association for Japanese Philosophy (IAJP) will be on Nishida philosophy after 95 years of its birth.

Nishida philosophy as a logic of ‘basho’ developed from previous stages of his thinking centered around the concepts of ‘pure experience’ (junsui keiken) and ‘self-awakening’ (jikaku). With the establishment of this logical structure, Nishida developed the logic of ‘basho’ further as a logic of human society and the historical world. We find, with this thematic deepening of Nishida Philosophy, one after another, issues to be probed, such as ‘the relationality of self and other’, ‘life’, ‘body and action’, ‘technology’, ‘art’, ‘human being,’ ‘religion’, etc.

Currently at this moment, the world is being visited by a pandemic and our daily life is no longer as it was. We are thus pressed to revolutionize our view of the world or, to put it differently, we are urged to reconsider the relationship of our social distance with family, friends, colleagues, and others with whom we live, work, and create. Moreover, we are also necessitated to find ways to live symbiotically not only with human beings, but with “non-humans,” organic and inorganic, including viruses. 95 years after the birth of Nishida philosophy, do we have the need now to reconsider the concept of ‘basho’? Do we have the need now to seriously investigate and possibly incorporate the significance of the biologically “non-human” even if this topic was rather thin in Nishida’s own philosophy?

The organizers of the 5th Conference of the IAJP would like to invite you to think together with us about “‘basho’ as symbiosis of non-human and human” before and after the pandemic at Nanzen-ji temple in Kyoto.

Ven. Tanaka Kanjū (Head Priest of Rinzai Sect Nanzen-ji School, Chief Priest of Koun-ji) was born on January 9, 1948 in Osaka city as the eldest of three brothers. One of the brothers, Tanaka Hoju, is the previous Shike (certified Zen master) of Shokoku-ji Sodo. Kanju completed the doctoral program at the Faculty of Letters at Kyoto University in 1976 where he majored in philosophy and studied Kant, Hegel, and Heidegger under Prof. Tsujimura Koichi. He contributed an essay titled "Zen–der den Osten einende große Weg" to the Commemorative Issue on the Retirement of Prof. Johannes Laube from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. In the spring of 1976, he formally enters Myoshin-ji Sodo. After further training at Kencho-ji Sodo/Kennin-ji Sodo, he regularly visits to train with Shishian Rotaishi of Shokoku-ji Sodo and receives Shiho (dharma transmission). In 2006, he was appointed as the Chief Priest of the Koun-ji, a sub-temple of Nanzen-ji. On April 1, 2020, he becomes the Head Priest of Nanzen-ji School.

Selected essays:

Zen–der den Osten einende große Weg

東洋一貫の大道としての禅

高峰原妙禅師の公案工夫覚書

澤水法語

修行遍歴

Dr. Yamagiwa Juichi was the 26th President of Kyoto University. He is a world-renowned researcher and expert in the study of primatology and human evolution. He was awarded Doctor of Science from Kyoto University in 1987. After holding positions at the Karisoke Research Center, Japan Monkey Center, and Primate Research Institute Kyoto University, he has been Professor of Graduate School of Science at Kyoto University since 2002. He was Dean of Graduate School and Faculty of Science from 2011 to 2013 and has been a member of the Administrative Council of the University from 2012 to 2013. Dr. Yamagiwa served also as President of International Primatological Society from 2008 to 2012, and as the Editor in Chief of Primates, a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal of primatology published by Springer Science+Business Media from 2010 to 2014. In Japan, he served as the president of the Japan Association of National Universities, the member of Science Council of Japan, and the member of Environmental Policy Committee of Ministry of Environment.