Suzuki Daisetsu (1870-1966) was a Buddhist philosopher active from the Meiji to Showa periods. His real name was Teitaro. He was born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. He was a friend of Kitaro Nishida and Sakutaro Fujioka, and was called “Santaro of Kaga.
He moved to Tokyo at the age of 22 and attended Tokyo Senmon Gakko (Tokyo Vocational School) and then Tokyo Imperial University. In 1897, he went to the U.S. on the recommendation of his teacher, Shaku Sōen, and lived with Paul Keras, a religious scholar, to translate Buddhist texts, returning to Japan in 1909. He taught at Tokyo Imperial University and Gakushuin University, and moved to Kyoto in 1921 as a professor at Otani University. He widely introduced Buddhism and Zen thought to the world.
