Jan Van Bragt

Jan Van Bragt(1928–2007) was a scholar ofJapanesereligionandphilosophyat theNanzan Institute for Religion and CultureinNagoya, Japan,where he served as its first acting director in 1976.

Biography

Born in 1928 in Sint-Antonius-Brecht,Flanders,Belgium,Van Bragt joined theCongregation of the Immaculate Heart of Maryat the age of 18, was ordained a priest in 1952, then earned a master's degree from the Congregation's seminary, where he taught philosophy while doing doctoral research onHegelat theUniversity of Leuven,which awarded him a doctorate in 1961. He left right away for Japan, where he spent 18 months learning the language and another 18 months as an assistant pastor at Sakai Catholic Church nearOsakabefore beginning further academic work at Kyoto University.

He had earlier studied atKyoto University(1965–1971), and later translated into English one of the master works ofKyoto SchoolphilosopherNishitani Keiji,Religion and Nothingness(University of California Press,1983). He was also a key member of the Japan Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, serving as its president from 1989 to 1997.