Vincent Breugem - Curriculum Vitae

Research

Vincent Breugems research primarily focuses on Japanese Buddhism in the medieval period. His interests include Chan/Zen, Esoteric Buddhism, ritual, monasticism, icons and relics. Currently he is exploring connections between Buddhist teachings, institutions and outcast groups in ancient and medieval Japan.

 

Curriculum Vitae

Vincent Breugem obtained an MA in Japanese Studies from Leiden University in 1996. Subsequently he spent a year in Hikawa, a small rural town on the Japan Sea coast. After a brief stint in the Netherlands he returned to Japan in 1998, became a Zen monk, and for two years entered monastic life. Awarded a two-year scholarship by
the Japanese Ministry of Education (Monbusho) in 2001, he moved to Kyoto and spent two years doing research at Kyoto University (Department of Japanese History) and Hanazono University (International Research Institute for Zen Studies). Between 2004 and 2009 he enjoyed a fully funded PhD research position at Leiden University
(Research School for Asian, African and Amerindian Studies). In the spring of 2012, after a considerable period of staring into the abyss while Chuck Norris was staring back at him, Breugem defended his PhD thesis From Prominence to Obscurity. A Study of the Darumashū: Japan's First Zen School. Currently he is a Research
Fellow at the Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) at Leiden University.