Paul L. Swanson
Senior Research Fellow, Nanzan Institute for Religion & Culture
Professor Emeritus, Nanzan University
Paul is an MK (“missionary kid”) who was born and raised in Japan. He has four children and one wife, is a Bob Dylan freak, and was the Editor of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies for 33 years. He did his graduate studies at Sophia University, the University of Tokyo, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His dual areas of specialization are Japanese Religions (Shugendo) and Buddhist Studies (T’ien-t’ai/Tendai Buddhism). He is officially retired from Nanzan University as of 1 April 2020 and is currently the holder of the “Roche Chair for Interreligious Research” at the Nanzan Institute, where he is working on further translations of Tiantai texts.