Seiji Kumagai

Professor

Specialty field:Buddhist Studies; Tibetan and Bhutanese Studies

Seiji Kumagai studied Buddhist philosophy and received his Ph.D. in 2009 from Kyoto University. In 2011, he became an assistant professor at Hakubi Center for Advanced Research of Kyoto University. In 2013, he became Uehiro Associate Professor at Kokoro Research Center of Kyoto University. Since 2017, he has been a divisional director at Kokoro Research Center. Since 2023, he has been Professor of Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society (IFOHS) from then until present. Since 2025, he has been a vice director of IFoHS. He has been also invited by many universities as a guest professor/researcher such as Numata Visiting Professor (at University of Vienna in 2018). His field of research is Buddhist Madhyamaka philosophy in India, Tibet and Bhutan, and also that of Bon religion. He has also studied history of Tibetan and Bhutanese Buddhism. He published books such as The Two Truths in Bon (Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2011), Bhutanese Buddhism and Its Culture (Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2014), and Buddhism, Culture and Society in Bhutan (Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2018), and also many academic articles on the philosophy of Indo-Himalayan Buddhism and Bon religion. He has developed “traditional wisdom technology” by integrating traditional wisdom and cutting-edge technology such as AI and XR, thus created products and concepts such as BuddhaBot and Tera-verse. As a program director (PD) of Moonshot Project of Japan’s Cabinet Office (Moonshot Goal 9), he has developed “kokoro-tech” (technology related to mind and spirit) to detect and improve mental status by integrating biology, neuro-science, social science and humanities.

Biography

2004
B.A. (Kyoto University, Faculty of Letters, Buddhology)
2006
M.A. (Kyoto University, Graduate School of Letters, Buddhology)
2009
Ph.D. (Kyoto University, Graduate School of Letters, Buddhology)
2009
JSPS (Japan Society for Promotion of Science) Post-doctoral Research Fellow (at the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University) -2011
2011
Assistant Professor, Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University (–2012)
2012
Program-Specific Associate Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University (–2013)
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Human Development and Education, Kyoto Women’s University (-2013)
2013
Uehiro Associate Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University (–2020)
2017
Divisional Director (Uehiro Research Division), Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University (currently Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society)
2018
Numata Professor, Department of Buddhology and Tibetology, University of Vienna (–2018)
2020
Associate Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University (–2022)
2022
Associate Professor, Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society (–2023)
2023
Professor, Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society
2025
Vice Director, Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society

Books/Papers