Zen -Japanese spirituality-

Sōgen Yamakawa was born on November 25, 1949 in the city of Higashi Kurume in Tokyo. His dōgō (name taken upon entering the Buddhist priesthood) is Sōkyū, his imina (formal priest`s name) is Sōgen, and his shitsugō (chamber name bestowed by one’s master after completion of training) is Muinken.
He graduated from the Department of Physics at Saitama University in 1974. That same year he received ordination under Zen Master Keizan Shirōzu at Heirin-ji Temple in Saitama Prefecture, and began his formal training as a monk at the training monastery Shōgen-ji in the town of Ibuka in Gifu Prefecture.
At Shōgen-ji monastery, he trained under the Zen Masters Itsugai Kajiura and Kōgetsu Tani. After over ten years of training, he received Dharma Transmission from Zen Master Kōgetsu Tani. In 1987, he was installed as the abbot of Kōkoku-ji Temple in Wakayama Prefecture. In 1994, he succeeded Zen Master Kōgetsu Tani as the abbot of Shogen-ji Temple, and the president of Shogen Junior College. And in 2003, he assumed a concurrent position as abbot of Seidaij-i Temple in Fukui Prefecture.
He also partakes in teaching Zen outside of Japan and has lead intensive Zen retreats in Taiwan, Switzerland, and the U.S.. In the Spring of 2024, he was installed as the 36th head abbot of Myōshin-ji, the headquarters of Rinzai Zen in Japan.

昭和二十四年十一月二十五日生。
東京都東久留米市出身。道号は宗休、諱は宗玄、室号は霧隱軒。
昭和四十九年埼玉大学理工学部物理学科卒業。同年、埼玉県野火止、平林寺の白水敬山老大師につき得度。そして岐阜県美濃加茂市伊深の正眼寺専門道場に掛搭。梶浦逸外、谷耕月、両老大師に参じ、のち耕月老大師に嗣法する。昭和六十二年十二月和歌山県由良の興国寺住職に就任。平成六年十二月、正眼寺住職及び同寺専門道場師家、正眼短期大学学長に就任。平成十二年十月二十九日、大本山妙心寺に於いて歴住開堂を挙行、妙心寺第六百九十八世となる。平成十五年二月には福井県勝山、清大寺兼務住職に就任。禅の指導で台湾、スイス、中国、米国を巡錫する。令和六年四月一日、妙心寺に入山。同年五月二十六日、晋山式を挙行し妙心寺第三十六代管長に就任す。