Yamada Koun

Yamada Koun
Religion	Zen Buddhism
School	Sanbo Kyodan
Personal
Born	1907 Nihonmatsu, Japan
Died	1989 Kamakura, Japan
Partner	Yamada Kazue Myo-en
Children	Masamichi Ryoun-ken Yamada
Senior posting
Title	Roshi
Predecessor	Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko
Religious career
Teacher	Asahina Sōgen Hanamoto Kanzui Harada Daiun Sogaku Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko

Yamada Koun Zenshin (山田 耕雲, Yamada Kōun^?, 1907—1989), or Koun Yamada, was the former leader of the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen Buddhism, the Dharma heir of his teacher Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko. Yamada was appointed the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1967, 1970 or 1973 and continued to differentiate the lineage from other Japanese Zen traditions by deemphasizing the separation between laypeople and the ordained—just as his teacher Yasutani had done. Yamada was also instrumental in bringing Christians to the practice of Zen that “by the end of Yamada’s teaching career approximately one quarter of the participants at his sesshins were Christians”.

Yamada Koun was born in Nihonmatsu in Fukushima prefecture of Japan in 1907. He attended school with Soen Nakagawa at Dai-Ichi High School located in Tokyo, Japan, and also went to university with him. In 1941 Yamada began working for the Manchurian Mining Company as a labor supervisor—a company known for poor working conditions and exploiting its slave labor forces composed of Chinese peasants, POWs and criminals. By 1945 he had become deputy director of the General Affairs Department for the company.

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