Nishida Kitaro (西田 幾多郎, Nishida Kitarō') (1870 – 1945) was a
prominent Japanese philosopher of the Meiji era. Nishida Kitaro
engaged in an effort to translate Eastern philosophy, especially
Zen Buddhism, into Western philosophical concepts. He worked in
an environment of contradiction between traditional Japanese
culture and the influx of Western materialism, industrialism,
philosophy and Christianity, and a difficult personal life. For
the first time in modern Japanese philosophical history, Nishida
successfully formulated a highly original and distinctive
philosophy which had a significant influence on many
intellectuals of the modern period. Nishida founded what has
been called the Kyoto School of philosophy. The Kyoto School has
produced many unique philosophers, including Tanabe Hajime and
Nishitani Keiji. Nishida, like his close friend D.T. Suzuki,
developed a unique system of thought by assimilating Western
philosophy into the traditions of Far Eastern thought, and in
particular of Zen Buddhism. Nishid