Rev. Dr. Nathan Jishin Michon
JSPS Visiting Scholar (Buddhist Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care), Ryukoku University
Rev. Dr. Nathan Jishin Michon is a Shingon Buddhist priest, interfaith minister, chaplain, and scholar. Jishin completed their PhD in religious studies at Graduate Theological Union and MDiv in Buddhist chaplaincy at University of the West. During the pandemic, Jishin worked with hospice and memory care residents of a nursing home. Jishin specializes in crisis and disaster care and completed Fulbright research in Japan, examining the development of Buddhist chaplaincy there since the tsunami of 2011. During Jishin’s years in Japan, they cared for tsunami survivors while also traveling the country interviewing leaders of Buddhist chaplaincy programs and observing their different chaplain training courses. Among other works, Jishin is the editor of A Thousand Hands: A Guidebook to Caring for Buddhists in your Community, co-author of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Religion entry on “Buddhist Chaplaincy,” and editor of the forthcoming Refuge in the Storm: Buddhist Voices in Crisis Care. On the side, they are co-director of interfaith ministry education for Unity and Diversity World Council. Jishin has lived in seven countries and previously trained extensively in Zen Buddhism and the Thai Forest Tradition before ordaining within the Shingon tradition.
Chaplains connect at our Private Facebook Page!