Michael Kinski - Biography#

Michael Kinski, b. 1962 in Essen, Germany, enrolled in the Faculty for East Asian Studies of Bochum University after completing military service in 1981, majoring in Japanese History and History of Thought. He graduated in 1987 with an M.A. thesis on Katayama Kenzan, which was later expanded into his Doctoral Dissertation. After training and research stays in Japan at the Universities of Nagoya and at Tokyo University as well as Ritsumeikan University, he got his PhD in Japanese Studies from Tuebingen University in 1991.

From 1991 to 1998, he was the Director of Tuebingen University's Center for Japanese Language at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. Between 1998 and 2009, held various positions as Senior Researcher, Academic Instructor, and Lecturer in the Dept. for Japanese Language and Culture of Humboldt University, Berlin. Since 2009, he is University Professor for the History of Japanese Thought and Culture at Frankfurt University and has acted as Vice Dean (Curricular Affairs) at Frankfurt University's Faculty for Languages and Cultural Studies (2011-12). Since 2013, he is Acting Director of the Institute for East Asian Philologies at Frankfurt University.