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Kōbun Otogawa (乙川 弘文, Otogawa Kōbun) (February 1, 1938 – July 26, 2002) was an American Sōtō Zen priest.
Kobun Chino Otogawa, Chief Priest of Jikoji, came to America in 1967 from Eiheiji Monastery in Japan. After serving as the resident teacher at Tassajara Monastery for two years, Kobun Roshi became the Chief Priest of Haiku Zendo in Los Altos, California.
Biography - Kobun Chino Otogawa. Houn Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi – his students and friends simply called him KOBUN – was born on February 1st. 1938 in Kamo, Japan, in his parents’ Zen temple JOKOJI. He was the youngest of six children.
Gratefully remembering
Kobun Chino Otogawa. Remembering a warm-hearted roshi. By Stephan Bodian. Winter 2010. Photograph by Nicolas Schossleitner. By the time I reached graduate school in 1970, I was a born-again Zen Buddhist.
Kobun was re-adopted into the Otokawa lineage and he took that name. Consequently his first two children have the name 'Chino' and the second family has the name 'Otogawa'. In the 1990s Kobun returned to Japan and reconciled with his old master, Chino Roshi.
The traditional art of Japanese archery played an important role in his life. He received his training from Kanjuro Shibata XX in Kyoto (Heki Ryu Bishu Chiku Rin Ha) already at an early age. He had a close friendship with Shibata Sensei. Throughout his life he practiced with varying intensity.
