Nakagawa Soen was born on March 19, 1907 in Keelung, Taiwan. He was the eldest of three boys: Matoi, Tamotsu and Sonow. His father, Suketaro Nakagawa, was an army medical officer and his mother's name was Kazuko. In 1917, at age 12, Nakagawa's father died, leaving his mother Kazuko a young widow. Soen's younger brother, Tamotsu, died soon after in his early childhood. His mother was forced to work to make ends meet and educate her young children herself.
In 1923, Soen entered high school and became a boarder at the First Academy in Tokyo. In 1927, Soen entered Tokyo Imperial University, where Soen stayed in a dorm at the Pure Land temple Gangyo-ji. He majored in Japanese Literature, and it was here that he continued writing his poetry.
Nakagawa was ordained an unsui in 1931 by Katsube Keigaku roshi of Kogaku-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple. Much of his time was spent in personal retreat on Daibosatsu Mountain, located in Yamanashi Prefecture. Soon, some of his poetry started getting published in a Japanese magazine called Fujin Koron.
It was around this time that he met Ryutaku-ji’s abbot, Gempo Yamamoto. Soen continued having his poems published in other publications and soon after became a formal student of Gempo Yamamoto roshi. This was followed by an apparent two-year retreat spent on Daibosatsu Mountain, which was followed by his return to Ryutaku-ji to resume formal Zen studies. In 1950 he took over abbotship of Ryutaku-ji.
Nyogen Senzaki roshi, over the years of their friendship, would sometimes mention that Nakagawa should come to the United States and teach. Nakagawa had planned to make his first visit in 1941, a visit which never happened due to complications arising out of World War II.
So it was that it wasn’t until 1949 that Nakagawa made his first trip to the United States, greeted by Senzaki roshi, who arranged for him to give a talk at the Los Angeles Theosophical Society. In 1950 Soen Nakagawa returned to Ryutaku-ji in Japan and, not long after, a young Robert Aitken arrived there (upon the suggestion of Senzaki roshi) to begin studying under him. Philip Kapleau, the independent Zen teacher, arrived in the next year to also train with him. In all he made thirteen trips to the United States in his lifetime, leading intensive meditation retreats and spending time with students.
In 1950, Gempo Yamamoto roshi decided it was time for him to retire as abbot of Ryutaku-ji, and he wanted to appoint Soen as head abbot. Soen was hesitant and anxious about the proposition of becoming abbot. He fled the monastery briefly after assuming the position, leaving Gempo with no other choice but to resume the position temporarily. In 1951, Nakagawa returned and resumed his position as abbot at Ryutaku-ji. Soen was a non-traditional abbot, deciding to not distinguish himself from his students. He wore the robe of a monk, he bathed and ate in their quarters. Over the next few years Soen set out to visit other masters stating that, since he had only finished 500 koans of Hakuin's 1700 curriculum, he needed more training. In 1955, Soen made his second trip to the United States and Nyogen Senzaki came to Ryutaku-ji to visit with Soen for 6 weeks. In 1963, Nakagawa traveled to the U.S.A., India, Israel, Egypt, England, Austria and Denmark with Charles Gooding, a former student of Nyogen Senzaki, teaching Zen with various sanghas. In 1981, Nakagawa published "Koun-sho", and in 1982 Nakagawa made his last visit to the US. Upon returning to Ryotaku-ji, Nakagawa became a recluse. In 1984, on March 11, while approaching his 77th birthday, Nakagawa died while taking a bath at Ryutaku-ji.
Soen was viewed as an unorthodox.
Soen Nakagawa was describer as a man of many faces, world traveler, a spiritually realized being of the highest order, a poetic genius, a creator of dynamic calligraphy — and a notorious eccentric teacher who was known to conduct "tea ceremonies" using instant coffee and Styrofoam cups.
