Tomonobu Imamichi

was a Japanese philosopher who studied Chinese philosophy.

Life Imamichi taught in Europe (Paris and Germany) as well as in Japan (he was also emeritus professor of the University of Palermo). Beginning in 1979 he was the president of the Centre International pour l'Étude Comparée de Philosophie et d'Esthétique and after 1997 of the International Institute of Philosophy. In 1976 he founded the journal Aesthetics.

He translated Aristotle's Poetics into Japanese (in 1972) and has written numerous books in Japanese. Imamichi was a supporter of communication between cultures. He characterizes Western philosophy as an attempt to achieve a God's eye view (das in-dem-Gott-sein; to be in the being of God) and Eastern philosophy as an attempt to be in the world (das in-der-Welt-sein). Imamichi sees in both stances two incomplete and complementary humanisms, and observes that since the publication of The Book of Tea, some Western philosophers have adopted a more Eastern stance while other Eastern philosophers have attempted to reach the Absolute or the Eternal.

Tomonobu Imamichi was the father of guitarist and songwriter Tomotaka Imamichi, pianist Nobuko Kawaguchi, biologist Yukiko Imamichi and psychologist Tomoaki Imamichi.