Dr. Clark Chilson is an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh; he specialises in religion in Japan, particularly Buddhism and popular religion. He teaches Religion in Asia, Religion and Culture in East Asia, Japanese Religious Traditions, Popular Religion in a Changing Japan, as well as Buddhism & Psychology.

He lived in Japan for over thirteen years and studied cultural anthropology, doing fieldwork at a Zen temple and among secretive Buddhists. Clark has give presentations on Naikan in Japan, Canada, Denmark, and the United States. He has done week-long intensive Naikan five times at two different Naikan centers in Japan.