Karel van Wolferen

Karel van Wolferen (* 1941 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch journalist, writer and university teacher.

After leaving school van Wolferen left the Netherlands in 1960, toured the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia and began his journalistic activities. Since 1962 he worked as an English teacher in Japan, among others at Waseda University. He was East Asia correspondent for the NRC Handelsblad in 1972 and wrote about political and social developments in Japan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and South Korea. In 1987, van Wolferen the Prijs voor de Dagbladjournalistiek, a Dutch journalist award. Under the title The Enigma of Japanese Power ( dt: The Myth of the Invincible: Notes to world power Japan) was published in 1989 his extensive work on politics and society of Japan.

1997 van Wolferen univeristeitshoogleraar was appointed to the position of one of the Institute of Comparative Political and Economic Institutions of the University of Amsterdam, which he now heads.