Shozo Sato, founder of Japan House and professor emeritus, has died at 91, Japan House announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Sato arrived at the University as an artist-in-residence at the Krannert Center in 1969. During his years there, he adapted several plays in the Kabuki style, including “Kabuki Macbeth,” “Kabuki Othello” and “Achilles: A Kabuki Play.” He continued to create internationally-acclaimed productions and taught as a professor in FAA until his retirement in 1992.
“He recognized the need for cultural arts education to build cultural bridges and committed the rest of his life to teaching in the United States,” Japan House said in the post. “His tenacity and vision for teaching Japanese arts and culture started the original Japan House at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.”
The original Japan House began as a Victorian house on Lincoln and California Avenue, which Sato helped renovate into a hub of Japanese cultural education and community. Private donations later allowed the construction of the current House, which offers cultural classes, programs and student internships.
Construction began on a new Ogura-Sato Annex, funded by Sato and his family, in March. The extension will facilitate expanded educational programs and an improved tea garden.
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Sato was a master of the Japanese tea ceremony, Ikebana, or flower arrangement, and Sumi-e, or black ink painting. In 1985, he was honored as a Kabuki artist and was adopted into the Kabuki family of Nakamura.
“He recognized the need for cultural arts education to build cultural bridges and committed the rest of his life to teaching in the United States,” Japan House said in the post. “His memory will continue through the lives of students and visitors who can be immersed in the study of Japanese arts and culture at Japan House.”
