Shōzō Satō

Shōzō Satō (born 1933) is a professor emeritus of the College of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He is the founder and former director of Japan House, and a former artist-in-residence at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.[1]

He is an internationally renowned Japanese master of Zen arts and visionary theatre director, most known for adapting Western classics to Japanese Kabuki theatre.[1]

Biography

Satō first arrived at the University of Illinois in 1964 as a visiting artist. In 1968, he founded the Japanese Arts and Culture Program, where he taught classes in traditional Japanese arts, such as calligraphy, sumi-e, ikebana, zen aesthetics, and tea ceremony.[1]

He is known for adapting western theater to a Kabuki style. Some of his adaptations include Macbeth, Medea, Othello, Faust, Achilles, and the operas, Madame Butterfly and The Mikado.[1][2] His last academic production was a Kabuki adaptation of Othello, titled Iago's Plot (2017), at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.[3]

He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.[4]

Satō is the author of The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Complete Guide to Japanese Ikebana, published in 1968 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York, NY. The volume was printed and bound in Japan.[5] With the assistance of Thomas A. Heenan, Satō is the author of The Art of Sumi-E: Appreciation, Techniques, and Application, published in 1984 by Kodansha International Limited, Tokyo, Japan. The volume was printed in Japan and distributed in the U.S. by Kodansha International/USA Limited through Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated, New York, NY.[6]

Satō officiated at the wedding of actors Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally.[7]

Honours

In 2004, the Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasure was conferred.[8]

References
  1. Vicic, Shannon (September 17, 1998). "Shozo Sato to receive honorary degree at commencement". Inside Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 18 (6). Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  2. "Shozo Sato Papers, 1964-2004" (PDF). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Archives. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  3. "Iago's Plot". Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. March 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  4. "Ikebana for the 21st Century". Ikebana International San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. April 18, 1997. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  5. Satō, Shōzō (July 1, 1968). The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Complete Guide to Japanese Ikebana. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-81090-194-0.
  6. Sato, Shozo (1984). The Art of Sumi-E: Appreciation, Techniques, and Application. Tokyo, Japan and New York, NY USA: Kodansha International, Ltd. ISBN 0-87011-570-7.
  7. "Interview with Nick Offerman". Larry King Live. Season 1. Episode 176. June 11, 2013. CNN.
  8. "About Shozo Sato". Illinois State University. November 10, 2006. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2018.


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