Finding Aid for Shozo Sato Papers, ca. 1930-2023 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Allison M. Sutton, Jonas Yela, Carol Berthold, Nolan Vallier, and Somya Behave

Service Location	Boxes
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 01-05 & 12
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 06-11 & 12-19
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 13-14, 29, 32-33, & 39
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 15-16, 20-21, 30-31, 34-36, 38, 40, & 43-44
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 22-27
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 28
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 37 & 41-42
Archives Research Center, 1707 S. Orchard Street	Boxes 45
146 Library, 1408 W. Gregory Drive	Portfolio Case 1 (OS)

Submit request (Aeon) | email

Email us about these papers | printer

Print this information

Collection Overview

Title: Shozo Sato Papers, ca. 1930-2023

ID: 12/12/21

Primary Creator: Sato, Shozo (1933-)

Extent: 23.55 cubic feet

Arrangement:

The materials are arranged in four series: Series 1) Kabuki and Noh Theater Production Records, Series, 1969-2010; 2) Japanese Traditional Arts, 1964-2023; Series 3) Personal Papers and Photographs, 1930-2018; and Series 4) Publications, Drafts, and Awards, 1969-2010.

Series 1 is arranged by title of production and chronologically therein. It contains 18 subseries, which chronicle Sato's engagement with Kabuki.

Series 2 is arranged in four sub-series: Sub-series 1) Photo Albums and Scrapbooks, Sub-series 2) Caligraphy, Sub-series 3) Japan House, and Sub-series 4) Audio-visual Recordings. Sub-series 1 and 3 are arranged chronologically. Sub-series 4 follow the original order of the materials. Note Sub-series 2 is currently inaccessible and unavailable for research.

Series 3 is arranged chronologically by material type.

Series 4 is arranged into two sub-series: Sub-series 1) Publications and Drafts and Sub-series 2) Awards. Sub-series 1 is arranged alphabetically by title of publication and Sub-series 2 is arranged chronologically by award.

Date Acquired: 03/28/2008. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Art Education, Dance, Dance Education, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Fine and Applied Arts, College of, Illinois Theatre, Japan - History and Geography, Kabuki, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Music -- Japan, Theatre, Theatre Department

Formats/Genres: Librettos

Languages: Japanese, English, German

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of scrapbooks, correspondence, notes, scripts, playbills, news releases, lectures and demonstrations, promotional posters, awards, and honors, relating to Krannert Center for Performing Arts; Ikebana; Japanese tea ceremony; the creation, design, and construction of Japan House (1979-2005, 2017); Kabuki productions of Achilles, Medea, Iago's Plot, Othello, Macbeth, Madame Butterfly, and others; as well as press coverage, materials, and photographic documentation of workshops in the US, Japan, and Europe. Of particular note are Sato's scrapbooks of Kabuki productions, which include photographs, concert programs, and correspondence about each of the productions.

Biographical Note

Shozo Sato (1933-) was born in Kobe, Japan on May 18, 1933. The son of Takami Sato, he and his brother Tomoyaso were raised by his father's sisters, Hatsuko and Shizuno Sato, after his father accepted a military position managing a hospital in China during WWII. Sato's life in Japan during WWII had a profound impact on his artistic goals. After the war, he pursued a degree in Fine Arts from the Bunka Gakuen College in Tokyo, trained in Tea Ceremonies under Kishimoto Kosen, studied music at the Tokyo Seisen School, and enrolled at the Toho Academy of Performing Arts in Tokyo, where he studied with the master Kabuki artist, Nakamura Kanzaburo XVII.

Sato came to the University of Illinois as a visiting artist in 1964. He became an artist in resident for the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in 1969, offering courses and workshops in traditional Japanese arts including calligraphy, Sumi-e, Ikebana, Kabuki, and Tea Ceremony. He is best recognized for his adaptations of traditional western theatre, Macbeth, Medea, Othello, Faust, Achilles, Madame Butterfly and, The Mikado, in the style of Kabuki productions beginning in 1978.

In 1979 he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Professor of Art and eventually became a full professor. His work as a Kabuki dancer at the University of Illinois was officially recognized by the Nakamura family in 1985, when he was adopted into the Kabuki family and given the name Nakamura Kanzo IV.

Sato founded the Japan House at the University of Illinois in 1979. A center for traditional Japanese arts, the Japan House features tea rooms, a tea garden, and a rock garden. The gardens were expanded throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Nick Offerman--an American actor and student of Shozo Sato while attending the the University of Illinois, assisted in the design and construction of a pergola near the Japan House in 2017.

After retiring from the University in 1992, Sato continued to develop workshops on traditional Japanese arts in the United States and abroad from a second Japan House established in Northern California. His Kabuki play Iago's Plot, which was developed during a residency at Towson State University from 1994-1995, was performed in Baltimore, Cairo, and Weimar.

Sato is the author of The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Complete Guide (1968) and The Art of Sumi-E: Appreciation, Techniques, and Application (1984). Sato is a past recipient of the Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award, the Hollywood Drama Guild Award, South Africa's Vita Award, and the Baltimore Sun Award for directing and design. In 1992, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs honored him with the Certificate of Commendation for promoting Japanese culture globally and in 2004 he was awarded The Order of the Sacred Treasure with Rosette by the Emperor of Japan.

Subject/Index Terms

Art Education
Dance
Dance Education
Faculty
Faculty Papers
Fine and Applied Arts, College of
Illinois Theatre
Japan - History and Geography
Kabuki
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Music -- Japan
Theatre
Theatre Department

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: Additions accquired January 24, 2012; June 19 and 26, July 17 and 31, and August 7, 2024. A small addition came from the Literature and Languages Library on May 1, 2025.

Acquisition Source: Shozo Sato

Acquisition Method: gift

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Kabuki and Noh Theatre Production Records, 1934-2017],
[Series 2: Japanese Traditional Arts, 1964-2023],
[Series 3: Personal Papers and Photographs, 1930-2018],
[Series 4: Publications, Drafts, and Awards, 1969-2010],
[All]

Series 3: Personal Papers and Photographs, 1930-2018

Consists of family photographs, correspondence, and academic planners, which document Sato's personal life. Materials are arranged chronologically by material type.

Box 5

Folder 16: Correspondence, Newspaper Clippings – Robert Downing, 1969-1975
Folder 17: University of Illinois Documents, 1970-1990

Box 15

Folder 3: Dolls of Friendship Exhibition, 1983

Box 29

Folder 11: Ink Painting of Unidentified Woman, Undated
Folder 12: Pictures with Family, Undated
Folder 13: Correspondence and Naomi Izuka's Script, Undated
Folder 14: Correspondence from Bob Feldman, Undated
Folder 15: Keitaro Aoki (Mounting Artist "Keiundo"), Undated
Folder 16: Visit to Kugo Family Grave with All Relatives, Undated
Folder 17: Shozo Sato Fund, Undated
Folder 18: Asian Art Appraisers, Undated
Folder 19: Shozo's Family Pictures, 1930-1940
Folder 20: Shozo's Family Pictures, 1930-1950: See Box 30 for related material.
Folder 21: Shozo with his Kabuki Teacher Kanzaburo XVII, 1955
Folder 22: Degrees, 1955-1997
Folder 23: Shozo Bunka Gaikun Diploma, 1955: See Box 38, Folder 3, for material from 1959; see Box 31 for materials from 1960.
Folder 24: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1964-1965
Folder 25: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1965-1966
Folder 26: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1966-1967
Folder 27: Shozo Visiting U of I Classes, 1967
Folder 28: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1967-1968
Folder 29: Earliest Appointments, University of Illinois, 1967-1970
Folder 30: Correspondence from Morgan Gibson, 1968
Folder 31: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1968-1969
Folder 32: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1969-1970: See Box 5 for more materials from around this date.
Folder 33: Shozo's Dance Performance KCPA Dance Concert, 1970
Folder 34: Shozo Sato Portrait Photograph, ca. 1970
Folder 35: Correspondence RE: Trips and Performances to Middle East, ca. 1970s-1980s
Folder 36: Article by Carol Constantine for JOURN 323, 1971
Folder 37: Correspondence - Towson State University, 1971
Folder 38: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1971-1972
Folder 39: Photos, Song Parody, Post Cards, News Article, 1971-2020
Folder 40: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1972-1973
Folder 41: India: The National Academy, 1972-1979
Folder 42: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1973-1974: See Box 34, Folder 1 for more Series 3 materials from 1974.
Folder 43: Obituary of Prof. Margaret Erlanger, 1975
Folder 44: Kama Kura: University of Illinois Student Experience, 1975
Folder 45: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1975-1976
Folder 46: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1976-1977
Folder 47: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1977-1978
Folder 48: Correspondence from Shinpei Sakakura, 1978
Folder 49: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1978-1979
Folder 50: Illini Japanese Association, 1978-1991
Folder 51: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1979-1980
Folder 52: Shozo's Academic Planner, 1980-1981

Box 30

Folder 1: Personal Photo Album, 1950-1960
Folder 2: Personal Photo Album, 1955-1959

Box 31

Folder 1: Eiffuku Chito Kamakura, 1960
Folder 2: Kamakura Hase, 1960

Box 32

Folder 1: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1981-1982
Folder 2: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1982-1983
Folder 3: Correspondence from Howard B. Hamilton, 1983: See Box 15 for more Series 3 material from 1983.
Folder 4: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1983-1984
Folder 5: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1984-1985
Folder 6: Museums – Toledo Museum, 1984-1986
Folder 7: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1985-1986
Folder 8: Correspondence re: Lecture at Mid-America Theatre Conference, 1986-1987
Folder 9: Lecture Demonstration: Alexandria Museum, Louisiana, 1987
Folder 10: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1986-1987
Folder 11: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1987-1988
Folder 12: Honorary Doctorate for Nakamura Kanaburo XVI, 1987-1989: See Box 34, Folder 2 for related material.
Folder 13: Lecture Demonstration: John Carroll University, Ohio, 1988
Folder 14: Lecture Demonstration: Illinois Arts Council, 1988
Folder 15: Correspondence re: Performances and Lectures at Memphis State University, 1988-1989
Folder 16: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1988-1989
Folder 17: Student’s Papers on Kabuki from Kabuki Classes, 1989
Folder 18: Lecture Demonstration: Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois, 1989
Folder 19: Museums – Missouri Botanical Gardens, 1989
Folder 20: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1989-1990
Folder 21: Ikebana International, 1989-1997
Folder 22: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1990-1991
Folder 23: Hungary-Cyprus Tour Aug-Sept (1 of 3), 1991
Folder 24: Hungary-Cyprus Tour Aug-Sept (2 of 3), 1991
Folder 25: Hungary-Cyprus Tour Aug-Sept (3 of 3), 1991
Folder 26: Letters from Children (Illinois Kabuki), 1991
Folder 27: Live America Series – Newsletter, 1991
Folder 28: Shozo’s Academic Planner, 1991-1992
Folder 29: Correspondence – The Art Institute of Chicago, 1991-1994
Folder 30: Retirement Party Photographs, 1992
Folder 31: Correspondence – Central Arizona College Visit, 1992-1993
Folder 32: Alan R. Thomas Retirement and Funeral Notes, 1992-1995
Folder 33: Ikebana: Stone Lantern, 1993-1994
Folder 34: Artwork at Nellis Airforce Hospital, 1993-1994
Folder 35: Cairo International Festival – Conference Program, 1994
Folder 36: Cairo International Festival: Correspondence, 1994-1995
Folder 37: Ritsurin Garden Travel Guide, 1994: See Box 34, Folder 3, and Box 35, Folders 1-2 for more Series 3 material from 1994.
Folder 38: Cairo International Festival: Correspondence re: Travel, 1994-1995
Folder 39: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Asia Society (NYC), 1994-1995
Folder 40: Correspondence from Theodore Zernich, 1995: See Box 35, Folders 3-4 for more Series 3 materials from 1995.
Folder 41: Correspondence – Visit to Deutches National Theatre, 1995-1998
Folder 42: Doctor of Humane Letters, Towson State University, 1997: See Box 44, folders 1-4 for more Series 3 material from 1997-1998.
Folder 43: Honorary Doctorate, University of Illinois, 1998
Folder 44: International Institute for Theatre Research, 1998-1999

Box 33

Folder 1: Tea Ceremony Program, 1999
Folder 2: Commencement 1999 Booklet, 1999: See Box 37, Folder 1, and Box 44, Folder 5 for more Series 3 material from 1999-2000.
Folder 3: Lecture Demonstration: International Folk Art Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2001
Folder 4: Correspondence – Art Institute of Chicago, Matsukaze and 50th Anniversary of San Francisco Peace Treaty, 2001
Folder 5: Correspondence with Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2002
Folder 6: Japan Trip, 2002
Folder 7: Tea Ceremony Notebook, 2003
Folder 8: Cultural Arts Award, Japan Society of America, 2003
Folder 9: Correspondence with Keiko Romerstein, 2003
Folder 10: Correspondence with Nikolai Jelneronov, 2004
Folder 11: Sumi-e Society of America Correspondence, 2004
Folder 12: Sumi-e Society of America, 2004
Folder 13: Calendars, 2004-2017
Folder 14: Shozo’s Daily Planner, 2005
Folder 15: Photographs of Shozo Sato, 2007
Folder 16: Gifts of Commitments Certificate, 2008
Folder 17: Resume and Biography, 2008: See Box 37, Folder 2 for more Series 3 materials from 2008-2009.
Folder 18: Sumi-e Florida Correspondence, 2010
Folder 19: Denver Art Museum, 2012
Folder 20: Linda Duke, KSU, Beach Museum of Art, 2012
Folder 21: Portrait of Master Akiba Gengo – Sensho’s Painting Diary, 2013: See Box 37, Folder 3 for more Series 3 material from 2013.
Folder 22: Correspondence with Roger Lee Laramee, 2014
Folder 23: Texas Solo Exhibition Works List, 2014
Folder 24: Fort Bragg Property Listing Report, 2015
Folder 25: Farewell Messages and Letters to Shozo and Alice, 2015
Folder 26: Correspondence with Yuka Nomura, 2015
Folder 27: Framework Raising Ceremony for Sodo of Tenpyozan Zendo Project, 2015: See Box 37, Folder 4 for more Series 3 material from 2015.
Folder 28: Shozo’s Vite, 2016
Folder 29: Correspondence with Juanita Rockwell, 2018

Box 34

Folder 1: Copies of Newspaper Articles, 1974-1990
Folder 2: Nakamura Kanzaburo XVII, 1988
Folder 3: Personal Photo Album (1 of 3): Trip to San Francisco, Turkiye and Egypt, 1994

Box 35

Folder 1: Personal Photo Album (2 of 3): Japan Trip – Shozo’s Mother’s Birthday Celebration Local Sight-Seeing, 1994
Folder 2: Personal Photo Album (3 of 3): Photographs with Friends in Japan, Jeff Awards Felicitation Reception, Nellis Federal Hospital Exhibition, 1994
Folder 3: Japan Trip (1 of 2), 1995: Japan Trip and Bunka Gakuen Alumni Association Reunion
Folder 4: Japan Trip (2 of 2), 1995: Visiting Family and Friends

Box 37

Folder 1: Art Institute of Chicago, 1999-2000
Folder 2: Japan Travel Itinerary, 2008-2009
Folder 3: September-October Midwest Travel, 2013
Folder 4: Sumi-e Association Correspondences, 2015

Box 38

Folder 3: U.S. Navy Newspaper from Personal Scrapbook, 1959

Box 44

Folder 1: Photo Album: New Japan House Construction and Kabuki in Miniature (Japan), 1997
Folder 2: Photo Album (1 of 3), 1998: Tea ceremony workshop and travel pictures.
Folder 3: Photo Album (2 of 3), 1998: Alice and Shozo Sato with friends; travel pictures and reception with dignitaries.
Folder 4: Photo Album (3 of 3), 1998: New Japan House inauguration.
Folder 5: Photo Album: Fort Bragg and New Japan House, Mendocino Art Show, 2000
Folder 6: Miscellaneous Photographs, 1990, 2003, 2012: A photograph from June 21, 1990 of Shozo Sato in a group, two photographs from 2003 of an indoor display, and two photographs from 2012 of a kabuki performance.

Box 45

Folder 1: Recipes, 1954-1955: Mainly American recipes cut out from newspapers and magazines.
Folder 2: University of Illinois Summer Workshop in Contemporary Music Concert I Program, 1966
Folder 3: Brochures and Postcards, 1996, 2000, 2011-2015: Mainly brochures and postcards from Japanese musuems, notably the Okada Museum of Art. Also contains brochures from Japanese lacquerware shops. Majority of the postcards are blank.
Folder 4: Correspondence, ca. 2015: Miscellanous correspondence, majority in Japanese.
Folder 5: The Art of Black Ink Exhibition Flyer, Undated
Folder 6: Bookmarks, Undated: Various bookmarks Shozo Sato used, including actual bookmarks, folded up posters, and scraps of paper with handwritten notes.
Folder 8: Papermaking Research, Undated