イリノイ大学同窓会会長の古市です． 本日は，皆さまに悲しいお知らせをしなければなりません．イリノイ大学名誉教授の佐藤昌三先生が2025年5月4日日曜日早朝(米国時間)，心不全にてご逝去されました．享年91才でした．
This is Furuichi, President of the Japan Alumni Club. Today, we must share some sad news with you all. Shozo Sato-sensei, Emeritus Professor at the University of Illinois, passed away early Sunday morning, May 4 (U.S. time).
佐藤昌三先生は1933年5月18日神戸生れ，文化学院油絵科卒，在学中は陶芸と油絵を学んだ他，茶道と華道を修行．また，東京芸能学校第二期生としてタップ，バレエ，日舞，声楽，演劇史を学び，テレビや映画にも出演した他，鎌倉美術塾や横須賀の米軍基地で小中学校の美術を指導されました．
He was 91 years old. Shozo Sato-sensei was born on May 18, 1933, in Kobe. He graduated from Bunka Gakuin, where he studied ceramics and oil painting, as well as tea ceremony and flower arrangement. He also attended the Tokyo Performing Arts School, where he studied tap dancing, ballet, Japanese dance, vocal music, and theater history. He appeared in television and films, and taught art at elementary and middle schools in Kamakura and at the U.S. military base in Yokosuka.
1964年にイリノイ大学で客員芸術家として招聘の後，1975年にキャンパス内に日本文化の拠点「日本館（Japan House）」を建設．1999年には現在の新日本館が完成，現在は，佐藤昌三先生と奥様の故Aliceさんのお兄様・小倉氏を顕彰して，Ogura-Sato Annexの建設計画が進んでいるところでした．
In 1964, he was invited to the University of Illinois as a visiting artist. In 1975, he established the “Japan House,” a center for Japanese culture, on the university campus. In 1999, the new Japan House was completed, and currently, plans are underway to construct the Ogura-Sato Annex to honor Mr. Ogura, the brother of Alice, the wife of Shozo Sato-sensei. The project is currently in progress.
イリノイ大学日本同窓会のイベントとして会員の皆さんと佐藤昌三先生と故Aliceさんとでお会いしたのは，2019年3月4日のことでした．その際に佐藤昌三先生が皆さんに向けて書き下ろしていただいた「アメリカで60余年 日本伝統芸術を伝えて」を，添付いたします．
It was on March 4, 2019, that we had the opportunity to meet with all the members of the University of Illinois Japan Illini Alumni Association, along with Shozo Sato-sensei. We are attaching the essay that he wrote for everyone on that occasion, titled “Over 60 Years of Promoting Traditional Japanese Arts in the United States.”
UIUCと日本のご縁を第二次大戦後に改めて再構築され，UIUCを基点に米国各地の大学にて日本文化の紹介・啓蒙に努められた佐藤昌三先生のご功績を改めて思い起こすと共に，皆さんと共に深くご冥福をお祈りしたく存じます．
The ties between UIUC and Japan were reestablished after World War II, and Shozo Sato-sensei worked tirelessly to introduce and promote Japanese culture at universities across the United States, using UIUC as a base. We would like to take this opportunity to once again reflect on his achievements and offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
【関連記事】Related Articles
- (1)日本館 (Japan House)→ https://japanhouse.illinois.edu/about/shozo-sato
- (2)Daily Illini→ https://dailyillini.com/news-stories/2025/05/06/founder-of-japan-house-shozo-sato-dies-at-91/
- (3)WCIA→ https://www.wcia.com/news/champaign-county/shozo-sato-founder-of-u-of-is-japan-house-dies-at-91/
- (4)佐藤昌三先生を囲む会→https://illini-club.jp/index.php/106-2019-03-04-shozo-sato
