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Celebrating Professor Emeritus Shozo Sato’s Donated Books to the University Library

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Since joining UIUC in 1964 as an artist in residence, Professor Emeritus Shozo Sato 佐藤 昌三 has connected traditional Japanese arts with the world through his works and educational roles. Skilled in painting, calligraphy, theater, flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony, he introduced these art forms to the Champaign-Urbana community through many pioneering initiatives. For decades, his classes at UIUC gave students hands-on experience with various Japanese arts. He adapted and directed many Western classics into Japanese kabuki plays, which toured throughout the US and globally. He also founded and served as the first director of Japan House, the university’s beloved center for Japanese art and culture. Recently, his contributions have even extended to the University of Illinois Library’s collection.

In November 2023, Professor Sato donated his personal collection of approximately 500 volumes, primarily in Japanese, to the library. These donated books have greatly enhanced the University Library’s Japanese Studies collection due to their variety and uniqueness. They encompass various aspects of Japanese culture and art, and many have not previously been collected by North American institutions or are only found in a few collections. As the cataloging process nears completion, most of the books are now available to be checked out. They can be located by searching for “Shozo Sato Collection” in the University Library’s online catalog.

In honor of this valuable collection and Professor Sato’s contributions to the campus, the International and Area Studies Library has curated a special exhibit, with the co-sponsorship of the Japan House at the University of Illinois and the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies. The exhibit, titled “Japanese Arts Through the Pages: An Exhibit of Shozo Sato’s Donated Book Collection,” is on display in Main Library Rooms 321 and 309 for the Spring 2024 semester.

Shozo Sato Collection exhibit poster

This exhibit is arranged around four themes. Each theme showcases a Japanese art form closely related to Professor Sato’s career and highlights the notable strengths of his donated book collection.

Calligraphy and Sumi-e

Professor Sato’s donation to the University Library includes various guides, models, and scholarly works on a wide range of traditional and modern East Asian calligraphy and paintings, particularly sumi-e 墨絵 (black ink painting). The exhibition catalogs he collected over the years are also a valuable addition to our existing collections in Japanese arts. In this exhibit, we also showcase a collection of calligraphy items on loan from Japan House, alongside Professor Sato’s original sumi-e work, “Four Seasons.”

The calligraphy & Sumi-e case in the Shozo Sato Collection exhibit

Ikebana

The Shozo Sato collection offers a remarkable glimpse into the rich history of ikebana 生け花 (flower arrangement) in Japan and beyond. It includes many rare illustrated books published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, along with ikebana guides from various styles and schools, notably the Ikenobo 池坊 and the Ryusei 竜生 schools in Japan. Professor Sato, who worked closely with the grandmaster of the Ryusei School, Kasen Yoshimura 吉村 華泉, has donated many of Yoshimura’s works.

Although we cannot display any real flowers in the case, ikebana items from Japan House are on view.

The ikebana case in the Shozo Sato Collection exhibit

Kabuki

Kabuki 歌舞伎 is a traditional form of Japanese theater that combines dramatic performance, music, and dance. The Shozo Sato collection encompasses many kabuki play scripts, artist biographies, memoirs, and related research works. It has also expanded the University Library’s resources in other traditional Japanese theater arts, including bunraku 文楽, kyogen 狂言, and noh 能.

Alongside the books, we also display photos from the Shozo Sato Papers in the University of Illinois Archives to showcase Professor Sato and UIUC students’ involvement in kabuki over the years.

The kabuki case in the Shozo Sato collection exhibit

Tea Ceremony

The collection covers a broad range of topics related to the art of the tea ceremony, including its history, procedures, equipment, tea room design, Kaiseki meals, and Zen aesthetics. Having studied the tea ceremony with the Dai Nihon Chado Gakkai 大日本茶道学会 (The Grand Japan Tea Ceremony Society), Professor Sato’s donation also includes numerous rare materials published by the society. In addition, our exhibit features a set of chadogu 茶道具 (tea ceremony items) provided by Japan House.

The tea ceremony case in the Shozo Sato Collection exhibit

IAS is grateful to our co-sponsor, Japan House at the University of Illinois, for loaning items and photos for the display. The Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies has also provided support for this exhibit.

Japan House at the University of Illinois

Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies

To explore more about Professor Sato’s career and works, see:

Shozo Sato Papers, 1964-2010, Series Number 12/12/21, University of Illinois Archives

Special thanks to Alice Tierney-Fife for her contributions in the preparation of this post.

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Attendees Reflect on TRCCS Opening

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Pop-ups and other unique books from Taiwan will be on display through December.

On November 14, 2017, the International and Area Studies Library opened the Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies (TRCCS), with support and material donations from the National Central Library (NCL) of Taiwan. The ongoing collection will include more than 800 contemporary publications from Taiwan, which are available for checkout. The exhibit, which features rare items from the NCL about the history of books and book-making, will be on display through December in the International and Area Studies Library. The opening ceremony included a signing of cooperation agreements, book donation exchange ceremonies, and a lecture from Professor Kai-Wing Chow titled “Printing Technology, Book Culture, and the World of Print in Imperial China.”

Students and faculty reflected on the opening ceremony and on the value they see in the TRCCS:

Representatives from the National Central Library of Taiwan visited IAS to open the TRCCS.

Kezhen Zhang, a student worker in the International and Area Studies Library who graduated from the iSchool in August with a concentration in special collections and archives, both attended the event and helped to coordinate it. She said:

“I was pleased to be an assistant for the TRCCS opening ceremony. During the preparing time prior to the event day, I established a TRCCS page on the Library’s website,  where I added an introduction to TRCCS and the exhibit, and information about the event as well. I also designed a poster for the hallway. When preparing this event, I not only got chance practice various tools, such as WordPress, Adobe Photoshop, and MS Publisher, but I also collaborated with other members in our division. On the event day, I played an administrative role. I loved the atmosphere of collaboration while everyone was trying to make the event great! I was also glad to meet members of the National Central Library of Taiwan, and I appreciated seeing their efforts for a partnership with our library.”

The National Central Library of Taiwan provided more than 800 books for the TRCCS.

Bonnie Mak is an associate professor, with joint appointments in the School of Information Sciences and the Program in Medieval Studies. She teaches courses in the history and future of the book, reading practices, and knowledge production. Her first book, How the Page Matters (2011), examines the interface of the page as it is developed across time, geographies, and technologies. Mak said of the TRCCS event:

“By examining the history of printing from a global perspective, Prof. Chow immediately exposes assumptions around the so-called ‘print revolution’ of the West that is said to have precipitated major social and political change in the 15th century. He usefully reminds us that moveable type was being used in Asia by at least the 12th century — 300 years before its adoption in Europe — and operated in conjunction with the traditions of woodblock printing and handwriting as means of graphic communication. The continued co-existence of all these techniques is worthy of further investigation, and Prof. Chow invites us to consider under what circumstances one might have been preferred over another.”

The TRCCS will be ongoing in the International and Area Studies Library, room 309, but the rare book exhibit will only be available until the end of December. This includes an interactive stamping display, where you can create a layered stamp card to take home. Stop by the IASL to see the exhibit while you can!

Room 309 of the Main Library is now the Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies.

Visit the IAS Facebook page for more photos from the event.

 

LAURA ROCCO

GRADUATE ASSISTANT | INTERNATIONAL AND AREA STUDIES LIBRARY

MSLIS CANDIDATE | SCHOOL OF INFORMATION SCIENCES

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

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Comic Renderings: From Argentina to Zimbabwe

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A poster advertising a film adaptation of Marguerite Abouet's Aya series. Photo Credit: LaCinemateca Sevilla

A poster advertising a film adaptation of Marguerite Abouet’s Aya series. Photo Credit: LaCinemateca Sevilla

You’ve probably heard of Bruce Wayne and Gotham City. And you may know of Clark Kent’s high-flying alter ego in Metropolis. Then there’s Charles Xavier and his School for Gifted Youngsters. Three for three? Okay.

How about Aya from the Ivory Coast?

The Persepolis Series of Iran?

Or Kampung Boy in Malaysia?

Kampung Boy by Lat tells of a child growing up as a Muslim in a fishing village in Malaysia. Photo Credit: First Second Books

Kampung Boy by Lat tells of a child growing up as a Muslim in a fishing village in Malaysia. Photo Credit: First Second Books

These are the types of items the International and Area Studies (IAS) Library would like to make you aware of. The last three works share narratives that are personal, dramatic and engaging and that are all presented in graphic novel or comic form. While Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics might be the best print publication to instruct you on what vocabulary to use when it comes to this artistic medium, IAS can give you a strong introduction to international comic renderings this September.

Starting today, “Explore International Comics,” a month-long exhibit to be held in the North-South Corridor on the first floor of the Main Library, opens to the public. Many of your librarians and their graduate student workers have collaborated, gathering works to populate the six glass cases on the ground floor with works that reflect comics as an international and cross-cultural phenomenon and production. Together the comics chosen address a variety of interdisciplinary and academic themes including gender studies, language learning, religion & mythology, politics, and ethnicity & identity.

International detective Tintin and his dog, Milou, are off on a new adventure. This work, by Hergé, was originally published in French and started its road to fame in 1929. Photo Credit: normandy14

International detective Tintin and his dog, Milou, are off on a new adventure. This work, by Hergé, was originally published in French and started its road to fame in 1929. Photo Credit: normandy14

The inclusion of the Belgian classic work Tintin by cartoonist Hergé was an instinctive choice given its nearly 100 years of history. Its narratives follow the brave adventures of a young, border-hopping detective and his dog, Milou. More modern titles, however, are not to be overlooked. Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home from 2006, an autobiographical work whose musical adaptation just won a Tony Award on Broadway and whose text addresses themes of LGBT identity will be featured, too, among many others.

Alison Bechdel’s autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home. Bechdel’s publications consistently engage LGBT issues and have garnered her a MacArthur Genius Grant. Photo Credit: carmen_seaby

Alison Bechdel’s autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home. Bechdel’s publications consistently engage LGBT issues and have garnered her a MacArthur Genius Grant. Photo Credit: carmen_seaby

The piece pictured directly below features an endearing, anthropomorphized antihero, Condorito (Chile), who is part condor and part man. Another, Daytripper (Brazil), imaginatively contemplates mortality and what gives our lives meaning. Pyonyang: A Journey through North Korea (Canada) undermines a standing government and Pedro and Me (U.S. and Cuba) addresses stigma related to HIV/AIDS. The topics, clearly, are as diverse as the ones we encounter in our lives.

Condorito is a hybrid between a condor and man. His stories represent a comic tradition from Chile and have been popular throughout Latin America since 1949. Photo Credit: Gustavo Vargas

Condorito is a hybrid between a condor and man. His stories represent a comic tradition from Chile and have been popular throughout Latin America since 1949. Photo Credit: Gustavo Vargas

To help contextualize the richness of these works in terms of both content and form, on September 30th, our IAS Library (Main Library Room 321) will host the first Chai Wai event of the season, “Around the World in 2D: Comics, Graphic Novels and Cartoons” from 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. You can join the Facebook event here. South Asian Librarian Mara Thacker, who has been a major force in organizing both the exhibit and its accompanying event, hopes that library users will access works like these for leisure reading, teaching, and/or research. She also shares that the library is happy to give guest lectures on the comics or to introduce its works to individual classes.

The Asian American Cultural Center has more than 1,000 items for your use cataloged on Library things including graphic novels and other books, DVDs and music cds.

The Asian American Cultural Center has more than 1,000 items for your use cataloged on Library Thing including graphic novels and other books, DVDs and music cds.

While the Undergraduate Library (UGL) has multiple stacks and shelves dedicated strictly to comics and graphic novels, library users should know that there are many places on campus to access titles like these. Among them are the Literatures and Languages Library (LLL), the Main Stacks, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML), the Social Science, Health and Education Library (SSHEL), all within the Main Library. The Center for Children’s Books (CCB) which receives multiple new titles every year is found on campus in the basement of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) near Daniel and Sixth Streets. The Asian American Cultural Center (AACC), which has a shelf dedicated to comics, is located on Nevada Street and its holdings are cataloged on Library Thing.

Do check the hours for these libraries before arriving, as their schedules differ. Also, take note that while the CCB has numerous items, the works housed there do not circulate but can be used for reference in-house. Lastly, if there is a title that you are interested in having the library purchase, you can use the patron-driven purchase form and make a request for a specific work. We look forward to seeing you at the exhibit and at our Chai Wai event. In the meanwhile, we wish you happy comic hunting! Be sure to like our page on Facebook for more news, stories and updates like these.

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Mo Yan — 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature Winner

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Literary history holds many examples of writers who were formerly soldiers — Norman Mailer, Ernest Hemingway, Tim O’Brian, Stephen Crane, and T. E. Lawrence to name a few, but few of them can ever hope to be called such things as “[…] famous, oft-banned and widely pirated […] (Feb 15, 2005. Donald Morrison, “Holding Up Half the Sky”, Time Magazine, read more) Even fewer of these soldiers ever become Nobel Prize winners.

Mo Yan (莫言), a pen name, meaning “don’t speak,” for Guan Moye (管谟业), is the first resident of mainland China to be awarded the Nobel prize in Literature. He was a solider in the People’s Liberation Army after the Cultural Revolution. The only two other Chinese recipients of Nobel prizes are Liu Xiaobo (2010 Nobel Prize for Peace), who is currently imprisoned, and Gao Xingjian (2000 Nobel Prize for Literature), who gave up his Chinese citizenship in 1996. (Oct 16, 2012. Benjamin Carlson, “China Scrambles to Censor Discussion of Mo Yan”, Salon. Read more)

Mo Yan and his works have a complicated relationship with the Chinese government. While his books are often interpreted as critical of the government, he is a Chinese Communist Party member and the vice-chairman of the party’s Writers’ Association. He has been criticized for his compliance with the government, but some have argued that by his doing so, his books have been able to reach more people. (Oct 16, 2012. Benjamin Carlson, “China Scrambles to Censor Discussion of Mo Yan”, Salon. Read more)

Mo Yan is reportedly currently avoiding the media and working on his next book. (Oct 11, 2012. Sui-Lee Wee. “China’s Mo Yan feeds off suffering to win Nobel literature prize”, Reuters. Read more.)

The UIUC collection holds many of Mo Yan’s works, both in the original Chinese and in English translations. The International and Area Studies Library has pulled a selection of his titles for display, and they are available for checkout. You can also view his works available in our online catalog.

Mo Yan's works on display at the IAS

Mo Yan’s works on display at the IAS. Photography by Elizabeth Svoboda.

Those wishing to learn more about Mo Yan and his work should come visit the IAS and check out our display and selection of his titles, and also check out these suggested library resources:

Interviews and Articles:

Literary Criticism and Interpretation  

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