In Memoriam: Oliver Statler, 1915-2002

 
 
   
         
 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Oliver Statler

Oliver Statler, writer, CJS Non-Teaching Affiliate Faculty Member, and Adjunct Professor of the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, passed away on Thursday, February 14, 2002. The Center for Japanese Studies would like to extend its heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. Professor Statler was a great supporter of the Center and Japanese Studies at the University of Hawai'i. In 1999, he donated "The Oliver Statler Papers" to the University Library. They are housed in Hamilton Library as The Oliver Statler Collection--documents and sources on Japanese culture, history, and art gathered over the span of his career. In the spring of the same year, he gave a talk as part of the CJS Seminar Series. It was entitled "Books, Luck and Me," and offered a brief yet fantastic glimpse into the extraordinarily full life of this author and scholar.

Japanese InnProfessor Statler's works include the best-selling Japanese Inn, a book detailing the history of the Minaguchi-ya, an inn founded on the eve of the Tokugawa Shogunate and seated along the famed Tokaido Road. He is also well remembered for his ground-breaking book, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn.

On Thursday, April 18, his ashes were taken out to sea on the ship "Sea Verse" and scattered off the coast of Waikiki in accordance with his wishes. In attendance were Dr. James Brandon, Professor Emeritus of Theatre (UHM), and five other of Statler's close friends. CJS extends thanks to Ms. Bronwen Solyom and Ms. Tokiko Bazzell of Hamilton Library, Dr. James Brandon, and Dr. Michael Cooper, who have spent tremendous time in arranging Professor Statler's papers and library.

The following are excerpts from Statler's obituary, which appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser Monday, February 18, 2002. For the full transcript, go to the article on the Honolulu Advertiser website.

Oliver Statler, one of Hawai'i's most prominent authors and an internationally known student of wood block prints, Shingon Buddhism and other things Japanese, died Thursday at The Queen's Medical Center after a brief illness. He was 87.
...
The son of an Illinois physician, Statler fought the Japanese in World War II but took a civil service position with the Army after the war to visit the country that fascinated him.

His instant love of modern Japanese prints made him a friend and protege of author James Michener, who encouraged the self-taught enthusiast in a new career as writer and art researcher.

Invited to Honolulu in 1977 as a visiting professor in Asian Studies at the University of Hawai'i, Statler decided it was the place to live and work, "being closer to Japan, both physically and culturally, than any other part of the U. S."
...
Six years after joining the university, he published his landmark "Japanese Pilgrimage," a guide to the thousand-mile journey to the Eighty-Eight Sacred Places of Shikoku associated with the legendary priest and teacher Kobo Daishi, founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism.
...
A graduate of the University of Chicago, Statler was a member of the board of directors of Kobe College in Japan. He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the National College of Education in Evanston, Ill., and fellowships from both the Guggenheim and Japan foundations.

Statler is survived by distant cousins on the Mainland.
                                       
   

The contents of this site are copyright © 2001-2005 UHM Center for Japanese Studies. All rights reserved.
Center for Japanese Studies·School of Hawaiian, Asian & Pacific Studies·University of Hawai'i at Manoa·1890 East-West Road, Moore 216·Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822·Tel: 808-956-2665·Fax: 808-956-2666·E-mail: cjs@hawaii.edu
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution