Japanese calligraphy (書道, shodō^?) is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. For a long time, the most esteemed calligrapher in Japan had been Wang Xizhi, a Chinese calligrapher in the 4th century but after the invention of Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese unique syllabaries, the distinctive Japanese writing system developed and calligraphers produced styles intrinsic to Japan.

Japanese calligraphy shares its roots with Chinese calligraphy and many of its principles and techniques are very similar. It is most often written with ink (墨, sumi^?) on mulberry paper (和紙, washi^?) and it recognizes the same basic writing styles: seal script (篆書, tensho^?) (Chinese: 篆書 Chinese: zhuànshū); clerical script (隸書, reisho^?) (Chinese: 隸書 Chinese: lìshū); regular script (楷書, kaisho^?) (Chinese: 楷書 Chinese: kǎishū); semi-cursive (行書, gyōsho^?) (Chinese: 行書 Chinese: xíngshū); and cursive (草書, sōsho^?) (Chinese: 草書 Chinese: cǎoshū).

Shozo Sato, an internationally renowned Japanese master of Zen arts and visionary theatre director, most known for adapting Western classics to Japanese Kabuki theatre.

Shozo Sato is a professor emeritus of Art and Design and former artist-in-residence for the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Adaptations of Western classics in Kabuki form include MacBeth, Medea, Othello, Faust, Achilles and the operas, Madame Butterfly and The Mikado. His last academic production was Kabuki Lady Macbeth (2012) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Sato 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.

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