Boston University Japanese professor Zenryu Shirakawa died the weekend of Dec. 10 in his home after students noted his absence from class the following Monday morning. He was 63.
Shirakawa, who lived in Revere, missed his Japanese civilization class the morning of Dec. 12, prompting three students to inquire about his whereabouts to the Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures Department.
College of Communication sophomore Kate Yenrick was one of the three girls who inquired about her professor’s absence.
“He was never late,” she said. “It was weird. I thought something had happened because he wasn’t there.”
Shirakawa was found dead in his home later that morning.
Students taking his Japanese civilization class were notified of their professor’s death in an email Tuesday, Dec. 13 from department chairman Christopher Maurer and Japanese chairwoman Sarah Frederick.
Academic Coordinator Matthew Nichols said Shirakawa’s death was a significant loss to the department.
“He was a big part of our department,” he said. “I myself am very sad to see him go.
“He had a sort of very joking, sarcastic way about him,” Nichols continued. “He was one of the more pleasurable professors to deal with.”
BU spokesman Colin Riley called Shirakawa’s passing “a loss to the university,” adding that the university knows very little concerning the details of his death.
Japanese instructor Mariko Itoh Henstock expressed sadness at the loss of her coworker.
“Everyone’s saddened and in shock,” she said. “We can’t believe it.”
Shirakawa, who had been teaching at the university since the 1980s, according to Nichols, taught two classes in the modern foreign languages and literatures department this semester-first-semester Japanese and Japanese civilization. He was scheduled to teach a Japanese language class and a course on Samuri culture.
According to the department website, Shirakawa’s “courses on Samurai culture and Japanese civilization continue to be very popular along with his work in the language requirement program.”
Students of Shirakawa remembered him as an amusing professor, even during early Monday morning classes.
COM junior Jason Myers, who had Shirakawa as a professor last semester, said he enjoyed Shirakawa’s class.
“He was a really funny guy,” he said. “He had these crazy jokes. He made the subject really interesting.”
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