Marshall Kozo Hattori

After a valiant long battle with cancer, Marshall Kozo Hattori passed away on March 1, 2021.

Marshall was born to Gail and Masaki Hattori at Madigan General Hospital, Fort Lewis, Washington.  He spent his early years in Hanau, Germany and Stockton, California before moving to Fremont, California in 1970.  He attended Gomes Elementary, Chadbourne Elementary, Hopkins Jr. High School and Mission San Jose High School.  He went on to college at the University of California Santa Barbara where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English.

His love of surfing led him to found Kozo Productions to produce surfing videos WHAT, WHAT NOW, WHAT NEXT, WHAT ELSE, SPEECHLESS, and his full length movie IMAGINE SURFING AS SADHANA.   He also published a book FRIENDSAVER, a journal that writes itself.  You would ask friends and acquaintances to fill out their pages preferably with photos. 

He taught English at Santa Barbara City College and DeAnza College. While at DeAnza he had a hand in getting two books of students published.  They were THEY’RE HERE and LOST AND FOUND.  

In addition to surfing, Marshall was a lifelong seeker. He studied Aikido, Zen, Vipassana, Ho’oponopono and Qigong from a variety of masters. He considered his Hawaiian grandfather to be one of his greatest teachers, and in an effort to preserve Hawaiian wisdom, he interviewed elders like Pono Shim, Paul Strauch Jr. and Suzi Kawaiohiokekaikaiona’okalâni Ko. 

In 2014, Marshall began volunteering with ServiceSpace, a 100% volunteer-run, global ecosystem and incubator of initiatives for inner and outer transformation. For many years he served as a co-anchor for Awakin Calls, ServiceSpace's weekly podcast that features change-makers from all walks of life. In 2017, he himself was a featured guest on the podcast. Despite his many health challenges, Marshall continued to actively host and moderate interviews, facilitate workshops, attend weekly meditation circles, and participate in kindness activities, and annual retreats with ServiceSpace.  

In 2017, Marshall published The Healing Grace of Cancer, a book that shares experiences and learnings from his health journey. He wrote extensively on subjects that ranged from healing modalities, and peace practices, to raising compassionate boys. He also created the Compassionate Men’s Interview Series which included interviews with Thich Nhat Hanh, Rick Hanson, Father Richard Rohr, and Dan Siegel. His essays and articles have been published at Yes Magazine, Mindful Magazine, Greater Good Science Center, The Elephant Journal, and The Good Men Project. In 2019, he joined the staff of Commonweal, a renowned institute that is home to over two dozen projects in health, education, environment and justice. Marshall served as a research associate for its projects Beyond Conventional Cancer Therapies, the Resilience Project as well as OMEGA. He contributed to this important work up until his final weeks.

Marshall was preceded in death by his father Major Masaki Hattori and is survived by sons Jett and Fox, Beryl Gao Hattori, parents Gail and Calvin Tomita, brothers John, and Douglas(Stacy), nephews Alex and Tyler, many aunts and uncles and his beloved cousins.

Marshall touched innumerable lives with his fearless authenticity, generous heart, and his spirit of kapu aloha (sacred love). He requested that he be cremated and his ashes scattered at his favorite surfing spot in Santa Barbara and Kona, Hawaii.