Mary Ohno
Japanese kabuki dancer
Tacoma, WA
Mary Mariko Ohno was born in Tokyo, Japan and has studied traditional Japanese dance,
including the shamisen style, for fifty years. These efforts have earned her the
professional license for Japanese dance under the title, “Hanayagi Fumiryu” in 1966 and a
license for Naga-uta shamisen under the title “Kine-ie Yanacho” in 1974.
Through performance and instruction, Ohno has dedicated herself to creating cultural
awareness since 1983. She is a multi-faceted artist who reaches a wide variety of age
groups, backgrounds, and careers. Over the past twenty years, she has performed for
audiences across the United States, Canada, South Africa, and the Asian Pacific. Mary also
directs The Kabuki Academy of Seattle and Tacoma.
Ohno received acknowledgement from the American Guild of Musical Artists in 1998 for her
extraordinary abilities and received the Gordon Ekvall Tracie Award in 2002 from the Ethnic
Heritage Council for her contributions in the development and presentation of traditional
arts to Northwest communities. As a recipient of a 2007 Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant,
Mary taught apprentice Mikiko Amagai Kabuki customs and traditional shamisen music using a
fretless 3-string lute instrument and vocal accompaniment.