Folk Arts - Master Artist - Mary Ohno

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.

Since 1983, Ohno has dedicated herself to creating cultural awareness through performance and instruction. 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. Ohno 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 the recipient of a 2007 Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant, Ohno taught apprentice Mikiko Amagai Kabuki customs and traditional shamisen music using a fretless 3-string lute instrument and vocal accompaniment.