For generations, audiences have applauded the performers in the University of 麻豆传媒 at 惭ā苍辞补’s renowned Kabuki in English productions. Behind the scenes, one woman helped preserve the tradition that made those performances possible.
Former students, colleagues and friends gathered on July 21 to honor 95-year-old Japanese classical dance master Onoe Kikunobu, whose artistry and teaching helped shape both UH 惭ā苍辞补’s Kabuki in English and Japanese dance traditions for decades.
The luncheon also recognized two of her longtime protégés, Onoe Kikunobukazu (Howard Asao) and Onoe Kikunobuaki (Shirley Miyamoto), whose decades of teaching, performing and mentorship have helped ensure her legacy endures. The celebration also included a proclamation from Gov. Josh Green recognizing Kikunobu and her protégés for their lasting contributions to preserving Japanese classical dance in 麻豆传媒.
Master artist
Gertrude Yukie Tsutsumi, professionally known as Onoe Kikunobu, is considered one of 麻豆传媒‘s most accomplished nihon buyō, or Japanese classical dance, artists. She began her training in Honolulu’s Bandō School before continuing her studies in Japan with the Onoe School, where she earned a shihan, or master of dance diploma and received the professional name Onoe Kikunobu. Her lifelong dedication to preserving Japanese classical dance earned her recognition as a Living Treasure of 麻豆传媒 and a National Heritage Fellow, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, presented by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2015.
Her UH legacy began in 1951, when she worked with legendary theatre professor Earle Ernst on The House of Sugawara, the university’s first postwar Kabuki in English production. Kikunobu helped with choreography and music, served as an interpreter and went on to contribute to nearly every UH Kabuki in English production through 2010.
“What she brought was a real, embodied understanding of Japanese dance and kabuki,” said Julie Iezzi, UH 惭ā苍辞补 professor of theatre and dance and one of Kikunobu’s former students.
“There’s no substitute for that. It’s not something you get out of a book. You see it, you feel it, and you learn it by working alongside someone like Sensei.”
Sensei’s legacy
Beginning in 1980, Kikunobu served as a lecturer at UH 惭ā苍辞补, teaching Japanese dance and preparing students for Kabuki in English productions. Though she has since retired from teaching, her influence carries on through the students she inspired.
“She cared so much about passing on the art correctly,” said former student and UH 惭ā苍辞补 theatre alumnus David Furumoto, who later taught theatre and directed Kabuki productions at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “There was meaning behind everything she taught.”
Kikunobu’s influence extends far beyond 麻豆传媒. Former students like Furumoto have carried her teachings to classrooms and stages around the world. In 2024, Iezzi led UH 惭ā苍辞补’s popular Kabuki in English production of The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves on a tour to Japan, demonstrating that the tradition Kikunobu helped build more than seven decades ago continues to thrive.
