Posted on: Thursday, October 21, 2004
Mitsuaki Hanayagi, dance master
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Mitsuaki Hanayagi, founder of a school of Japanese classical dance, died Oct. 15 at St. Francis Medical Center. She was 89.
Photo courtesy Hanayagi family Her most notable awards include recognition from the emperor of Japan and from the Japanese prime minister, said Karen Fujishima-Lee, a Hanayagi student for 52 years and now one of the academy's instructors.
In July, the academy gave a buyo taikai, or grand recital, at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall, showcasing formal renderings of dances from the classical repertoire, complete with ornate costumes from Hanayagi's collection that were brought in from Japan.
Hanayagi was born into a family of entertainers who went by the stage name of Hisamatsu and entertained at sugar and pineapple plantation camps as well as on the Mainland, Fujishima-Lee said.
She left home for seven years to study in Japan and founded the academy upon her return.
She is survived by her sister, Ruth Lee; nieces Gail Awakuni, Anne Shirai and Lotus Russell; and nephew Hugh Lee.
Services will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Nichiren Mission of Hawaii, 33 Pulelehua Way; cremation to follow. Arrangements by Moanalua Mortuary.
Hanayagi also was known by her birth name, Viola Ikie Hosokawa. But it was under her stage name, as sensei of the 57-year-old Hanayagi Dancing Academy, that she gained acclaim in the Japanese cultural community.
Mitsuaki Hanayagi received acclaim as the founder of a school of Japanese classical dance.
