Madame Hanayagi Rokumine, a noted Japanese classical dance instructor, also known as Yoko Fukumoto, passed away on Aug. 5 with her family by her side. She was 93.
Born in Los Angeles on Oct. 5, 1931, to Shigeshi and Mie Fukumoto, she was the only girl among four siblings.
Her life, like that of many Japanese Americans, was profoundly affected by World War II and prevailing immigration policies. Despite being an American citizen, she was deported to Japan after Executive Order 9066. Her mother and siblings were also deported to Japan, while her father narrowly escaped being apprehended.
Most of her youth, from age 5 to 16, was spent in her parents’ hometown of Chiran, outside of Kagoshima in Kyushu. During her formative years, she was introduced to odori, igniting a lifelong passion for Japanese classical dance or Nihon buyo.
At age 17, in 1949, she returned to the U.S. with two of her brothers, Fred and Ted, and reunited with her father. Her mother and brother Jimmy remained in Japan. Fukumoto traveled between the two countries multiple times until 1960, when she returned to stay permanently in the U.S.
During her teens and early twenties in the U.S., she completed high school and went to work at a market. She found a loving home with the Inafuku family, whom her father had been residing with after the war. Mrs. Inafuku became her beloved patroness, teaching her how to cook, enrolling her in sewing school and floral arrangement classes, and connecting her with Hanayagi Rokumie of Los Angeles, where she could pursue her dream of odori.
In 1952, Fukumoto returned to Japan at her father’s request to bring her youngest brother, Jimmy, back to the U.S. It was then that she connected with her brother Fred’s classmate and her future husband, the late Dr. Itsuo Matsukiyo. She kept in touch with him through letters.
In 1956, she returned to Japan with her father to marry Itsuo. Her mother, Mie, was finally able to emigrate to the U.S. Fukumoto remained in Japan while Itsuo completed medical school. There they had their first child, Suzumi, in 1958.
Back in the U.S. in 1960, they welcomed their first son, Irvin Mineo, followed by David Hisao in 1962 and Michiyo in 1963. During this time, they opened a neighborhood market in West Los Angeles.
While working and raising her children, she continued her odori training under Hanayagi Rokumie’s tutelage. She trained vigorously to become an accomplished Nihon buyo dancer. By 1965, she was granted her natori accreditation, but Itsuo did not pass his Medical Board examination due to cultural and language barriers, so he returned to Japan to further his education and pursue a career there.
In 1971, she traveled to Japan yet again, to train and test with the Hanayagi Ryu Dance School for her teaching credentials. She passed and was certified by the Hanayagi grand master (iemoto). Back in Los Angeles, while working several jobs to provide for her children, she opened her own school, the Hanayagi Rokumine Kai, and began teaching after work and on weekends.
Often bringing her kids along, she taught odori in Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, Oxnard, Fresno, San Jose, and San Diego. In 1972, with her students, she began performing at Nikkei retirement homes, recitals, local temple Obon festivals, the Nisei Week Parade, Japanese Village and Deer Park in Buena Park, and even Disneyland.
At the request of Nikkei actress, dancer, producer, and former Nisei Week queen Helen Funai Erickson, Rokumine sensei assisted with the dance portion of the Miss Teen Sansei Pageants.
Hanayagi Rokumine and her students performed at Nisei Week, Obon festivals, and other community events.
During her tenure, she had up to 40 students, seven of whom attained natori status and received their own professional names under the Hanayagi Rokumine Kai School of Japanese Classical Dance.
She has been recognized by the Nikkei Women’s Legacy Association, The Rafu Shimpo, the Nisei Week Foundation, and many other organizations for her contributions to the Nikkei and greater Southern California community, bringing cultural awareness to Japanese arts. She retired from teaching after 47 years, in 2013, at the age of 82.
In her golden years, she enjoyed good health and always said how grateful she was for her life and her family. She also enjoyed her pets, gardening, cooking, family get-togethers, occasional trips to casinos, daily crossword puzzles, and her favorite game shows.
“She was a very special woman, and an amazing dancer,” her family said. “Most of all, she was a loving, caring mother, grandmother, aunt, friend, and teacher.”
A resident of Monterey Park, she is survived by four children, Suzumi (George) Lopez, Irvin (Akiko), David (Michelle), and Michiyo (John) Bailey; 11 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and other family members in the U.S. and Japan.
“A Remembrance and Celebration of a Mother and Nihon Buyo Master” may be viewed on YouTube, under “Hanayagi Rokumine Remembrances.”