Dance Lecturer
Japanese Dance
Professional Name: Onoe Kikunobukazu
asao3@hawaii.edu
Howard K. Asao began his dance training in 1964. He received the professional name of Onoe Kikunobukazu in 1972 from Onoe Kikunobu (Gertrude Y. Tsutsumi), after receiving official approval from Onoe Kikunojō II (aka. Onoe Boksetsu), the 3rd Generation Headmaster of the Onoe School of Dance in Tokyo. In 1998 he was granted his Master Instructor’s (shihan) certificate, from the same school. During his professional career, he has assisted Onoe Kikunobu in many of her community projects, as well as worked closely with the UHM Department of Theatre and Dance on English-language Kabuki productions.
Beginning in 1980, he served as a teaching assistant to Onoe Kikunobu in her Japanese Dance courses at UHM, and upon her retirement from UHM in 2014, was selected to carry on her legacy in Japanese Dance in the Dance Program in the Department of Theatre and Dance.