50+ Years in the Dance Circle: Kikue ‘Kiki’ Hagimori of Seattle

Editor’s note: “50+ Years in the Dance Circle” will pay tribute to the extraordinary dance instructors who taught Bon Odori at BCA temples for 50 or more years. This series continues with a tribute to the late Kikue “Kiki” Hagimori of Seattle.

Kikue “Kiki” Frances Hagimori (1915–2006) studied Japanese classical dance, assisted and taught Bon Odori at the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple for over 50 years, and was memorialized in the song “Seattle Omoide” (“Seattle Memories”). 

In 1915, Kikue “Kiki” Frances Yamamoto was born to Genya and Noe Yamamoto in Seattle, Washington. Kiki’s parents ran the New American Hotel on 7th Avenue South and South King Street in the Chinatown neighborhood. She learned Japanese classical dance from the age of 6 and graduated from Franklin High School in 1934. 

Kiki Yamamoto and Kaoru Kay Hagimori married before World War II and were incarcerated together at the Minidoka concentration camp in Idaho. In 1944, their daughter Sharon was born in Minidoka. After the war, the couple co-managed the New American Hotel with Kiki’s parents until Kaoru started to work at West Coast Printing. 

Kiki Hagimori ran the Powder Box Beauty Salon with partner Mary Tsuchikawa in the late 1940s and opened Kiki’s Beauty Salon in the early 1960s. The eponymous salon, located near South Jackson Street and Maynard Avenue South, quickly became a gathering place for women in the Japanese American community. 

Kiki was active at the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple, performing in Japanese theater productions and assisting Fukuko Nakatani with Bon Odori instruction. Kiki took over the teaching duties in 1952 and led Bon Odori at the temple for the next 50 years. 

During her tenure, the temple’s Obon became a part of the citywide Seafair summer festival in 1954 and temple dancers participated in the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. She taught numerous dances including “Bamba Odori,” “Furusato Ondo,” “Goshu Ondo,” “Tanko Bushi,” “Yakyuken Odori” with a reference to the Seattle Mariners’ star Ichiro Suzuki, and “Zenkoku Ondo” with chochin lanterns. Throughout the years, dancers from Auburn, Olympia, Tacoma, and Portland, Oregon, would travel to Seattle for her instruction.

After a gradual transition, Kiki handed over the teaching duties to Gwen Kawabata Florence in 2002. When Kiki passed in 2006, the temple community paid tribute to her with the creation of “Seattle Omoide” (“Seattle Memories”), a new Bon Odori created collaboratively by Florence, Byron Au Yong, Karen Akada Sakata, Susanne Umeda and Dennis Yamashita with ideas collected from temple members. 

The Bon Odori debuted in 2007 on the 75th anniversary of Bon Odori at the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple. The lyrics read in part: “I nod to friends and to those who have passed away. Sensei Kiki dances next to me on this happy day. The sun goes down on the lanterns — they sway and yawn. I watch children as they learn new songs. The future carries on.” 

Each year at Obon, Kiki is remembered by her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, temple members, and generations of dancers. 

To view a full list of 50+ teachers, follow the link: www.bit.ly/fiftyplusyears. If you have an additional dance instructor for the BCA Music Committee to consider, please email Wynn at wynnkiyama@gmail.com.

Wynn Kiyama lives in Honolulu, Hawai‘i with his family and is a member of the BCA and the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. He is currently working on a history of Bon Odori in the continental United States.