Keiko was born in Hirosaki-shi, Amori-ken, Japan on July 17, 1929 to Teisaku Kimura and Shige Kimura (ne;e Kitayama). She spent her childhood and teenage years in Hirosaki and though times were lean during WWII, she and her family were away from the great devastation farther south in Japan. After completing high school she, along with some of her best friends and classmates, attended Japan Women's University in Tokyo. During these years Keiko very much enjoyed her studies and the many social activities and dances that life in the city had to offer. She also pursued further instruction in traditional classical koto music that she had begun as a child in Hirosaki.
Seeking adventure, further education and opportunity Keiko left Japan in 1957 bound for the United States. After a brief time in San Diego she moved north to Seattle where she attended nursing school and earned a Bachelors of Science from the University of Washington in 1963. She was proud (though would never boast) about earning her degree by completing all her classes and assignments in English, which of course, was not her first language.
Keiko worked as a dental hygienist in Seattle until 1968 when she met and married Reo Kanogawa, a Japanese American whose family had been displaced by the forced relocation of Japanese Americans into internment camps during WWII. They moved from Seattle to Chicago where, in addition to continuing her work as a hygienist, Keiko joined the Chicago Koto Club performing and teaching Japanese traditional koto music. Moving to New York City in 1976, she stayed involved teaching and playing the koto and was "lucky enough to have had the opportunity" as she put it, to perform at Carnegie Hall.
Keiko and Reo returned to the Seattle area in 1985 where they both worked and enjoyed time gardening at their home in Bellevue. Hunting for the elusive matsutake mushroom in the forests of the Cascades was another favorite pastime. It was in 1990 while searching for matsutakes off the Mountain Loop Highway that Reo suffered a heart attack and passed quickly on the hillside. Keiko lost her dear friend, husband and partner in life far too early.
After Reo's passing Keiko continued working as a dental hygienist for some years longer. She filled her spare time with music, gardening and traveled frequently to Japan and once to Paris to meet a former koto student now her friend. She stayed another 25 years in her Bellevue home hosting visiting friends and family, enjoying her garden and playing, teaching and performing the koto. She also took up the Shamisen (a three stringed traditional Japanese instrument) playing with Seattle Miyagi-Kai. And in the last few years Keiko joined a Japanese singing group Seattle Kokusei-kai. Participating in both groups brought much purpose and joy to her life.
In 2015 Keiko moved from her Bellevue home to the retirement community of Silver Glen. There she met and made new dear friends while continuing her devotion to travel and music.
Keiko is predeceased by her parents Teisaku Kimura and Shige Kimura (ne;e Kitayama), her brothers Susumu Kimura, Minoru Kimura and sister Reiko Narita (ne;e Kimura). She is survived by her brothers Gen Kimura and Koh Kimura, brother in law Masao Narita, many nieces and nephews all in Japan and her friend Mary Ashworth in Seattle.
A celebration of Keiko's life will be held at the University of Washington's Arboretum Graham Visitor Center on Saturday March 24, 2019 from 1-3pm.
Keiko was incredibly grateful to her devoted caregivers during her last months and to her hospice nurses who provided her with knowledge, support and much comfort during her last days. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Kaiser Permanente Home Health Care and Hospice of Bellevue. Checks can be made out to KFHPW Holdings and addressed to: KPWA, attn. P. Ulmer 1950 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor, Oakland, CA. 94612. Please designate KP Hospice of Bellevue on your check.
Keiko will be interred at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Bellevue.
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