NAKAJIMA, HIDEKO, 85, passed away at her residence on July 15, 2019 in Richmond. Nakajima Sensei was born on May 19, 1934 in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. She enjoyed a lifelong career in the performing arts in both Japan and the U.S. In her youth, she sang professionally in Japan under King Records and joined a performing arts troupe that traveled to the US where she would eventually decide to settle.

Nakajima Sensei attained the Shihan degree from the founder of the Fujimoto-Ryu School of Shamisen Music in Tokyo. She founded in San Francisco her branch, the Fujimoto Hideki Kai in which she taught shamisen, enka and minyo to numerous students in Sacramento, Fresno, and the Greater Bay Area. She was awarded certificate merits of excellence as a teacher in the U.S. from the Fujimoto-Ryu School, Tokyo. She thoroughly enjoyed swimming, spending time with her dog and especially teaching and performing with her students in a variety of local Bay Area festivals. She has no surviving relatives but many students and friends who will greatly miss her.

A tribute and a memorial service will be held at 11:00 am on August 17, 2019 at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California 1840 Sutter Street, SF.