Noriko Ōhara

is a Japanese artistic director and retired ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with the Scottish Ballet from 1976 to 1995. Since 2014, she has been the artistic director of the National Ballet of Japan at the New National Theatre, Tokyo. Ohara was awarded an honorary Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997 and was named to Japan's Order of the Rising Sun in 2014.

Biography Ohara was born in Tokyo in 1943. She began training in ballet at the age of four years, under . She also trained with Alexandra Danilova. At age 18, she joined the Asami Maki Ballet. She moved to New York in 1971 to further her training, then to London in 1974 to join the New London Ballet. Carmen in Carmen, Anna Karenina in Anna Karenina, the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Madge in Les Sylphides, and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In 1999, Ohara joined the New National Theatre Ballet (now the National Ballet of Japan) as its ballet mistress.

Awards and honours In 1997, Ohara was awarded an honorary OBE by the Secretary of State of Scotland, Donald Dewar. In 2004, she was awarded the Government of Japan's Purple Ribbon. In 2014, she was named to Japan's Order of the Rising Sun.