Kenkojuku student of Gichin Funakoshi. He was a member of Funakoshi's karate association the Dai Nihon Karate-do Shotokai. In 1942, Okano was given permission to start a karate research club named Kenkokai Karate-bu in his hometown of Hachiōji, Tokyo. The club was started with the help of Suzuki Shinjo, Kaneko Isamu and Takagi Yoshitomo. He renamed the dojo Kenkojuku Budokan in 1948. Okano's karate was influenced by both Gichin and Gigo Funakoshi, and eventually this branch of Shotokan became known as Kenkojuku Shotokan. He retained the Shotokai lineage as well as the name Shotokan. Okano was on the panel of Masters
Ryu Hayabusa Ryu was included in the first version of the 2010 fan-made Flash game "Super Mario Bros. Crossover". In commemoration of the 2009 merger of Koei and Tecmo, Ryu, Ayane and Momiji were unplayable guest characters in Koei's "" released that year. In the company's 2011 hack and slash title "Warriors Orochi 3", Ryu, Ayane, Rachel, Momiji and Kasumi appear in another dimension and assist the game's playable characters. Ryu's "Ninja Gaiden" costume parts were available as exclusive downloads as part of the first-anniversary promotion campaign for "Dynasty Warriors Online". Ryu additionally appeared with Ayane in the April 2012 Japan-only release