[citation needed] Okazaki was born and raised in Hawaii as a Buddhist, the daughter of Hawaii-born parents of Japanese descent.

[4] Okazaki (2008: 10–13) notes in her book What a Friend We Have in Jesus that her audiences were very touched and gratified for her efforts to deliver sermons in their languages.

Her efforts to speak in local languages was part and parcel of her general commitment to recognizing and celebrating diversity in the church.

She met Edward Y. Okazaki while she was earning an undergraduate degree in education at the University of Hawaii (1948), and they married on June 18, 1949, ten months after which he was baptized.

Her education came at a great cost to her and her family, but she dedicated her life to paying that forward by teaching elementary school in Maui, Hawaii; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Littleton, Colorado.