Mary Mariko Iino was born on October 21, 1918, in Seattle, Washington. Upon completing her early education, Mary chose to go to Japan, where she taught English. One of Mary’s students introduced her to Jiro Murai. In their first meeting, Jiro invited Mary to become his student and to, one day, take the Art of Jin Shin to America.

While in Japan, and during her studies with Jiro Murai, Mary met and fell in love with Gilbert Burmeister. In 1954, with Jiro’s blessing, Mary returned to America and married Gilbert. Through written correspondence, Mary continued her studies with Jiro Murai until his death in 1960.

In 1966, Mary began teaching and created her first textbook on Art of Jin Shin. She created several revisions of the textbooks during her years of teaching. In addition to her classes, Mary worked tirelessly giving private sessions to students and to the general public.

In 1989, Mary fell and sustained a head injury that would bring her teaching to an end. Mary Burmeister passed away on January 27, 2008.