Keiko Fukuda (born April 12, 1913) is the highest-ranking female practitioner of judo in the world. She was born in Tokyo, and began the practice of judo in 1935 at the age of 21. She was invited to study judo by Kano Jigoro, the founder of the martial art, because of his relationship with her grandfather, Fukuda Hachinosuke, who, years before, had taught Tenjin Shinyō-ryū Jujutsu to Kano. Fukuda is the last living pupil of Dr Kano. In 1973, Fukuda published Born for the Mat, an instructional book intended for women about the kata of kodokan judo. Fukuda currently holds a 9th degree black belt (9th dan) in judo. She was awarded a rare red belt in judo by the United States Judo Federation in 2001 for her lifelong contribution to the martial art. In January of 2006, at its annual Kagami Biraki New Years celebration, the Kodokan Judo Institute also awarded her the 9th degree black belt (9th dan). She is the only woman to ever hold this high rank from any recognized judo organization. In 2005, Fukuda published Ju-No-Kata: A Kodokan textbook, Revised and Expanded from Born for the Mat (Publisher: North Atlantic Books): A pictorial textbook for performing Ju no Kata, one of the seven Kodokan Kata. She teaches at the Soko Joshi Judo Club in the Noe valley district of San Francisco, California. Fukuda also teaches at the annual Joshi Judo Camp, a camp she founded in 1974 to give women judoka an opportunity to train together.
Awards and other achievements
- 1990 Recipient Emperor of Japan Distinguished Cultural Award
- 1990 Recipient USJI Henry Stone Lifetime Contribution to American Judo Award
- Technical advisor for US Women’s Judo
- Technical Advisor of USJI Kata Judges Certification Subcommittee
- National Kata Judge
- Faculty Member USJI National Teachers’ Institute Member USJF Promotion Committee, USJF & USJI Women’s Subcommittee
- Graduate of Showa Women’s University
