Keiko Fukuda

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Interview with Keiko Fukuda, March 11, 2012

Keiko Fukuda ( Japanese 福田 敬 子 Fukuda Keiko ; born April 12, 1913 in Tokyo Prefecture ; † February 9, 2013 in San Francisco ) was an American judoka of Japanese origin. In 2011, at the age of 98, she was the first woman to be awarded the highest master's title in her sport, the 10th Dan , by the American Judo Association .

Life

Keiko Fukuda first learned calligraphy , ikebana and the tea ceremony and studied Japanese literature at the Shōwa Women's University . She received her judo training from 1935 with Kanō Jigorō (1860-1938), the founder of judo, who opened his Kodokan in 1882 . In 1951 she was one of four women worldwide who achieved 5th Dan and became a teacher at the Kodokan together with Masako Noritomi . In 1953 she came to the United States for the first time and, after being asked by Kano to bring Judo closer to the women of the world, decided to stay and teach in the United States. After the ban on giving grades higher than the 5th Dan to women, Fukuda became the first female judoka to receive the 6th Dan from the Kodokan in 1972 . In 2006 she was again the first woman to be awarded the 9th Dan. The United States Judo Federation awarded her the 10th Dan on July 28, 2011, which, however, is not yet expressly recognized by the Kodokan or the International Judo Federation.

She has also taught judo in France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the Philippines. Fukuda was the last surviving judoka who was taught by Kanō Jigorō.

Until recently she taught three times a week at the San Francisco women's judo school (sōkō joshi jūdō club) in the Noe Valley district of San Francisco. Fukuda died on February 9, 2013 at her home in San Francisco.

Awards

Fonts

  • Born for the mat; a Kodokan kata textbook for women , San Francisco 1973
  • Ju no kata: A Kodokan judo textbook , North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California 2004, ISBN 1-55643-504-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sullivan, K. (2003): A Lifetime of Judo: 90 year old Keiko Fukuda, the martial art's highest-ranked women, still goes to the mat for her Bay Area students. , Article in the San Francisco Chronicle (October 17, 2003), accessed August 18, 2011
  2. ↑ Kathleen Sullivan: A Lifetime of Judo. In: JudoInfo, San Francisco Chronicle (original). October 17, 2003, accessed February 20, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Fukuda, Keiko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 福 田敬子 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese-American judoka
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo prefecture
DATE OF DEATH February 9, 2013
Place of death San Francisco