His fate was sealed at age 21. Born in 1913, until then, like any young Japanese woman of her time, she had been instructed in the art of flower arranging, calligraphy, and the tea ceremony.
When he met Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo and the Kodokan Institute, the highest authority on the subject, Keiko Fukuda knew immediately where the future was looming. Kano had been a student of Fukuda’s grandfather, a samurai and a jiujitsu master.
The disciple surprised the teacher: with about 45 kilos and less than five feet tall, she nevertheless had extraordinary aptitudes to excel in practice. His uncle was against it; her mother and brother supported her enthusiastically, thinking that through judo she would find a husband.
Keiko not only did not marry but she dismissed an arranged marriage because she did not want anything to divert her from her path as a judoka. At 24 she was already an instructor. At 40 he obtained the fifth dan, or fifth degree of black belt, honor reserved to an exclusive group of women; he had previously had time to graduate in Japanese Literature from Showa University.
His career continued in the United States, where he devoted himself to teaching judo. With more than enough merit to access the sixth dan, there was an obstacle: it was forbidden for women to go beyond the fifth. After a campaign to repeal such limitation, Keiko agreed to the long-awaited recognition.
But that was not all: at 93 she became the first and only woman to obtain the ninth dan. And at 98 he broke all records when the United States Judo Federation awarded him the 10th dan. He taught until his death, at 99. His personal motto was: “Be strong, be gentle, be beautiful, in mind, body and spirit”.
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