On Sunday, April 17, 2011, Fukuda Sensei was the Honorary Grand Marshal in San Francisco’s Cherry Blossom Parade. This year marked the 44th year of the annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, which celebrates Japanese and Japanese American culture.
Sensei enjoyed watching cultural dance and music performances as her car traveled the parade route from City [...]
The world is so blessed to have Fukuda Sensei’s love and wisdom. And San Francisco is blessed to have her presence! At 98 she still teaches at Soko Joshi Judo in Noe Valley. Come to Japantown, Sunday April 17th as Fukuda Sensei will be the grand marshal for this year’s Cherry Blossom Parade!
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Much honor is being bestowed upon Fukuda Sensei! First, in February the Japanese American Cultural Society (Hokka Nichi Bei Kai) honored her and installed her in their Cultural Hall of Fame. Then on March 26th she will be honored by the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) for her lifetime achievement of judo. [...]
The crowds came through, 62 contributors! $6,336.10 raised for “Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful.” Beyond the dollars and cents, the film also has new wealth of information, ideas, connections, referrals and an in-kind donation to update the editing system into the 21st century! Please check out this nice article about the film in the [...]
View our new 2-minute trailer and check up on our progress of our YEAR-END TAX DEDUCTIBLE fundraising campaign. Please consider making a contribution and helping us to reach the first editing milestone.
Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful reflects back as 2010 draws to a close. In January she brought together judo-ka in the Bay area for the annual New Year’s tradition of Kagami-biraki. Fukuda Sensei celebrated her 97th birthday in April, and she continues to teach three days a week at her dojo, Soko Joshi Judo.
2009 was a very big year for Fukuda Sensei, and for the film. In October the film crew traveled to Tokyo with her, where she attended the Kodokan All Japan Kata Tournament, as their honored guest. Keiko Fukuda, 9th dan, is the only woman sitting at the head table, along with the three living 10th [...]
Please join us this Sunday, November 8th for fundraising event honoring 96-year old Keiko Fukudo, the subject of Flying Carp’s latest documentary Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful. This evemt will feature martial arts performances of Judo, Karate, Aikido, Kung Fu and more.
Event Specifics
Place: Mills College Gym, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA
Time:Sunday, November 8, 3-5PM
We’re really excited about the launch of the new Flying Carp Productions website. Thanks for checking it out! As you’ll see it is a way to learn about the company, films, connect with us on Facebook, watch trailers, donate, receive updates, etc.
There are a lot of exciting things in motion for Be Strong, Be [...]
Later this week Yuriko is traveling to Japan to visit the Kodokan and discuss the film, conduct archival research, and meet with prospective funders.
Speaking of funds…we’re really grateful for a generous donation from the U.S. Judo Federation, which is sure to help with our upcoming shoot in July at the Summer Women’s Judo Camp.