Judo federations have promoted another eleven who are not recognized (at that level of rank) by the Kodokan. On July 28, 2011, the promotion board of USA Judo awarded Keiko Fukuda the rank of 10th "dan", who was the first woman to be promoted to judo's highest level, albeit not a Kodokan-recognized rank. Although "dan" ranks tend to be consistent between national organizations there is more variation in the "kyū" grades, with some countries having more "kyū" grades. Although initially "kyū" grade belt colours were uniformly white, today a variety of colours are used. The first black belts to denote a
Judo in the United States the naval academy. Judo suddenly had its first strong roots in the United States. Yoshiaki decided to return to Japan, but other Japanese Judo participants followed his example. The judo concentration was mainly centered in Washington before World War II, but several centers existed on the west coast, including Tokugoro Ito's dojo in Los Angeles, which was founded in 1910. Judo first entered the Western United States when Dr. T Ito began teaching Judo in Denver in the 1930s. During World War II Judo was banned in many areas due to the Japanese fear; however, a boom followed the war.