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
Dan (rank) the highest attainable rank. Unlike Judo, all "dan" promotion within the All Japan Kendo Federation, International Kendo Federation and its member countries is by examination. Whereas "dan" grades are awarded for technical ability, there is a parallel "shogo" system awarding the higher teaching grades of "renshi", "kyoshi", and "hanshi". "Renshi" and "kyoshi" are awarded by written examination while "hanshi" by election. Although the "dan" system is distinctly Japanese, it has been adopted by many other martial arts styles. The "dan" system and the well-known symbol of a black belt have been absorbed into common usage to represent a person with