Kita Fumiko
(1875-1950) Female pro at Hoensha, awarded 1 dan in 1889.
She married the No actor Kita Roppeita in 1895. Returned to go in 1907. 4 dan in 1907, 5 dan in 1921, 6 dan in 1938. Nearly all Japanese female professional go players prior to World War II were students of Kita Fumiko.
Her original name was Shiba Fumi.
Adopted daughter of Hayashi Sano of the Hayashi go house, one of the few Meiji-era woman go players, the first Meiji-era woman to reach the rank of 4-Dan. A good story about a battle of wills between Sano and her daughter Fumi can be found in the essay The Art of Resigning contained in Nakayama Noriyuki's book The Treasure Chest Enigma. A record, with comments, of a handicap game between Kita Fumiko and Shuei can be found in Masterpieces of Handicap Go, Volume 1.