Rika Usami  born February 20, 1986 is a Japanese practitioner of Shito-ryu Karate who is best known for her victory at the 2012 World Karate Championships. As of March 2021, Usami is coaching the karate team at Kokushikan University.



She had said in an interview that she started karate when she was 10 years old by joining a Goju-ryu-style dojo located near her family’s house in Tokyo, after seeing a female fighter on television. Her older brother had been practicing karate and let Usami wear his karate gi on occasions, so that helped her a lot when she decided to eventually start practicing karate herself.

Usami’s first karate tournament was when she was a green belt at 12 years old in elementary school. Usami did not participate in big tournaments until age 15 and won her first tournament at 17 years old at the all Japan High School Karatedo Championships.