Kyōgoku Maria

Kyōgoku Maria (京極マリア) or Yōfuku-in (養福院) (1543 – August 20, 1618) was a Japanese noble lady and religious leader from the Sengoku period to the early Edo period.

She faced the rules of samurai governments, staying true to her missionary campaigns even when Christianity was banned in Japan.

After becoming a widow, she began preaching her new religion to people around her, and Jesuits named her one of the best female catechists of the Kyoto-Osaka area.

She died peacefully in a small hut belonging to a Buddhist nunnery Sengen-ji (泉源寺) in 1618.

One of her daughters, Kyōgoku Tatsuko, is notable for being one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's favorite concubines.