Yoshimi Yamashita (山下良美, born 20 February 1986) is a Japanese football referee.
[3][4] She was an official at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France[5][6] and also refereed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
[7] In 2022, she was one of six women referees selected to officiate at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and one of the first three women appointed as potential center referees in men's World Cup history alongside Stephanie Frappart and Salima Mukansanga.
[citation needed] Also during 2022, Yamashita became the first female referee to officiate a game in both the men's AFC Champions League and the J1 League, taking charge in Melbourne City's 2–1 win over Chunnam Dragons[11] and FC Tokyo's 2–0 win over Kyoto Sanga respectively.
The match featured a penalty kick awarded by video assistant referee review, and Yamashita delivered the first in-stadium explanation of a video-reviewed decision in the history of women's international football.