Sumika Yamamoto is a Japanese manga artist, born on July 17, 1949 in Enzan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. She is recognized as a creator of shōjo manga, a genre aimed at young girls, and is best known as the original author of the classic sports series Ace o Nerae!, which is also known as Aim for the Ace! or Aim for the Best!.

Yamamoto made her professional debut as a manga artist in 1971 with the work Sono Hitokoto ga ienakute, published in the manga magazine Margaret. She achieved significant success shortly after, beginning the serialization of her most famous work, Ace o Nerae!, in the same magazine in 1972. The manga was serialized in two parts, the first running from 1972 to 1975 and the second from 1978 to 1980. The series became a major commercial success, reportedly selling over 15 million copies in Japan alone. Alongside other works of the era, it is considered a milestone in the development of shōjo manga.

Beyond her signature series, Yamamoto created several other manga during the 1970s, including Nanatsu no Eldorado (The Seven Eldorados), an adventure story serialized from 1975 to 1977, and shorter works like Kiss ni Goyoujin and H2O! Zendai mimon!. In the 1980s, she published a small number of works aimed at an adult female audience, such as Ai no Ogonritsu and Hakuran Seifuu, but her artistic output decreased significantly during this period.

The anime adaptations of Ace o Nerae! form a significant part of the franchise's history. The original television anime aired from 1973 to 1974. This was followed by a theatrical film in 1979. Yamamoto is credited as the original creator for the subsequent sequels, including the series Ace o Nerae! 2, also known as Shin Ace wo Nerae!, which was released in 1988, and Ace o Nerae! Final Stage, released in 1989. A live-action television drama adaptation was also produced in 2004.

Yamamoto studied at Musashino Art University after graduating from Saitama Prefectural Urawa Nishi High School. Around 1981, she moved back to her hometown and gradually withdrew from the manga industry to focus on cultivating her spirituality, eventually becoming involved with a religious organization. Her career as a manga artist effectively ended in the mid-1980s. Her significance in the industry rests primarily on her creation of Ace o Nerae!, a foundational work of the sports genre in shōjo manga that has inspired multiple generations of readers and creators and has been adapted into various forms of media.