Advertisement
When people think of samurai, they typically envision a stern male warrior wielding a katana with unwavering honor. This image is understandable, given Japan’s patriarchal society, where women were often relegated to secondary roles as obedient wives and mothers. However, history reveals that feudal Japan had its share of female samurai, known as “onna-bugeisha,” who defied societal norms and fought alongside their male counterparts.
The stories of these warrior women were often overshadowed by those of their male relatives, contributing to their relative obscurity in historical accounts. Trained in combat and proficient in various weapons, onna-bugeisha, such as Tomoe Gozen and Nakano Takeko, wielded weapons like the naginata, a polearm suited for maintaining distance from opponents, as well as the kaiken and tantojutsu, involving knife fighting.
Tomoe Gozen, renowned for her exploits in the Genpei War, was celebrated for her exceptional skill, reportedly collecting the heads of seven enemy warriors in a single battle. Similarly, Nakano Takeko displayed bravery and prowess during the Boshin War, ultimately meeting a tragic end on the battlefield.
However, the prominence of female samurai declined after the 1600s, coinciding with Japan’s unification under the Tokugawa shogunate and the promotion of Confucian ideals emphasizing female subordination. Economic hardships faced by the samurai class further hindered the training and equipping of female warriors, leading to the diminishing presence of onna-bugeisha in Japanese society.