Samurai Woman Warrior

[John Giacoletti]

Tomoe Gozen - Fuedal Japan


In feudal Japan in the 12th century, the society of the samurai was at its height. Though samurai society was dominated by men, women of samurai clans were trained in martial arts, especially in the use of the naginata.

John: What's a "naginata?"

Answer: http://www.naginata.org/background.html


Heroic samurai women appear in epics of the period; chief among these is Tomoe Gozen. Tomoe Gozen was the wife of Minamoto Yoshinaka, a samurai at war with Minamoto Yoshitsune. At the fighting at the River Uji, she supported him in battle. When it was obvious that they were defeated, Yoshinaka and his few remaining warriors made a desperate charge against Yoshitsune's samurai. Tomoe Gozen insisted on remaining to face defeat with her husband, saying, "I want to fight the last glorious fight in front of you."

The 'Heike Monogatori' records that, facing a powerful enemy, she "flung herself upon Onda, and, grappling with him, dragged him from his horse... and cut off his head." She told her husband that she would hold off the enemy long enough for him to commit seppuku, the samurai spiritual suicide in defeat, but he was struck by an arrow. Tomoe Gozen's fate after the battle is not known, but it is thought that she retired to a Buddhist convent.