Female Warriors: Tomoe Gozen And The Onna-Bugeisha
Toyohara Cikanobu/Wikimedia CommonsTomoe Gozen (middle) in battle.
The legendary Japanese samurai are more often than not portrayed as men, but some of the country’s most formidable warriors were a group of female samurai called the Onna-bugeisha.
They were every bit as deadly and powerful as their male counterparts and were trained using the same self-defense and offensive maneuvers. They used a special weapon called a naginata that was designed specifically for women and allowed them to have better balance because of their smaller stature.
One of the most famous Onna-bugeisha was Tomoe Gozen. In the 12th century, there was no warrior that could match Tomoe Gozen’s strength and agility.
Around the same time between 1180 and 1185, the Genpei War broke out between two of Japan’s ruling clans, the Minamoto and the Tiara. Eventually, the Minamoto came out on top and won control of Japan, and if it weren’t for Tomoe Gozen they might not have emerged victorious.
On the battlefield, she commanded troops who trusted her instincts and she led them to many victories. Before long, the master of the Minamoto clan named her Japan’s first true general.
Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Tomoe Gozen on horseback.
In 1184, she led 300 samurais into battle against 2,000 Tiara clan warriors. She was one of the only seven samurais to leave the battlefield with her life. An account of the Genpei War called The Tale of the Heike, gives one of the few descriptions of Tomoe:
Tomoe had long black hair and a fair complexion, and her face was very lovely; moreover she was a fearless rider whom neither the fiercest horse nor the roughest ground could dismay, and so dexterously did she handle sword and bow that she was a match for a thousand warriors, and fit to meet either god or devil. Many times had she taken the field, armed at all points, and won matchless renown in encounters with the bravest captains, and so in this last fight [i.e. the Battle of Awazu in 1184], when all the others had been slain or had fled, among the last seven there rode Tomoe.
Historical accounts of Tomoe Gozen’s life are scarce. While not much is known about her early life or her life after the battle in 1184, she is nevertheless remembered as one of the world’s greatest women warriors.
