Tomoe Gozen: The female samurai
When one says the word samurai, most imagine an armored man fiercely wielding a katana, and if one would to say female warrior, most would probably laugh and tell him to stop watching anime all the time. Nevertheless, women samurai, also known as onna bugeisha (女武芸者), were a small but very important representation of the Japanese upper class bushi (samurai) and some of them (e.g., Empress Jingu, Nakano Takeko, Hojo Masako or Tomoe Gozen) had a great impact on the Japanese history.
Empress Jingū in Korea. Painting by Yoshitoshi (1880).
One of the most famous onna musha (female warrior, 女武者) was Tomoe Gozen (巴 御前, 1157?–1247?), wife and general…
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