INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 1 Onna Musha: Female Samurai What comes to mind when you hear the word samurai? Savvy soldiers wielding katanas? Armored warriors about to strike a blow? Or perhaps a man on the verge of seppuku or self-sacrifice. What about a kimono-wrapped lady on the verge of kicking ass? While most women in the Kamakura Period (Early Feudal Japan; 1192- 1333) were expected to adhere to traditional roles, they were also considered within the bushi warrior class. Only the men, however, were deemed samurai; “samurai” women were either onna-musha, a female warrior proper, or onna-bugeisha, a woman trained in defensive martial arts to protect her family’s abode. Onna-musha were rarer than their onna-bugeisha counterparts. Nevertheless, both warrior women’s weapon of choice was the naginata, a curved sword mounted on a lengthy pole, first used in 750 A.D. by warrior monks in Japan.
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 2 KOJO MIYAGINO: The Filial Using a Naginata (mid 1800s). Woodblock print, oban tate-e. 36.90cm x 25.40cm. Source: The British Museum.
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 3 In contrast to onna bugeisha, onna musha took part in offensive combat, primarily fighting alongside samurai. Nakano Takeko, a notable onna musha, earned her warrior renown for her fierceness during the Boshin War (1868-1869). Takeko gathered her own troops of onna musha to fight alongside the Tokugawa shogunate, which marched against Imperial Meiji forces. Her band of onna musha, then known as the Jōshitai, included both Takeko’s mother and her sister.
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 4 Portrait of Takeko Nakano. Photographer Unknown*.
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 5 Another formidable onna musha was Tomoe Gozen. Besides being a consummate archer, Tomoe had great skill at horseback riding and at wielding the katana, making her a fearsome foe in battle.
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 6 TSUKIOKA YOSHITOSHI: Kokon Hime Kagami Tomoe Onna (1875-1876). Ink on paper, color woodblock prints. 14-1/4 in. x 10 in. Source: Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 7 While some scholars believe that Tomoe was a fictional warrior, accounts of her feats in combat solidify her as an onna musha of great bravery and skill. Best known for her role in the Genpei War (1180-1185), Tomoe’s battlefield achievements, up to the decapitation of Musashi clan leader Saborou Ieyoshi, helped establish a new era within the Kamakura shogunate. The rise of Zen Buddhism, for instance, brought new codes of honor for the bushi warrior class, transforming them into the samurai we know today.
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 8 ISHIKAWA TOYONOBU: Tomoe Gozen Killing Uchida Saburo Ieyoshi at the Battle of Awazu no Hara (c. 1750). Woodblock print. Ink and color on paper. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm); 11 3/8 in. (28.9 cm). Source: The Met
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 9 Thanks to the fierceness, bravery, and skill of the brave warrior onna, the naginata itself became known as a symbol of female virtue among the samurai class.
INKBRUSHMOOD VOL. 2 Onna Musha: Female Samurai | 10 00 ISHIKAWA TOYONOBU: Tomoe Gozen Killing Uchida Saburo Ieyoshi at the Battle of Awazu no Hara (c. 1750). Woodblock print. Ink and color on paper. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm) x 11 3/8 in (28.9 cm). Source: The Met