Sunday, April 12, 2015

Onna-Bugeisha: the Female Samurai Warriors

When I say "samurai warrior," most people conjure an image of a man in lacquered armor wielding a pair of wicked swords.

Something like this:


Look! A samurai!
Or possibly this:

Yep, that's a samurai.


Far fewer people realize that, on occasion, samurai warriors also looked like this:

Onna-bugeisha, the female Japanese warrior

During (and since) the medieval era, the Japanese term for these female samurai warriors is onna-bugeisha (女武芸者). It translates roughly to "woman warrior."

The term "female samurai" isn't exactly correct, because all women born to samurai families were considered samurai--whether or not they wore swords and rode into battle like a man. Women in samurai households were usually literate and received at least minimal training in hand to hand combat, often with the naginata, a type of Japanese halberd. 


(Unlike European halberds, which were normally used by men, the naginata was normally considered most suitable for use by women and monks.)

Samurai women were expected to watch over the family income, accounts, and household when their fathers or husbands went to war, duties which often included managing ledgers and--when necessary--defending the home against thieves or invaders. These were NOT the "shrinking violets" many people imagine when they consider medieval Japanese wives!

Most onna-bugeisha lived as women--wearing women's clothes and acting as wives, daughters, and sisters except when danger required them to take up arms to defend their homes and families. 

Tomoe Gozen on horseback
However, if a samurai warrior had no son (and occasionally, even if he did) he could raise a daughter as a full-time onna-bugeisha. In rare cases, these women even adopted male dress and hairstyles, wore two swords, and served full-time in the army of the daimyo to whom they pledged their service.

Tomoe Gozen, center, fighting in the Genpei War
One famous onna-bugeisha, Tomoe Gozen, allegedly fought in the Genpei War (1180-1185) and served as a role model to generations of Japanese women. Although some historians argue about whether or not Tomoe Gozen truly lived, other famous onna-bugeisha like Hojo Masako and Nakano Takeko are well-documented historical figures.

Portrait of Nakano Takeko

My fondness for onna-bugeisha carries over into my fiction. The first Shinobi Mystery, Claws of the Cat, featured a female samurai warrior named Akechi Yoshiko, who lives (and acts) more like a samurai man than a woman. Yoshiko makes a return appearance in my upcoming release, Flask of the Drunken Master (Minotaur, July 2015)--and I promise, she hasn't abandoned her warrior's ways.

One reason I set my books in Japan is the host of intriguing, surprising--and realistic--characters who populated that medieval world. I love exploring their stories, and sharing them with readers who might or might not realize that such people--though fictionalized in my stories--also existed in medieval Japan. 

The onna-bugeisha was only one...I'll share some others in weeks to come....

--Susan (who wishes she could walk around wearing swords).

13 comments:

  1. Very instructive and lively text, Susan! Enjoyed it hugely. I've trained with the wooden version of the naginata for years (so, that means I was a...euh, monk :-)) and I can testify that it truly is a difficult "art" to master (which, actually, I didn't, I just tried :-)....

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    1. Thanks Bob! And you're right - it's absolutely a difficult weapon. I've only picked one up a couple of times, but it was enough to make me impressed with anyone who can handle it for real.

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  2. In Glasgow, quite a few (naughty) folk do walk around wearing swords! My friend the pathologist tells a great story of a young man coming into casualty with a 'Samurai Sword' in his head. The victim was alive and conscious, the attending doctor (who was waiting for a neurosurgeon to come down and tell him if it was safe to remove the offending weapon) spent a good few minutes examining the intricate carvings and marks on the handle and showing it off to his students. The nurses, the neurosurgeon, the police, the odd cleaner who was passing all joined in the fascination of the 'exhibit'. The thoughts of the patient during this were unrecorded, but he made a full recovery.

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    1. Oh wow! They're illegal to wear here - probably because we'd have quite a few unfortunates ending up in the ER with sword-inflicted injuries.

      What a great story. I can only imagine what the ER doctor thought when he saw THAT coming.

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  3. Oh, I am so glad Yoshiko is coming back. I loved her in Claws of the Cat. People always seem to think that ALL women in all cultures in the past were weaklings. A few such doubters--mostly on Goodreads--have criticized my City of Silver because the nuns in the story are "too self-sufficient" to be true to 17th century life. And what do they think? That Spanish noblewomen who crossed the ocean on those little wooden boats to go and live in terra incognita were afraid of their own shadows? Hooray for the true-to-life women of history!!! I have Flask of the Drunken Master on pre-order. Can't wait!

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    1. In my very long life I have found that usually the women are far stronger than the men - most of them, however, do not flash their strength - it is a hidden weapon with many females.. tjstraw in NYC

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    2. Thanks Annamaria - she's one of my favorites too. She was such a complex character that I wanted a chance to examine what she was likely to do after she finished mourning her father. Turns out, the answer surprised even me.

      And I think you're right tj - women do often use their strength in subtle ways, but it's always there on the inside, waiting for the need.

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  4. Shrinking violets were more an invention of "high class" England (and the "high class" of other cultures) than anything else. Those who grub for a living know that no one can be a weak, useless anchor being dragged by those around them. All hail, the Tiger Ladies of the world! (And, no, Jeff, I'm not including you... you're not tough enough...)

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    1. LOL Everett!

      You're absolutely correct that the "shrinking violet" image is more Western than eastern. Even geisha were expected to have skills and strength (physical as well as mental) and needed it to do their job. Medieval Japan wasn't an easy place to live, but for women it was often better than Europe, at least in terms of the freedoms offered.

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  5. This is so good to know, belongs in the "learn something new every day" category.

    But it's great that there were women "samurai" who were strong, educated and well-trained. Another affirmation of strong women throughout history.

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad I could share these special women with you!

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  6. Hard for me to imagine why with your skills you'd need a sword, Susan, but if you wore one decorated with some of that coral mentioned in your last post, you'd have a true "killer" outfit. :)

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    1. But Jeff...if you put the coral on the SWORD instead of the armor, then you don't have to wait for the enemy to come to you...

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