"Onna-bugeisha" Female Samurai of Japan by El_Maestro
ภาพเหมือนของ 2 ใน 4 อนนะ-บุเกอิชาที่มีชื่อเสียงในประวัติศาสตร์ญี่ปุ่น (ภาพจากวิกิพีเดีย) The portrait of 2 of 4 famous onna-bugeisha in Japanese history (Picture from wikipedia)
If mentioned about samurai, I believed that most people would imagined about the group of men who were professional sword fighter and take the katana along with them anywhere they go or the men in armor which made from pieces of leather, sewed them tight like a dragon scale and wearing mask with aggressive face to be threatening. But few people knew that there were some people who were as same as the samurai but only they were not men. They were women who had courage, bravery and do not fear death. These women were called "Onna-bugeisha"
"Onna-bugeisha" means female martial artist. They had to practice to fight with various weapons such as katana (Japanese sword), yari (spear), naginata (Japanese polearm), yumi (bow) etc., including horse riding skill. Other than the mentioned weapons, these women also had to practice "Tantojutsu", short knife fighting and they were included in the samurai class. According to the evidence, these female warriors were existed long before the rising of samurai. Most of them came from the noble family such as the samurai or the daimyo's family even the royal family for example, Empress Jingū who led the invasion of Korea in 200 AD after her husband, Emperor Chūai was slain in battle.
จักรพรรดินีจิงงู นำทัพบุกกาหลี (ภาพจากวิกิพีเดีย) Empress Jingū led the invasion of Korea. (Picture from wikipedia)
What is the main purpose of these female warriors?
Whenever the war broke out both in or out of the country, all male population will be drafted to join the battle, especially the samurai family. The women will be left to take care of the family. These women had to practice fighting to protect their household and family's honor. In some occasion, they will join with the army and fight for their land. When the battle came to the city, these onna-bugeisha will do their duty to defend the city alongside with the samurai. Their main weapons were katana, tanto (short knife) and bow but in the late period, they practiced long-range weapon like gun due to these weapons were widely used in battle.
อนนะ-บุเกอิชา จัดกำลังเพื่อป้องกันปราสาท (ภาพจากเกม Shogun 2 : Total War) Onna-bugeisha prepared to defend the castle. (Credit to Shogun 2 : Total War)
1. Empress Jingū, the consort of Emperor Chūai, the fourteenth emperor of Japan. She was famous by joining the conquest of Korea in 200 AD then became the leader of the army after her husband was slain in battle.
2. Gozen Tomoe, female warrior who joined the force of Minamoto no Yoshinaka in Genpei war and bravely led 300 samurai against 2,000 warriors of Taira clan. Her fame started by beheaded Honda no Morishige of Musashi clan. The second, slain Uchida Ieyori in battle. The third, prevented being capture by Hatakeyama Shigetada.
3. Hojo Masako, Hojo clan's onna-bugeisha of Izu province. She was not famous in battle but she was the first shogun's wife, Minamoto no Yoritomo.
4. Nakano Takeko, onna-bugeisha of the Aizu domain who was famous by joining the fight in Boshin war. In the defending of Yanagi bridge in the area of Nishibata, Fukushima province. Takeko led the charge against the Imperial army of Ogaki domain, the imperial soldiers were panicked and surprised to notice that the army of women charging toward them. In the confusion, the female warriors killed a lot of enemy soldiers. Takeko herself could killed 5-6 soldiers with her naginata before got a shot on her chest and fatally wounded. By desperately need to protect her honor, she asked her younger sister named "Nakano Yuko" to behead her for preventing her body fell into enemy possession. Her body was honorably bury nearby Hokai temple of her family. Nakano Takeko has been considered to be one of the last samurai after Meiji reforms.
ซามูไรหญิงคนสุดท้ายของญี่ปุ่น (ภาพจากวิกิพีเดีย) The last female samurai of Japan (Picture from wikipedia)
That's the story of the brave female warriors of Japan. This article is quite long because I would like to try to write in 2 languages. For one day. my article would be read by the foreigners so they could understand what it is about. If you like my article, please give me like, share my article and follow, If I did something wrong, I would like to apologize. Thank you for reading.