Samurai Women 1184-1877 [Osprey Warrior 151]

35 Pages·2010·32.222 MB·English

by  Stephen Turnbull

SAMURAI WOMEN
1184-1877
ABOU H AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
PH R B LL tookhisfirstdegreeatCambridge University,
and hastwoMAs(inTheologyand MilitaryHistory)from Leeds University.
In 1996he received aPhDfrom Leedsfor hisworkonJapanesereligious
history.Hetravels extensivelyin Europeandthe FarEastandalso runsa
WARRIOR • 151
well-used picture library.Hisworkhas been recognized bytheawarding
oftheCanon Prizeofthe BritishAssociationforJapaneseStudiesand a
Japan Festival LiteraryAward.In 2008 hewas appointedVisiting Professor
SAMURAI WOMEN
ofJapaneseStudiesatAkita International UniversityinJapan.Stephen
currentlydivides histime between lecturinginJapaneseReligion
1184-1877
and HistoryatLeeds Universityandfreelance writing.
GIUSEPPE RAVAwas born in Faenza in 1963,andtookan interestin
allthings militaryfrom an earlyage.Entirelyself-taught,Giuseppehas
established himselfasaleading militaryhistoryartist,and isinspired by
theworks ofthegreatmilitaryartists,suchas Detaille,Meissonier,Roehling,
Lady Butler,Ottenfeld and Angus McBride.Helivesand wnrk~ in It"h,
STEPHEN TURNBULL ILLUSTRATED BY GIUSEPPE RAVA
SerieseditorMarcusCowper
FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2010byOspreyPublishing DEDICATION CONTENTS
MidlandHouse,WestWay,Botley,OxfordOX2OPH,UK
44-0223rdSt,Suite219,LongIslandCity,NY11101,USA ToWynzieandMairRichards,withthanksforyearsoffriendship
E-mail:[email protected] andsupport.
©2010OspreyPublishingLtd.
EDITOR'S NOTE
Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivate
study,research,criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright, Unlessotherwiseindicated,allimagesinthisbookaretheproperty INTRODUCTION: THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI WOMAN 4
oftheauthor.
DesignsandPatentsAct,1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybe
reproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform
CHRONOLOGY 6
orbyanymeans,electronic,electrical,chemical,mechanical,optical, ARTIST'S NOTE
photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermission
ofthecopyrightowner.InquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothePublishers. Readersmaycaretonotethattheoriginalpaintingsfromwhichthe
colourplatesinthisbookwerepreparedareavailableforprivatesale. WOMEN IN SAMURAI HISTORY 7
AOPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. ThePublishersretainallreproductioncopyrightwhatsoever.Allenquiries
shouldbeaddressedtoGiuseppeRavaviathefollowingwebsite: The female rulers ofancientJapan. Women and the rise ofthe samurai
ISBN:9781846039S1S
Women in the Age ofWarring States. The women ofthe ikki
www.g-rava.it
E-bookISBN:9781846039522
ThePublishersregretthattheycanenterintonocorrespondenceupon
EditorialbylIiosPublishingLtd,Oxford,UK(www.iliospublishing.com)
thismatter. APPEARANCE, EQUIPMENT AND DRESS 19
PagelayoutbyMarkHolt
IndexbyAlisonWorthington
The armed woman • The naginata • The dagger
TypesetinSabonandMyriadPro THE WOODLAND TRUST
OriginatedbyPPSGrasmere
PrintedinChinathroughWorldprintLtd OspreyPublishingaresupportingtheWoodlandTrust,theUK'sleading
woodlandconservationcharity,byfundingthededicationoftrees. THE SAMURAI WOMAN IN PEACE AND WAR 23
10 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Wives, daughters and marriage. The vengeful woman
Samurai women and the defended castle
THE SAMURAI WOMAN ON THE BATTLEFIELD 36
Tomoe Gozen: the beautiful samurai, 1184 • Tsuruhime ofOmishima, the sea princess, 1541
UenoTsuruhime atTsuneyama, 1577 • Keigin-ni at Imayama, 1570
Myorin-ni, the warrior widow ofTsurusaki Castle, 1586 • The women ofHondo, 1589-90
The female defenders ofOmori Castle, 1599 • Women in the Sekigahara Campaign, 1600
The women warriors ofAizu, 1868
MUSEUMS AND MEMORIALS 61
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FURTHER READING 63
INDEX 64
www.ospreypublishing.com
TomoeGozenisthemost
famoussamuraiwoman
warriorofall.Inthisstriking
printsheisshowntogood
effect,withattractivefeatures,
SAMURAI WOMEN wearingared-lacedsuitof
armourandcarryinga
naginata,thetraditional
1184-1877 weaponforawomanwarrior.
INTRODUCTION:
THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI WOMAN
The lives and exploits of the samurai warriors ofJapan are among the best
recorded accounts offighting men anywhere in the world. Chronicles, diaries
andgunkimono (epicwarstories) abound,relatinginimmensedetail boththeir
individual prowess and their contribution to the development of military
technologyinmedievaland earlymodernJapan. Yetto avery largeextentthese
eyewitness accounts, stories and legends about the samurai are an all-male
affair, makingthefemalesamuraiwarrioraveryelusivecreature.Thewoman's
roleseemsto beexercised only behind thescenes: in palaces,councilchambers
and livingquarters wheredecisionswere made,alliancesarrangedand intrigues
unfolded. In those situations the influence of women, both directly and
indirectly, has long been recognized to have been considerable, because, as
wives, daughters and mothers, the women ofthe samurai class could exert a
huge influence over the political process. In their less welcome roles as pawns
in the marriage game, negotiators or go-betweens, women also played a vital
and hazardouspart in the drama ofmedievalJapan. Thesamurai womanas a
fighting warrior, bycontrast, appears to be almost non-existent.
However, even though authentic accounts offighting women are relatively
rare when compared with the immense amount of material on male warriors,
they exist in sufficient numbers to allow us to regard the exploits of female
warriors as the greatest untold story in samurai history. Over a period ofeight
centuries female samuraiwarriors are to befound on battlefields,warships and
the walls ofdefended castles. Their family backgrounds range across all social
classesfrom noblewomentopeasantfarmers. Someweremotivated byreligious
belief,others bypolitics,butallfought besidetheirmenfolkwithadetermination involved actual fighting as well as administrative duties, which suggests that
and bravery that belied theirgendel; and, whenthe ultimatesacrifice wascalled women ofthe samurai class were highly trained in the martial arts to prepare
for, they went willingly to their deaths as bravely as any male samurai. Some themfor exactlysuchan emergency. Invariably this 'femalecastellan'rolewas
womenachievedfame byemployingtheirskillsin themartialartstoseekrevenge displayed either by the wife ofthe daimyo (thefeudal lord) oroneofhis most
for a murdered relative; others soughtmere survival and, when combined with seniorretainers to whom thecontrol ofasubsidiarycastlehad been entrusted.
the exploits ofwomen whoserole in warfare was ofa more indirectnature, the The second situation takes us to the opposite end of the social spectrum
female contributionto samuraihistory is revealed to beconsiderable. in Japanese warfare, because the daimyo fought not only other daimyo but
The writtenevidencefor samurai women beinginvolved inactualfighting also the armies ofthe ikki, or leagues, where allegiance was not to a daimyo
covers two different situations. The first was that ofa defended castle where but to a social group, a religious ideal or a locality. Although often led by
the commander was absent and the responsibility for defence had to be members ofthe samurai class an ikki's membership typically encompassed a
assumed by his wife. In nearly all such cases the castellans' wives' roles very wide range ofsocietyfrom small landownersdown to landlesspeasants.
4 5
WOMEN IN SAMURAI HISTORY
The warsconducted bydaimyo againstikkitended to besavageand ruthless
affairs, and inthe desperatesituationofanikkifortress orcommunitycoming
under attack everyone was involved with little distinction being made The female rulers of ancientJapan
between male and female eitherin fighting or in becoming victims ofwar. Duringthe 8th centuryAD the dominantlineage inJapan that identified itself
The archaeological evidence, meagre though itis, tantalizingly suggests a as the imperial line commissioned its own written history. The results ofthis
widerfemale involvementin battlethan is implied by written accountsalone. activity, the Kojiki (Record ofAncientMatters) and Nihon shokior Nihongi
This conclusion is based on the recent excavation of three battlefield head (History ofJapan) contain a number ofstories that linked the ruling family
mounds. In one case, the battle of Senbon Matsubaru between Takeda directly to divine ancestors, and wedo not have to read far into these ancient
Katsuyori and Hojo Ujinao in 1580, DNA tests on 105 bodies revealed that creation myths before weencounter the combined images ofa woman and a
35 ofthem werefemale. Twoexcavationselsewhereproduced similarresults. sword. The woman is Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, and the sword is the
None was a siege situation, so the tentative conclusion must be that women weapon named 'Cloud-Cluster' thatwas hewn from the tail ofa fierce serpent
fought in armies even though their involvementwas seldom recorded. by Amaterasu's brotherSusano-o.This was thesword thatAmaterasu was to
To sum up: samurai women went to war but war also came to them. pass on to her grandson Ninigi when he took possession ofthe earth. As one
They fought bravely and skilfully as authentic female samurai warriors. of the three sacred treasures, the 'crown jewels' ofJapan, the sword was in
turn passed to Ninigi's grandsonJimmu, the first emperor ofJapan.
Among the accounts ofthe early and legendaryemperorsofJapanmay be
CHRONOLOGY
found a number of powerful empresses who ruled either jointly or in their
own right, including one very prominentfemale warrior figure in the person
AD 170-269 Traditionaldates ofthe reign ofEmpressJingu. ofEmpressJingu. Shereigned from AD 170to 260according to the traditional
chronology, and was the widow of Emperor Chuai, the 14th emperor, who
1184 Tomoe Gozenfights at Awazu. had received a divine commission to conquer a land identified as Korea.
Following her husband's death Jingu resolved to carry out the expedition
1199 DeathofMinamoto Yoritomo, powerassumed by his widow herself, even though she was pregnant. In the Nihon shoki account we read
Masako. that a kami (deity) gave her instructions, saying, 'A gentle spirit will attach
EmpressJingu-kogoled
itselfto the empress's person, and keep watchover her life; a rough spiritwill
aninvasionofKoreawhile
1201 Hangaku Gozen defends Torisaka. form the \';lnguard and be a guide to the squadron'. Realizing that the birth pregnantwiththefuture
of her child was imminent while she was still on the way to Korea, Jingu EmperorOjin,whosebirth
1274 Women used as 'human shields' duringthe FirstMongol Invasion. 'took a stone which she inserted in her loins, and prayed, saying, "Let my shedelayedbyputtingaheavy
stoneinsideherrobe.Hewas
delivery be in this land on the day that I return after our enterprise is at an
tobedeifiedasHachimanthe
1333 FallofKamakura. end".' She then carried out the expedition successfully and received the komiofwar.Inthisscrollsheis
surrenderofthe ruler ofthe kingdom ofSilla,oneofthe 'three kingdoms' that depictedinthearmourofthe
1573 FallofOdani Castle, Oichi is rescued. made up the Korean Peninsula,whopromised tosend yearly tribute toJapan. GempeiWars,withKoreans
drowningintheseaaround
Jingu gave birth on her return to the future Emperor Ojin. He was to be
herfleet.Thebasisofthe
1580 Keigin-ni inspires the men atImayama. deified as the great kami Hachiman. Jingulegendmaywellbe
What lies behind theJingu story? It may be only a fanciful legend, and it theauthenticfemalerulers
1583 DeathofOichi atKita-no-sho. has also been suggested that her conquest of Korea is no more than the ofancientJapanwhohad
apriestlyrole,although
imaginative and nationalistic retelling ofan invasion that actually happened
archaeologyhasrevealed
1586 SiegeofTsurusaki Castle. in thereverse direction, whereby the earlyemperors ofJapan weredescended
thatsomefemalerulers
from continental horse-riding chieftains who led expeditions from Korea. wereburiedwithweapons.
1590
Women victims atHachioji Castle; Narita Kaihime defends Oshi.
1600
SiegeofOmori.
1600
Sekigaharacampaign,womenfightatUeda,Anotsuand Yanagawa.
1614
Women caught in bombardmentofOsaka Castle.
1638
Women help in the defence ofHara Castle.
1673
Revenge attack by womenatShiraishi.
1868
Women help defend Aizu Castle.
6 7
However, the image ofa powerful female ruler ofJapan is not just confined ~:::=;~=.;:;;;::=~~-~~'~~i);!I~III'-~'
to imperial mythology, because there are references in the Chinese dynastic sthuecceesnssiuoinngof20a0chyoesaersn isnono.rdFeorr teoxaemnpsulere, othnee ~~=..;,.~,=".=~- .• .-
histories to the country ofWa, asJapan was then known, which include the empressenjoyedtwoshortreigns underthenames ~ ........:;.."{
~~~~
mention ofa female ruler known as Himiko or Pimiko. In the Wei zhi (The of Kogyoku (from AD 642 to 644) and Saimei-
~~~--=z.. ~ £dE
historyofthe Wei Dynasty, compiled around AD 297) we find: 'Thecountry (AD 655-661); she is credited with ending a
-~.. ~-
formerly had a man as ruler. For some 70 or 80 years after that there were drought by her prayers. But from the 8th century -
9I 0 :
disturbances and warfare. Thereupon the people agreed upon a woman for AD onwards the power of women declined, ~_. ~~~
their ruler. Her name was Himiko. She occupied herself with magic and until bythe timeofthegreatcivil warsofthe 12th ~ _ =
sorcery, bewitching the people... She resided in a palace surrounded by century female influence on events had become 5- =
towers and stockades, with armed guards in a state ofconstant vigilance.' nearlyentirelypassive.This was the timeoftherise
The description ofHimiko engaging in sorcery suggests that she ruled as of the samurai, the military class ofJapan, whose
a female shaman, a religious medium who acted as a mouthpiece for the prowess in warfare led to their being employed as
kami. Thispriestessroleisimportant, becauseduringthesucceedingcenturies guards and private armies by the imperial court.
we find several authentic references to the jointrule ofJapan by a male and The earlier model of a Chinese-style conscript
a female who may have been blood relatives rather than a married couple, army was abandoned, and as the power of the
with the woman acting as sole ruler if no suitable male candidates were samuraifamilies grewsotheinfluenceofcourtiers,
available. The usual pattern in such cases appears to have been that of the bothmale and fenule, declined.
man taking on an administrative role while the woman attended to priestly It was only amatteroftime before the samurai
duties. However, archaeological investigation of the tombs of 4th-century begantoexerttheirinfluenceatthehighestpolitical
female rulers have revealed the presence of armour and weapons, so it is level, beginning with a number of rebellions and
possible that they led troops into battle, justas in theJingu legend. It is also ending with amajorcivil war betweenthefamilies
well established that female shamans were active on ancient battlefields, ofMinamotoandTaira. Aseries ofvivid imagesin
where they consulted oracles about the war's likely outcome, inspired their the picture scroll Heiji monogatari emaki shows
fighting menand cursed theirenemies. Suchcursesmighteven have included the change from the days of warrior empresses.
the death of the enemy general's wife. The legendary image ofJingu as a We now see women of the court being trampled
warrior priestess taking the place of her late husband on the battlefield may underfoot as samurai burst into the Sanjo Palace
not therefore be quite as fanciful as it first appears. duringtheHeijiIncidentof1161.Mostpatheticof
all is the fate ofthe women who were present during the final decisive battle Amongthefemalevictimsof
Women and the rise ofthe samurai ofthe Gempei War of 1180-85. This was the sea battle ofDannoura, fought theseabattleofDannourain
Women continued to wield power as empresses ofJapan throughout the 5th withinsightoflandalongtheShimonosekiStraitthatdividesJapan's twomain 1185wastheformerempress
Kenrei-mon-inwhotriedto
and 6th centuries AD and to assume the throne on a temporary basis during islandsofHonshu and Kyushu from eachother.ThedefeatedTairafamily had
commitsuicidebydrowning
with themAntoku, thechild emperorofJapan, who was to bedrowned by his herself.placinganinkstone
grandmotherintheclosingmomentsofthe battleso thathewould notfallinto andawarmingstoneintoher
the hands oftheir enemies. Shortly after this tragic event the former empress kimonosothatshewouldsink,
butasshejumpedintothesea
Kenrei-mon-in also tried to commit suicide by drowning herself, placing an
shewasspottedbyaMinamoto
inkstone and a warming stoneinto her kimono so thatshe would sink, but as samuraiwhocaughtherhairin
she jumped into the sea she was spotted by a Minamoto samurai who caught arakeanddraggedherback.
her hair in a rake and dragged her back. This disrespectful act provoked an (Fromawoodblock-printed
illustratededitionofHeike
angryreactionfrom anothercourtladycalledDainagon nosuke, whowas the
monogatari.)
wife of the senior Taira leader, and the Minamoto commander Yoshitsune
(1159-89) came over to intervene. This same Dainagon no suke then tried
to drown herself, butasshewas aboutto leap into the wateran arrowpinned
her to the boatthrough her robes. She fell back onto the deck, where she was
seized by enemy samurai who discovered that she had with her a casket
containing the sacred mirror, one of the three 'crown jewels'. Another of the
threetreasures,thesacredsword, hadalreadydisappeared into thewaveswith
the child emperor.
InthissectionofacopyofHeiji These accounts of women as passive victims in a battle provide a vivid
monogatariemakiownedby contrast to the Heike monogatari story of Tomoe Gozen, the best-known
OsakaCityMuseumwesee female samuraiwarriorofall time. Shewas thefemale companion ofthehero
womenlyingdeadorbeing
Minamoto Kiso Yoshinaka and fought beside him at his last battleatAwazu
trampledunderfootassamurai
breakintotheSanjoPalace. in 1184. Her story will be told more fully later.
8 9
With the destruction of his brother, Minamoto Yoritomo's newly
established shogunate appeared unassailable, but when Yoritomo died in
1199 from a riding accident the Minamoto power began to decline, and
following the seemingly all-male triumph of the Gempei Wars a woman
became the real power behind the throne. Yoritomo had married Hojo
Masako (1157-1225), a woman who was remarkably strong-minded. Being
intended by her father for someone else, Masako would have no one but
Yoritomo, and when herfather HojoTokimasa locked heraway sheescaped
and stayed with thefuture shogunfor the rest ofhis life. Masako entered the
religious life on widowhood, but this did nothing to diminish her power, as
is indicated by the title by which she is known: the 'nun shogun'. Masako
BELOWLEFT
deprived her son Yoriie (1182-1204), the second Minamoto shogun, of Dressedintheirlatehusbands'
absolutepower, and setup insteadarulingcouncil withHojofamily members suitsofarmour,Wakazakuraand
Kaedevisitedtheirsorrowing
in high places. Whenan uprising began inthe name oftherightful shogun the
mother-in-lawtoconsoleher.
Hojo defeated the insurgents and had Yoriie assassinated.
Thishangingscrollisinthe
Power remained inMasako's handswhen Yoriie'ssonKugyo (1201-1219) museumofthelojiTemplein
was passed over in succession and her second son Sanetomo (1192-1219) Iizaka,wheretheSatobrothers
becamethe third, and last,Minamotoshogun. He was only 12yearsold, and areburied.
ayear later his grandfather turned againsthim,proposinghis own son-in-law
BELOW
as an alternativecandidate for shogun. Buttheplotwas revealed to Masako, Alivelierversionofthelegend
and, such was her hold on bakufu affairs that she succeeded in having the oftheSatowiveshasthem
pretender shogun murdered and her father packed off to a monastery. But takingpartinactualfighting
ratherthanmerelydressing
poor Sanetomo enjoyed for only a few years the dignity ofshogun. In 1219
upintheirhusbands'armour,
he wasassassinated within the precincts oftheTsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine asillustratedbythisprint.
Thesewoodenstatuesinthe The victory of Minamoto Yoshitsune at the battle of Dannoura in 1185
KacchudoinShiroishiareof paved the way for his brother Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-99) to become
WakazakuraandKaede,the Japan'sfirst shogun,ormilitarydictator, whereby therule oftheemperorwas
wivesoftheSatobrothers
relegated to asecondarypositionin favour ofthe bakufu (shogunate) through
whowerebodyguardsto
MinamotoYoshitsuneand whichJapan was controlled by the samurai rather than by courtiers. Always
diedinhisservice. jealousofhis brotherandsuspiciousofhismilitaryskill,Yoritomo ignored the
fact that Yoshitsune had effectively won the throne for him and hounded his
younger brother to his death in 1189. Yoshitsune fled first from Kyoto and
took refuge in thefar north ofJapan undertheprotectionofthepowerful and
independent-minded Oshu-Fujiwara family, and it was within their territory
inTohoku (north-eastJapan) that he fought his last battle at Koromogawa.
FightingbesideYoshitsunewasSatoTadanobu,theyoungeroftwo brothers
who had served as his bodyguards for many years. The elder brother,
Tsuginobu, had beenkilledatthe battleofYashima in 1184.WhileYoshitsune
was passing through the mountains of Yoshino his party was surprised by
Yoritomo's samurai, and Tadanobu fought a rearguard action dressed as
Yoshitsune while his master made his escape. The ploy was successful, but
Tadanobu was eventually captured and put to death. The two brothers left
behind wives called Wakazakura and Kaede, who resolved to comfort their
sorrowing mother-in-law by appearing in front of her wearing their late
husbands'suitsofarmour.Thestory,althoughperhapsstrangeto westernears,
is in accordance with Confucian ideals offilial piety and reflects the debt that
children oweto theirparents.Theimageofthe Satowivesstandingin front of
the grieving mother-in-law and looking like perfect samurai women warriors
themselves has often beendepicted inJapaneseart, andsomevariationsofthe
story portray them as actual warriors who donned the armour to fight and
seek revenge, rather than as merely an actofmemorialization.
10 11
inKamakura. The murderer was his nephew the aggrieved Kugyo, and when
he was killed in revenge the lineoftheMinamotodied out, leavingMasako's
relativesfree to becomerulers ofJapan. Theyare known as the Hojoshikken
(regency), becausetheir lack ofdescentfrom the Minamotofamily would not
permitthem to take the title ofshogun. In this capacitythe Hojo ruledJapan
until their destruction in 1333.
The 'nun shogun' may never have wielded a sword in anger, butthe early
years of the Minamoto shogunate also witnessed a little-known rebellion in
which a female samurai warrior took part. The incident is called the Kennin
Rebellion from the nengu (year period) of Kennin (1201-03) in which it
began. It was led by theJo family who were descended from Taira stock and
livedinEchigoProvinceinnorthcentralJapan.Jo Sukenaga wasdefeated and
killed by Minamoto Yoshinaka in 1182, after which his brother Nagamochi
was pardoned by Yoritomo and served the new shogun in his campaign
against the Oshu-Fujiwara in 1189. He then revolted against the shogunate
along with his nephew Sukemori and his sister Hangaku Gozen, who is also
known as Itagaki Gozen. Jo Sukemori controlled the castle ofTorisaka, and
it was there that Hangaku Gozen became the first in an honourable line of
samurai women to defend a castle. Fortresses during the 13th century were
little more than elaborate wooden stockades, butHangaku Gozenis credited
with defending it for three months against Sasaki Moritsuna's bakufu army.
Sheledand inspired thegarrisonfrom the top ofatower, and Hangaku'sarmy
surrendered only whenan arrowwounded her. Thechronicle Azuma Kagami
(The Mirror ofthe East) relates how she was captured, taken to Kamakura,
the shogun's capital, and presented to the shogun Minamoto Yoriie. Herfate
should have been to commit seppuku (ritual suicide), but, the entry for the
28th day of the 6th month reveals a happy ending because several ofYoriie's
leading warriors were very taken with her bravery and her example. One,
named Asari Yoshito wentfurther and proposedthatheand Hangaku should
marry. The shogun agreed, and the couple married and eventually produced
ason. Murdoch,in hisHistory ofJapan,quotesan unknown sourcethatAsari
married her 'in spite ofher ugliness' and 'on accountofher great courage'.
The triumphant Hojo shikken faced its greatest challenge when Mongol
armies under Kublai Khan invaded Japan in 1274. Women were among
the numerous victims ofthe attacks on the islands ofTsushima and Iki that
HANGAKUGOZENRIDESINTOBATTLEATTHESIEGEOF
TORISAKACASTLE,1201
AlthoughmuchlesswellknownthanhernearcontemporaryTomoeGozen,HangakuGozen
wasaskilledfemalesamuraiwarrioroftheearlyKamakuraperiod.Sheassistedhernephewin
thedefenceofthecastleofTorisakain1201.Hereweseehertakingpartinadramaticcharge
outofthefortifiedgateofTorisaka.Whilearcherskeepupcoveringfirefromthetowerabove
thegate,HangakuGozenridesintoactionswinginghernaginata,thetraditionalweaponof
thefemalewarrior.Hangakuwasadmiredmoreforherbraverythanherbeauty,sosheisshown
hereasaplain-lookingwoman,althoughshehasdispensedwithahelmettoallowherfeatures
toinspireherfollowers.Sheiswearinganelaborateyoroiarmour,thechoiceofgenerals.Itis
lacedwithredsilkencords,andthescalesareembellishedwithdelicategildedfeatures.Onearm
hasbeenleftfreeofarmourtoallowaneasierdrawingofthebow.Herbowhasbeenleftbehind,
butshestillhasaquiveratherbeltandasparebowstringreelhangingfromherscabbard.The
menwithheraretypicalroughsamuraiwarriorsoftheage,armedlikeherwithnaginataorwith
swords.Theirsuitsofarmouraremuchsimplerindesign.Thefortifiedgatewayisbasedonthe
reconstructedexampleattheFujiwaraHeritageVillagenearIchinoseki,whileHangakuGozen's
appearanceistakenfromawoodblockprintbyYoshitoshi.
12
the Mongols captured prior to assaulting the The nature of the Nambokucho Wars allowed many small-scale
mainland.Tsushimawasquicklyoverrun,and the skirmishes to take place where the military objectives were localized, and in
defenders of Iki, overwhelmed by the armed these accounts we can identify some interesting observations about women
landing, retreated to the island'sstrongpoint- the fighting. One document dated 23 December 1329 notes briefly that a battle
stockade fortress of Hinotsume commanded by wasfought ataplacecalled Oishino sho betweena samuraiand hisdivorced
the island's governor Taira Kagetaka. Before the wife! An unusual example ofthe status a woman could enjoy is provided by
Mongols' final assault Kagetaka ordered one of the 1337 document cited above that includes a number of petitions for
his samurai to take his daughter Katsurahime to reward from warriors who have distinguished themselves in various battles.
safety. They were to proceed by boat to Dazaifu, The list is validated by a woman's signature.
the regionalheadquarters onKyushu to advise the
governmentabout thesituation. Theaccounttells Women in the Age ofWarring States
us that Katsurahime's maid, dressed in armour as The Ashikaga shoguns ruledJapan for overtwo centuries, although the great
a gesture ofdefiance, went with her to the beach convulsion of the Onin War from 1467 to 1477 severely curtailed their
to bid her farewell and then returned to fight. By centralizing influence. The Onin War led to the time known as the Sengoku
the time Katsurahime's boatreached the open sea ]idaior 'AgeofWarringStates', wherelocaldaimyo took chargeoftheir own
the Mongol fleet had appeared in the bay on that affairs and fought one another for territory, It took a century of conflict
sideofthe island and shewas killed byarrowfire. before Japan was once again unified, and the intervening years provided
OnegrislydetailconcerningIkithatisreported many an opportunity for women to appear on the field of battle. One
in more than one account is that the Mongols example is Ichikawa Tsubone, the wife of a retainer of the Mori family of
rounded up thewomenoftheislandand tied them western Japan. When her husband was absent on campaign she assumed
together with cords passed through their pierced responsibility for the defence of the castle ofMushiro. The Shimazu family
hands. They were then used as a human shield as of southern Kyushu are recorded as having used women as spies, and one
the army approached Hinotsume Castle. When woman servantwho pretended thatshe been ignominiously dismissed by the
the victorious fleet then sailed for Kyushu the Shimazu was given refuge by their enemies only to spread false information
survivors of this treatment were strung along about the Shimazu's defences.
the gunwales ofthe ships. Attacks on yamashiro (mountain-top castles), the characteristic daimyo's
The 14th century inJapan was marked by the fortress, provided many unwelcome opportunities for women to be involved
DuringtheinvasionofIkiby Nambokucho Wars, a long series ofconflicts originating from an attempt by in the defence and to suffer the ultimate sacrifice if the castle fell. Suicide
theMongolsthewomenof Emperor Go-Daigo to re-assert the ancient imperial power. His supporters within a burningcastlemay have beenthe ultimateactofloyaltyfor a woman
theislandwereroundedup firstoverthrewtheHojo Regency, onlyto divideinto twocampswhenrewards of the samurai class, but more mundane duties could be required of her
andtiedtogetherwithcords
were not as generous as they had hoped. One faction, ofMinamoto descent, during her lifetime. Her husband would be the follower ofa daimyo, whose
passedthroughtheirpierced
hands.Theywerethenused set up a new shogunate under the Ashikaga name and went to war against fields he would till or at the very least manage, and in whose army he would
asahumanshieldwhenthe the imperialists. Copious historical records and one famous gunkimono, the fight. Towards the end of the Sengoku Period the latter military function
invadingarmyapproached Taiheiki, contain many references to women as victims ofwar, most notably
HinotsumeCastle.Whenthe
during the fall of Kamakura in 1333. The battle for the Hojo's capital was
victoriousfleetsailedfor
fierce and ended with the last leaders of the Hojo shikken committing mass
Kyushuthesurvivorsofthis
treatmentwerestrungalong suicide. Much street fighting took place and many women were slaughtered.
thegunwalesoftheships. Itislikelythatthe number killed atKamakura was high becausethe layoutof
Thispaintingoftheincident
the city, withmountainsonthreesides and thesea onthe other,did notpermit
hangsintheMongolInvasion
the usual practice of women and children fleeing for safety to neighbouring
MemorialMuseuminHakata.
hills and forests. This did notalwaysguarantee arefuge, because a document
from 1337 implies that the women and children who fled a different conflict
in this way met their ends in the mountains and forests.
The Taiheiki's longaccountofthe fall ofKamakura includesthe sad story
ofthesamuraiMoritakawho issenttothewifeofhisleadertotakeawaytheir Inthissectionfromapainted
son.Theintention was that his ownfather should kill himrather than lethim scrollofthe'LaterThreeYears
War'weseeseveralcaptives
sufferthe disgrace ofbeingcaptured bytheenemy. Ingreatsorrowhis mother
includingwomen,being
agrees, and takes the son from his ladies-in-waiting: 'Heedless of men's eyes, ledawaybythevictorious
the weeping nursecalled Osairan after him barefooted for 500 or 600 yards, army.Thisistakenfroma
falling down on to the ground again and again, until resolutely he caused his reproductionoftheoriginal
scrollthatisownedby
horse to run, thatshemight notfind him out. And when hereyes beheld him
theMemorialMuseumat
no longer, the nurse Osaicasther body into a deep well and perished.'
GosanneninAkitaPrefecture.
14 15
The women ofthe ikki
Therelativestatusbetweena
high-rankingsamuraiandhis During the early Sengoku Period one of the only alternatives to serving a
wifeisbeautifullyillustratedin daimyo was to become a member of a self-governing ik/~i or league. The
thisdisplayattheFujiwara
members of an ikki were often at odds with the local daimyo who was
HeritageVillagenearIchinoseki.
endeavouringto build his own retainer base whereloyalty was paid solely to
FujiwaraKiyohiraisseatedhere
inhislivingquarters him. In the extreme case ofKaga Province the local ikkiousted their daimyo
accompaniedbyhiswife. and ruled the province themselves until being overcome by the superior
military force of Oda Nobunaga (1534-82), the first ofJapan's unifiers.
Oda Nobunaga was the swornenemy ofthe 'peoplepower' expressed by
an ikki, and from 1570 to 1580 conducted a savage war against the most
famous ikkiofall: the Ikko-ikki, the armies fielded by the communities who
followed Jodo-Shinshu (the True Pure Land Sect), whose fortified temples
and towns housed communities to whom the practice of their religion was
a fundamental part of life. Jodo-Shinshu's Ikko-ikki armies threatened a
growingdaimyo bothmilitarilyand economically, and Oda Nobunaga's ten
year-long intermittent siege of their headquarters, the Ishiyama Honganji
(built where Osaka Castle now stands), was destined to be the longest Women'scorpsesappear
campaign inJapanese history. Just as every member ofJodo Shinshu shared withinthepalisadeofHara
CastleduringtheShimabara
became thesole duty for a samurai, butthroughout this time ofwarsamurai fully in its peacetime activities, so they shared in the responsibilities when
Rebellionof1638.Thisisclear
had to accept that all the members of their families were there in the service conflict loomed. Every man, woman and child became involved. All hands
evidencethatwomentook
of their lords, so there were many occasions when women had to provide were needed, and the experience ofa century ofwar taught them that ifthey partincombatalongsidetheir
necessary back-upfor theirmenfolk. Inthe caseofthewivesoflower-ranking lost to a samuraiarmy then the massacre ofevery memberofthe community menfolkwhenthesituation
samurai this might simply take the form of labouring jobs. Hojo Ujikuni's would follow. wasdesperate.Thisisasection
fromamoderncopyofthe
ordersof1587for the maintenanceofthewalls ofHachigata Castlerequired In 1575 Oda Nobunaga swept through Echizen Province to recapture it
ShimabaraScreen,theoriginal
hisfollowers tomakerepairs after typhoondamage inpreference to mending from the local Ikko-ikki forces. By November he could boast that he had ofwhichisinAkizuki.
their own homes, and that if they were away on campaign the work had to
be done by their wives and maidservants.
Even iftheywere not killed the fate ofthe womenfolk ofa defeated army
could be a savage one. Rape is recorded throughout samurai history. In
Mutsuwaki, the history of the so-called Former Nine Years War that was
fought from 1055 to 1062, it states: 'Within the fortress dozens of beautiful
women coughed in the smoke and sobbed miserably, all dressed in damask,
gauzeand greenstuffshotwithgold. Everylastone ofthem was dragged out
and given to the warriors.'
When Minamoto Yoshinaka's forces entered Kyoto in 1183 one of his
samurai,named in the GempeiJosuiki as HiguchiKanemitsu, captured some
high-ranking women and for five or six days 'exposed them to shame' - a
euphemism for rape. The women threatened either to kill themselves or
become nuns if Kanemitsu was not punished, and he was put to death. In
Bushido: the Soul ofJapan Nitobe gives the example ofan unnamed young
woman who, having beentakenprisoner, seeingherselfindanger ofviolence
at the hands of the samurai, says that she will submit to their pleasure,
providedthatsheisfirst allowed towritealettertohersisters,whomwarhad
scattered in every direction. When the letter is finished she runs off to the
nearest well and saves her honour by drowningherself. The soldiers find the
letter and discover that she has composed a farewell poem as noble as any
from the brush ofa departing samurai:
Forfear lestcloudsmay dim her light
Should she butgraze this nether sphere
The youngmoon poised above the height
Dothhastily betake to flight.
16 17