My personal top 3 of Onna Bugeisha are Oohouri Tsuruhime (a princess miko warrior who fought against the Ouchi clan to protect her home at Iyo province), Matsu (Maeda Toshiie's beautiful wife, while I haven't find yet info about her participating in a battle, she was very talented in literature and martial arts) and Akai Teruko (often called "The Sengoku Strongest Grandma", because she was above 70 when she fought at Siege of Odawara!).
They are all intriguing especially Ii Naotora, Kaihime, Tachibana Ginchiyo, and Katakura Kita and so many are intriguing. But you may wanna use the word "Onna Musha" because Onna Bugeisha is not a word in the Japanese language. The Japanese people use the word 女武者 which translates to "female warrior".
@@Boopboop-e4tThank you. People calling them Onna Bugeisha is maddening. Particularly because geisha were cultural artists who worked for tea shops and other places of entertainment. AND weren't exclusively female it turns out.
@luelee6168 you're welcome and yeah. Geishas know what's up with the arts they create. But "Bugeisha" makes no sense. I've heard of Onna Musha but also "Onna Josshu" which would be in Ii Naotora's case. But through my studies of the Japanese language and history, Onna Bugeisha? I hardly know her because it never came into anything before nor during the Edo period.
The "bu" in "bugeisha," 武 (onyoumi "bu") is the distinguishing factor. It means "force." When combined with gei (芸, meaning 'art') and sha (者, meaning 'person' or 'doer'), you get something along the lines of "martial artist." So dismissing the term "onna bugeisha" on the grounds that "geisha" commonly refers to the famed female entertainers is like rejecting the term "martial artist" on the grounds that "artist" commonly refers to painters and sculptors.
@brootlyn Those are all factual points. I am not here to fight them, but let me drop one of my own. Having practiced with a database battle ready if you let that same woman cut you, if her technique is on, you'd not be here making this statement. Also, the last time I checked video games are fantasy. The last time I jumped off the spire of a church into a bale of hay, I died.
One thing that I understandably never see talked about because it would be difficult to track and technically falls outside the definition of female samurai is that we know that around 750 women participated in the US Civil War in disguise as men out of about 2.8 million soldiers. If you were to just skip the nuances and difficulties of adjusting those numbers for different cultures, ease of disguise, and hardship of war in different periods that would project to 1 in every 5000 soldiers being secretly female. Obviously more and better research would need to be done that might prove impossible, but it isn't unreasonable to assume that a large percentage of conflicts/campaigns involving thousands of humans involved at least a couple of women in combat roles, albeit likely mostly in disguise.
Only in times when the gun provided the Great Equalizer. In purely melee times we see virtually no women warriors in history, barring perhaps an archer or two (archery being a weak form of Great Equalizer). In melee, size, strength, speed matter, and biology dictates that women do not have the size, strength, or speed of men.
@@LewisPulsipher it may surprise you to learn horses, chariots, swords, spears, formations and fortifications are also equalizers. But I also never said that the women actually survived the battles or even made it as far as the battlefield, just that it wouldn't be surprising for a sample size of several thousand human beings to include a couple women in disguise as men.
@@just_radical A spear isn't much of an equalizer when one person is usually stronger, faster, and bigger than the other. A gun comes much closer. Nor is anything else you've listed an equalizer in this sense. I know there are lots of stories of women disguised as men, but in anon-modern army, that isn't going to work for long. Let's call it "personal hygiene", and the woman is going to be discovered sooner or later. It WOULD be surprising if there were a couple women in disguise as men.
@@elgatto3133 I've heard that. Who knows. Yet the supreme leader would not have been exposed for "personal hygiene" the way an ordinary trooper would have. (And might not have been in the thick of battle.) In those respects, the leader is more likely to pull off such a disguise.
I'm surprised Nakano Takeko wasn't talked about in this video. Her story was amazing! She might not be called a samurai by some but one thing that can't be argued is that she died a samurai's death.
Agreed, her story really flips some of the points of the video on its head. I'm sure that in broad strokes he was fairly correct, women were mostly policed away from male gender roles. We do know however from for instance a letter of a Portuguese missionary to Japan in/around the Sengoku era that men were expected to ask their wives for permission to use the lady's family or personal holdings (certainly in that time period and the area the missionary went to). Gender roles certainly were different from European ones at the time. The fact that Nakano was able to inhabit that samurai role on the battlefield where she died, in defiance of the patriarchal forces (her unit was not formally accepted as I understand, but not prevented from fighting either) complicates the story of women being 'unable' to inhabit the role of samurai. Link to letter of the missionary in question: ruclips.net/video/qu-pSBEnMt4/видео.html
@@caseyphelps6232 Did you not watch the video? He mentioned multiple women in the video who weren't even warriors they were just the head of their clans. You're logic doesn't even work.
I'd be interested in learning about women in other classes like Ashigaru and peasants. What were there roles? What did they do during wartimes? Etc. While samurai classes may be prominently depicted, I think it's important to consider what women in lower, more common positions were contributing.
I've read how women often accompanied men on campaign in Europe as followers, usually acting as cooks, nurses, or general support staff. Prostitutes and wives of soldiers would also follow, but generals would often try to diminish their presence to not affect the men. I don't know, however, how true this is for Japan, or even the rest of East Asia
@@maseoembry4165 I see. Thanks for sharing. Now, do you happen to know about what women did back home during wartimes (managing places and what have you)? I'd also love to learn about what they did during peacetimes with how they contributed to society.
@@cadethumann8605 Aristocratic women in medieval societies would often pursue activities considered fit for women. That mainly involved the arts, stuff like poetry and textile weaving. In Europe, alcohol brewing was also women's pursuit and some women even became renowned alchemists. During wartime, the lady of a castle was often tasked with holding down the fort while the men were away, managing the day to day affairs and defending the castle if need be. Wikipedia has a lost of examples of women in post classical warfare if you want to look into specific examples
women at all times did same thing in war time - took over men's jobs. there are rare examples of wariors, in Polanad we had captain Emilia Plater who led 25th regiment in november 1831 uprising against russian occupation. and in terms of lower class lasdies - history does not really consider lower class people no matter the sex
Female samurai as in female members of the samurai class existed of course. And them fighting also existed... to a lesser existant. Yada yada yada. It wasn't as common. Interesting topic and it's rather complex with many misconceptions about it. Good that you made a video on this one, Shogunate.
If you don't mind me asking, do you know more about the roles women in these clans worked with? As exciting as battles can be, what goes on behind the scenes is arguably just as important, if not more so.
@@cadethumann8605 Honestly no. I'm not that knowledgable on how clans organized themselves in general and my understanding of old Japan is very basic and surface level too because I got into this only a while back.
@@DionysianLovecraftian I understand. Same with me. Still, I do hope that the lives of other people in feudal societies get documented. There's more to it than warriors and leaders.
every mother and wife becomes a samurai given the right situation and circumstances, if u understand the spirit of the samurai. doesnt have to look far.
History, it's always more complex, than whomever recorded it or reported on events, sometimes years after the events occurred. Then there's always the questions of the point of view of the person who wrote the account. What did they choose to emphasize or deemphasize, embellish or reduce involvement in events. Unfortunately, there has never been an independent corps of observers event recording class then or now. So extrapolation is how historical consensus is determined and agreed upon. As you say females of the samurai classes did exist, but from then on their actual involvements just gets murky. Never the less a most informative and entertaining video.
I have to say, my man, your channel is probably my favorite on RUclips. Across all genres I follow. Your voice, the script, the art used within the videos and the subject matter are top tier. As a history buff and someone who loves essay style videos; yours are the perfect match. Thank you continuing your career on RUclips and I'll be here until the inevitable heat death of the earth. 🎉
When you define Samurai as both a title and occupation, which is what it was in contrast to other forms of nobility in the West, then the answer the answer seems simple: yes. Women where samurai by definition, but they rarely performed the part of the martial occupation. It is as you say though, a matter of semantics. Great vid!
Interesting thing to mention, the very little info you find about Lady Tomoe in the Heike Monogatari, mentions her using a bow and ,,an oversized sword", which in turn makes me wonder if the chronicle is referring to an Ōdachi (大太刀) also called Nodachi (野太刀) meaning great big sword and big field sword respectively. as far as I know it was more popular when Tomoe was alive than it was in the later ages. Much like a Naginata which was gradually replaced by Yari as a battlefield weapon. anyway, great video The Shogunate, I recently finished watching. your Sengoku series and I enjoyed it very much. Your other content is also top notch. Thank you for your work and effort.
Heike Monogatari is not a history but a collection of fables based on people in the Gempei wars .The actual history of that era is the Azuma Kagami . There is no mention of any female warrior named Tomoe in the Azuma Kagami . The Azuma Kagami was written when the Hojo were in power and is the only history of that era .Heiki Monogatari was written much later and compiled by a blind monk named Kakuichi in 1371 .The original authors were traveling Biwa players . Azuma Kagami covers the rise of the Minamoto from 1180 through the Jokyu war in 1221 . Minamoto No Yoshinaka and his right hand Kanehira are covered but no mention of Tomoe at all .
True. Thank you for mentioning. Still as you said, the tale of the Heike was comprised from oral tales. Granted Tomoe doesn’t play a large part in the war plus she ends up on the loosing side which may be a reason for her not being mentioned.Also a lot of information is believed to have been destroyed regarding Heian women in general in the turbulent time that followed. Correct me if I’m wrong. On the final note, as Mister Metatron said in one of his recent videos, the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. Thank you for your comment. Take care.
The leader of the Joshitai (Girl's Army) of the Aizu Domain was Nakano Takeko . She slayed about 127 male samurai . I think it is worth to mention her . Sorry about my english , it's not my first language . I love the content of your channel ! Thanks for your hard work and salute to you !
@@SundownTE It's not the modern obsession . It's a fact . All sorts of patriarchal societies , often ruled by religious figures tried to hide women characters that was way more heroic than men , more inteligent , etc . We can't let to forget about those heroines , same as male heroes . They existed , it's not a fairy tales for good girls ! 😏
Naginata as a modern martial art is heavily dominated by female practitioners, so it's definitely now a "woman's weapon". That is not to say that men don't practice it - they do - or that it's not effective - it's highly effective against a sword or a staff, even multiple opponents.
it's a good weapon: great reach,easy to carry,curved blade that could be used to disarm an enemy..."woman's weapon" is a compliment if that's what a woman's weapon looks like.
The naginata was adopted for sport fencing for women in Japan, because Kendo and Spear fencing was too rough for women versus men. And it was considered dishonorable for men to compete aginast women... just like how it is dishonorable for men to compete against women in sports and MMA today.
I don't get why everything a woman does or uses needs to be reaffirmed as "effective". Like, if it weren't for mothers and housewives, we literally wouldn't even exist right now.
I watched a Korean movie about an ambassadorial delegation to China that gets arrested in China, barely manages to escape and runs into problem after problem trying to get back to Korea. And one of the characters is a slave who turns out to be a bada$$ with an equivalent to a naginata and it was shown to be extremely effective as a weapon. It would likely be my choice of primary melee weapon due to reach. I would want a shorter sword for indoor situations as a backup; but a really long reach weapon makes sense for most situations.
@@BloodwyrmWildheartbecause just using your biological functions isn’t a accomplishment.They wanted to actually contribute to the community around them.
I imagine 'home defense' was not just about sieges. During war, it would be common that most of the men would be away from home, so the wealthy homes of the samurai would probably seem like a juicy target for bandits, or there could be a peasant rebellion brewing, and they could see the war as an opportunity to strike at their oppressors. Or it could be that enemies outmaneuver your clans army, or another clan joins the war or betrays your clan, striking when there are no men to defend the land. I could be wrong, but I think one of the reasons women would practice martial arts is so that the homes are not seen as 'defenseless' when men are away.
While my sources didn't clarify if she went to battle or not, it's also worth remembering Ii Naotora, who became the head of her clan (I also really hate how she's portrayed in Samurai Warriors). I also read somewhere that Honda Tadakatsu's daughter Komatsuhime used to ride in battle despite being pregnant, which regardless of if it's true or not doesn't sound like the greatest of ideas. And while she wasn't a samurai, another notable female warrior is Ouhouri Tsuruhime who lived during Sengoku period before Nobunaga's rise to power.
don't forget yoshihime, mother of date masamune and mogami yoshiaki's sister, she was very politically active and even tried assassinating her own son date masamune lol
You’re very very confused about what pregnant women are capable of, let alone if circumstances and personality make them the commander of the army 😂 There are a number of queens in Western and Eastern recorded history being like ‘welp I’m pregnant I guess we have to call off the giant war for a year’ ….not. War is never a good idea but if everyone is already running towards death you’re gonna single out a woman who outranks you in every way as dumb? That’s everything I need to know about you.
I think the easiest explanation that historians can give when it comes to female warriors in any place at any time in history is that "despite not being the norm at all, there are always exceptions". Even today, it is men who go and fight and die in wars while the women are kept away, hopefully safely from the horrors of war. But then, like previously said, there are exceptions~
Note how people were switching and changing names, particularly those in higher classes, it's possible that stories can be created as parallels to real confirmed figures and etc. There's no way to know. Far as I'm concerned, I wasn't there, didn't experience it, all the events are false as far as I'm concerned, but do they have something to teach or learn that can be applied or noted in modern day? Absolutely.
"Even today, it is men who go and fight and die in wars while the women are kept awayEven today, it is men who go and fight and die in wars while the women are kept away" not sure what country you are from, but plenty of countries have female soldiers too, who also fight in wars, for the last two decades. They might not be part of the special forces, but they are in the infantry at least and other combat roles and support roles. Working in kinds of fields too, you got plenty of women in the navy, as pilots, boots on the ground, medics, etc.
7:30 This very similar to something that wasn't that unusual amongst higher-ranking wives in Medieval Europe; many noble women acted as administrators within their husband's homes, ie. managing servants, resident guards, household accounts etc. But they often were given some basic tactical education, in case their husbands were out and their residence came under siege. The wives needed to know what to do, how to bunker down, and how to command whatever guards they had on the premises in case of an emergency.
On-na Musha was in general born into Samurai family and on the higher end of the ranks. They are also generally trained in some form of Marshall arts that were specific to female like Naginata, Kogatana (small katana), kozuka (hand knife) and Yumi (archery) but they usually didn't actively fight in the war but more as defense of their home. Only known figure was Tomoe gozen who was always depicted wearing Kacchuu (armoire) and Naginata on horse back.
So basically "female samurai" were never a thing but female warriors did rise up to defend their families and support their men did exist like in all countries of the world. Imo it's very similar to the idea of a man who'd defend his family from an attacker is a warrior and defender but is not a soldier.
That's essentially the case throughout most of history all over the world for women as far as we know. At least, that's how it always seems to be. Sure, vikings had "shield maidens," but people tend to push that they were extremely rare if they existed outside of myth at all. At the same time, female remains might dispute this, but for a long time historians dismissed almost all burials found with weapons or on battle grounds to only be male without making closer analysis of the bones other than cause of death until somewhat recently. Since they've started onsidering this more, they've found a possible good few. It might be the case with women of the Samurai class, but who really knows since information on them is already very scarce. Women throughout history were never considered important enough to write about even in the time they lived unless they were women like Cleopatra, or Elizabeth the first, so on. It also depends on the politics of the time on how these women were seen, favorably or not. It gets harder to find evidence the farther back you go. Kinda disappointing.
There are many records in the west of women fighting alongside men and even commanding troops. At least one band of Vikings who fought at Stamford Bridge was led by a woman. There are records the wives of lords taking control of the defence of her castle when it came under siege while the lord was away. And in America when when the wagon train was attacked women would do more then reload the rifles and tend to the wound. So should we be surprised that there were cases of Japanese women doing the same.
A one eyed Nubian war lady (ig that's the female version of war lord) was able to use her tribe to hold back European forces way cooler than Cleopatra imo.
I mean, same thing with Africa, native american history and many other places. I dont see how thats news to anyone. History has shown that when you give people proper training you will see the results.
Uesugi Kenshin is also accepted as a true Samurai. I've spoken to a few Feudal historians who are fully Japanese, and most fully accept that Uesugi was a woman. There's lots of evidence towards referencing feminine interests, staying within the women's quarters, her menstrual cycle, etc., and calling her "auntie" by Spanish missionaries. Even those who do not fully believe this often still picture Kenshin as a pretty boy or very effeminate man. My family comes from an upper samurai class in Osaka. My great great grandfather fought in the Boshin War. Even in the Showa era, they were teaching martial arts to women (and men). I'm not sure if this was just my family or if this was still commonplace. My dad taught me some that he learned from a master in his area so the tradition continued into this modern era. From my understanding, I will say that the Naginata being a woman's weapon is both issues you said, it's popularized because it was used, and because it was popularized it was more used by women. There have been schools where the masters are women or it appeared to me that most of the members of it are women.
@@BloodwyrmWildheart Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you met him. Several 'anecdotes' pointing to the possibility were recorded by several different contemporary sources, and the truth is we'll just most likely never know. Did male lords tend to have monthly cramps and girly tendencies? No. Did they put importance on rearing an heir? Yes. But those contradictions don't mean Kenshin was a woman, per se. He could've just been feminine, he could've been intersex or had a hormonal/chromosomal disorder, heck; he could've been a eunuch for all we know; or maybe those sources were just trolling. We'll never know the absolute truth of history we ourselves haven't witnessed. I don't even have a point, I just think it's annoying how self-assured you are about something you have no way of knowing. You just sound pretentious, that's all this essay was leading up to.
@@thekroomfster "Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you met him." Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you have either. He's been dead for centuries.
They existed, thats basically it. They were not at all the norm or really anything more than a uncommon occurence that more often than not usually used Yari, Naginata, and Maybe No-Daichi/Yumi. And in the majority of apperances throughout Japanese History were too put it simply played a defensive or last resort role with some exceptions.
.... Most Japanese warriors used Yari or Naginata and bows. Those where main battlefield weapons in general naginata switched to a more female role weapon during the Edo period Most of your point is okay, but the weapon point is kinda not good.
Women rarely used bows, if at all. War bows with a heavy draw weight require a lot of strength. They aren't like the modern light-weight bows used in Kyudo where half the practitioners are women.
@@Perceval777 Thus why I used maybe as I imagine the No-Dachi also requires a great deal of strength to use especially when compared to polearms given how the No-Dachi is mostly made of metal.
That's not at all what he was saying. He's saying there is record of women trained in samurai combat, and armor. But to call them samurai would be wrong. As they didn't fight on the field, they stayed home. And as the men has to become bureaucrats, the woman had to get "woman jobs"
Amazing channel. I was looking for the accuratge information about the Bushido for a long time. I was so close to visiting and working in Japan at one point. I'm a Motion Capture performer and in late 2015 I was in contact with Capcom about the facial likeness role of Leon for the Resident Evil 2 Remake. I failed to mention I also have a voice acting background, in the end I lost the part and I can't forgive myself for wasting such an opportunity. That would've been a real dream come true to visit South East Asia. Great video.
I think she wasn't included because she's specifically not a samurai, being a daughter of a shrine's head priest. But yeah, Tsuruhime was one badass lady.
The lady of the house was actually in charge of defending it when her husband was gone. For wealthier women that meant that they commanded the bodyguards. In poor Samurai families without armed servants she had to wield the sword herself, so to speak. I'm not sure if it was common for high born women to receive extensive combat training, but some weapons were especially designed for them. The Sai, for example, was one such item that double functioned as a hair needle.
I went to the Samurai and Ninja museum in Kyoto this past week, and our tour guide said that the reason samurai helmets had mustaches was because the families would also send young boys and women to fight. However, they wanted everyone to look the same so that it looked like an army of men instead of an army of men, young boys, and women. Is that true? O.o
There was no honor in killing a boy or a woman. So Samurai grew mustaches to make sure they would not be mistaken for a boy or woman if their head was taken. This is mentioned in the Hagakure.
@@caseyphelps6232 I dunno if it's true, but it makes sense. History is written by the winners, so if your killer was ashamed of killing you, there'd be a chance of them hiding your death and thus removing you from history.
I remember a documentary I saw and they found mass graves with female skeletons where major battles took place, and often weren't even acknowledge. While still rare there's a good chance female fighters were more common than we think.
It is a complex subject and this a good review of cultural relationships. I do find his conclusions flawed due to a lack of information. Recent archeological excavations of battlefields from the pre-EDO periods show anywhere from 12 - to over 20% of the skeletons were female. While these may not necessarily be "female samurai", it does indicate a higher percentage of female participation in Japanese battlefields than this author indicates.
Weeeeelllllllll ...since I just watched the trailer for the NEW "Shogun" miniseries ... I figured I should check this video out! Ooops ... you have a video on that ... will watch that and then return!
I'd heard of similar things happening in European noble families: the wife still has some degree of martial training in order to handle the home while her husband is gone. I don't really like treating this as somehow inferior or something though. Maintaining and protecting one's home base is at least as important as launching attacks against the enemy, so being able to properly guard the household is potentially huge. And honestly, the whole thing reminds me of various wild animals, particularly certain species of birds. In many monogamous bird species, the male will travel through his territory, searching for threats to fight, but the female is at least as fierce if not fiercer if anything gets past the male. Militarily speaking, the rear line is as important or often even more important than the front. If anything, the frontline is able to fight because they know that even if they die what matters most will be protected, as there is a powerful guardian standing watch.
Agreed. It saddens me that roles that didn't involve fighting (at least those who were on campaign or on the front lines of defense such as sieges) are seen as unimportant and insignificant. If you ask me, those roles that non-combatants did were just as crucial, if not more so. Without people maintaining basic needs, stimulating the economy, and other things, there obviously wouldn't be a home for those warriors ro return to and/or receive support from. IMO, it would be fascinating to see videos talking about what non-combatants did during warfare. They deserve to have their spotlight. There's more going on at warfare behind the scenes.
Thank you my only idea of this subject was the Onna-bushi you get as a castle retainer in total war: shogun 2. Makes more sense why they are always a garrison unit in castles now.
The first thing that define a samurai is not that they fought in one particular style or using certain weapons, but that they fought in exchange for some rights to a source of income, like a plot of land or an allowance from a lord or noble. Is not a salary or wage, like a mercenary would fight for. If a japanese warrior doesn't receive those rights and favours then is not a samurai.
Great video as always, enjoyed it. Any chance you will ever redo your samurai armor video? I feel that there are too many misconceptions about sengoku armor that not many know of.
@@TheShogunate Yea, sorry to be annoying but I want to share some big misconceptions. You dont have to read all of this, but if you want some information sometime its right here. Im not saying that “All your videos are bad because they used the battle depictions had a wrong armor piece that is Edo period armor!!” I just want points like these in an armor video. And im not saying not to use those images and depictions, because theres no other depiction to use sadly. -Ashigaru did not wear jingasas until the 1600s onward, there is no evidence for it, there was an excavation at odawara of a jingasa but that is for camp aides. Ashigaru would wear headbands called Hachigane, something called the Hitaite, a headband like thing, and they would wear crappy Kabutos with very short or no Shikoros, if they were lucky they could loot something -Red armor lacquer was extremley expensive, the name for the lacquer is benga-iro, which means bengal, because it came from Bangladesh, and only rich samurai and most daimyo could afford it -Little to no samurai had any “formal training” only like 10% had actual formal training, as in being trained from 6 yada yada -Ashigaru were usually only given spares by armorers, usually it was old crappy equipment, they usually just looted whatever they could after the battle ended and lastly, the okegawa dō is used too much, usually it would be the haraate, haramaki, and domaru armors, with tsugake, kebiki lacing, similar armors to the okegawa did exist though, like the sendai dō or the kanto dō. Keep in mind that the Domaru, Haraate, and Haramaki only refers to how the armor was constructed, the actual “dō” part refers to the style of the armor
@@safiakhan4627The jingasa point is likely a bit over the top. The armor type existed at the time. So it’s unlikely that no ashigaru pre-1600’s ever wore it. Even if it wasn’t made for them, inevitably one would end up finding one.
@@kaijuslayer3334 Yeah, I agree. Thats what I also thought at first. But, usually if you won I suppose there might have been many other dead bodies to loot with better helmets than a leather conical hat, but I will bet there are some cases of an Ashigaru wearing one, no doubt
@@safiakhan4627 I mean think of it this way, the metal jingasa was a rather cheap helmet that provided decent enough protection while also being light and very comfortable to wear especially as it freed up most of the head and face. That makes it a pretty good helmet for ashigaru stationed as guards out of combat for hours on end. It’s the same principle as the European kettle helm that was used a lot by guardsman. That honestly might be why the jingasa took off in the Edo period as most ashigaru were not in direct combat and so preferred a lighter piece of head armor that was more comfortable for long shifts of just serving as guards and such.
What were your thoughts of the women of Oshi Castle aiding in defending the against the Toyotomi seige? Is it myth that they took charge against the invaders alongside the men?
Are you saying that Lady Tomoe and Tachibana Ginchiyo does not actually shoots lightning from their weapons? And no mentions of Ii Naotora, the lady with big badonkers who fight with bladed boots, for quite some time became head of Ii clan??? . . PS. just kidding lmaoao, these are videogames depiction, love your videos man
ginchiyo tachibana actually became the head of her clan the tachibana after the death of her father joun tachibana, only after she married muneshige that she passed the headship of the clan to her husband
This is very close to what I learned when I was studying about warriors, such as the samurai, the samurai class, and the samurai wife or woman. One thing I was taught through my reading, was that the samurai women were taught limited, martial arts This was because one of their jobs was to protect the family when their husbands were away, which they were a lot. According to my reading, there were a number of women who broke away from the rules, and became female samurai, although mostly limited. A number of them, became extremely efficient in the way of the aero, and in the way of the horse, but, at no time was there mention of them going into battle using these arts., Being only of note because of their skill having been recognized. One story, which I do not know, is true, or has a basis in truth, and was glorified, which is most likely, of a samurai wife, who in revenge had set out to home what school she had, and to kill the leader that killed her husband. I do not remember the circumstances of his death, except that he was not killed in battle. Nor do I remember if she succeeded, or if she succeeded, and she, too, was killed in the process, my memory is never perfect. I wish it was.
Also have to keep in mind, Ashigaru aren't of the Samurai class, but they are professional Warriors after the Heian period. Sohei aren't Samurai class, but they also are Warrior. Samurai whom became Monks but are still part of the Samurai class, are however still Samurai, but people don't call him a Sohei. Equally, Samurai Woman and Warrior Woman are different, a Woman don't have to be a part of the Samurai class to be a Warriors, Mercenaries for hires.
Man, when I look at some this old art all I think is “anime dressings have come a long way.” Lol but it’s odd that realism art isn’t that trendy in Japan .
I always feel sad when I hear the stereotype of naginata being a woman's weapon. Poor Mushahibo Benkei would be rolling in his grave. And compared to a katana the naginata can be quite heavy (great range though). Thanks for the vid and keep up the good work!
At Wakamatsu farm, near where I live, in Placerville, there were stories I heard about the samurai wife who was very influential at the farm. It was really interesting.
there was an article from vice in september 2018 (christobal hastings) talking about this subject. it touches on many of the you talked about but also mentions several recent archeological finds supporting the existence of female bushi. Stephen turnbull also has a book talking about this subject called 'samurai women' where he goes into more detail about current archeological finds indicating that onna-musha were more common that previously thought. Not sure if yo have seen any of this info.
I have searched everywhere and can't find the ukiyo-e print of the woman with the naginata with the child on her back. Does anyone know where to find it?
Geisha doesn't mean artist, it means a type of artist, entertainers employed in tea houses who specialized in Japanese material culture. So calling them Onna Bugeisha makes absolutely no sense at all. Especially since geisha weren't exclusively female in some cases.
3:06 To begin with I have never understood why people think Japan is some different world. Like every single aspect of this just goes for women in western nobility too.
The idea of giving away women to secure political gains or allies is not restricted to Japan. This was done all throughout Europe. And probably done everywhere else in the world.
You wanna learn about a real BAMF lady, look up Nieves Fernandez. She was a Philipino woman who killed about 200 Japanese soldiers during WWII to protect her students and townspeople. I almost never hear people talk about her.
3:11 left side, the symbols within the circle, the symbol on the left, does anyone know if that is a thunderbolt, or what does it mean or translate to? TY in advance.
The tachibana is interesting cuz his dad mired in legends. If legends were to believe he is the man who cut lighting, he also created water resistant matchlock & bamboo cartridges, all while being a cripple.
I was listening and more research with descended families or records of those females' warriors might be prudent. It was mentioned earlier about the regular foot soldiers made up of the commoners being separate from the samurai. The separation of the samurai being a intermediate class versus nobleman wasn't made clear, as many of the noblemen of the time, considered themselves as samurai as well, which complicates discussion. In feudal European, does one merge the Lords of Nobility as knights? Are all knights, noblemen? Can a commoner become a nobleman without being a knight? So, if a common woman took up the weapon that was mentioned used by family/spouse of samurai in defense of the home/castle, is she a samurai? Usually, a samurai's principal weapon was swords, but expected to be familiar with archery or various pole weapons. Wasn't Joan of Arc a woman of historical note in Europe in armor? Would one call her a woman knight? In my martial arts training that I took as a youth, I had heard of Japanese women that were widely recognized by the skill using the weapon that was usually mentioned. A weapon's a weapon, whether defensive or offensive, should cataloging the user by sex, amount of usage, birth differential their expertise? Difficult to say after all these years, but like all historical information, it's a discussion point and more should be investigated to get a better perspective.
Is a no brainer that women born into warrior cast family would not be used for front line combat like their male counterparts unless out of desperation such as getting their homes invaded and no way to retreat. Women can bear and raise children therefore a women from warrior stock would be prized for their ability to bear many warrior sons or daughters to continue bearing again more sons. Sending them out to fight a war and getting killed or maimed is simply a waste of resources as human population were lower than today with many work done by humans and not automation like today. Having many women in your clan will ensure your clan stay populated against rival clans. This too applies to another common myths known as shield maidens from the viking era, where modern people believe they fight/raid like their warrior male vikings. But in reality they are nothing more than ceremonial figures for religious purpose and of course bargaining chips to be married off to another family to bear and rear sons for actual fighting.
I pretty much agree. Add having lower physical strength and endurance and it would be impractical to send them out on the front lines in campaigns. THAT BEING SAID, it is beneficial for them to be local defenders such as settlements (or anywhere should samurai bring them along as warriors in general sometimes bring women with them for common needs). After all, if the danger comes to them, what other choice do they have if surrender is out of the question? With defense, they have the environment to their advantage. Even a house is one's castle. Plus, they can conserve their power until the enemy gets within range (should the foe manage to inspite of the lower position) while the enemy loses stamina. Of course, this isn't to say that only women fought against invaders as a garrison of male warriors were likely there, but it doesn't change the fact that women had to step up in crisis times. In fact, while I am not usually fond of strict gender roles, I would be interested in learning more about the dynamics during crisis times. I honestly even find the image of men fighting on the frontlines while the women help defend the very foundation of their civilization to be interesting in my opinion. What I'd love to learn more is what women in general did outside of combat. As mundane as it may be compared to fighting, learning about their political influence and what common necessities they helped contribute is important in my opinion (I know that Shogunate briefly touched upon it in the video but understandably focused on the warrior topic). I'd like to learn more about what they were doing in wartimes while men were away such as managing places and political influence. fact, I'd be interested in learning about women in ashigaru, peasant, and other classes as I believe that those in more common positions have contributed many essential necessities to society but go largely unmentioned. Sorry for my long post.
The main reason is logistic. Women need to be treated different from men. This creates lot of problems like organization, food , camp etc. If you as a commander had the resources to deal with these problems, you may as well hired more men.
Even if she his a disputed historical figure, I would absolutely love if a good director made a 3 hour epic on Tomoe Gozaen's life. Her story is deeply fascinating, and I'm still baffled no one would do something like that for her or indeed any of these awesome historical female warriors of Japan! I hope we get one one day! :)
What and how something is remembered is always a problem and people get forgotten all the time. For example, it took the band Sabaton to remember Milunka Savić, which I never heard before: ruclips.net/video/3AsRfcrZeUE/видео.html The video is obviously a bit overdramatic
I wonder about this story that the naginata being the weapon of choice for female warriors. A long, heavy weapon with a large blade must surely require more strength to wield than say a katana. We see Mariko wielding one in the recent Shogun adaptation and it seems a little ridiculous that she overcomes many enemies by generating so much rotational momentum with such a small stature. Many fictions I've watched have the women fight with something more like a wakizashi. Im thinking for example of Lady Snowblood. I speculate that this may be an urban myth, therefore. Was there a fiction at some point in the past that seeded this idea? Or a posed photo like some of the ones that supported the idea of female samurai that were really just fancy dress / tourist shots.
I learned as a martial artist that women trained with the Naginata because it's long reach let them fight off brigands on horseback who would raid wealthy homes while the men were away at war.
What about urban warriors did they exist? I mean like in Europe, communal militia consisting of artisans, city dependent peasants, bourgeois and urban nobilis?
I suppose this could be used to reflect on the fact that very few warriors fight for the sake of fighting, as romanticized as that notion sometimes is by people who don't fight. And allowing for female warriors to fight on the frontlines on the regular is a lot more likely to make the creation of offspring that you desire less likely.
0:00: 👩🚀 Female warriors in pre-modern Japan, including samurais, ashigaru footsoldiers, and armed monks, have become increasingly popular over the years. 3:30: 🗝 Prominent Japanese leaders used women as tools for alliances and succession. 6:53: 👩🚀 Female samurai, known as una Musha or onabu Geisha, were trained in combat and often participated in the defense of their homes during sieges. 10:14: 👩🚀 There were very few women who operated as samurai warriors. 13:43: 👩🎓 Ginchio Tachibana, a female warrior, played a notable role in the Sahigahara conflict during the feudal era in Japan. Recap by Tammy AI
A lot of these stories puts the woman warriors on the losing side of a conflict. The same occurs in the European examples I can think of like Boudicca and Joan D'Arc. I wonder if this is just the small sample size or if this is actually a phenomenome of woman warriors of the past.
You might be right but idk why you included Joan D'Arc specifically. She led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans in 1429. And on an overall scale, Joan D'Arc was in the Hundred Years War on the French side. The French won The Hundred Years war.
Adding in, I actually read from a scholar once that the most famous picture of the female samurai (the one that you used at 15:58) is actually (and sadly) a posed photo.
![Classes, Ranks, and Titles of Feudal Japan [Kamakura and Muromachi Periods]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0bbe7tGF6fo/mqdefault.jpg)
My personal top 3 of Onna Bugeisha are Oohouri Tsuruhime (a princess miko warrior who fought against the Ouchi clan to protect her home at Iyo province), Matsu (Maeda Toshiie's beautiful wife, while I haven't find yet info about her participating in a battle, she was very talented in literature and martial arts) and Akai Teruko (often called "The Sengoku Strongest Grandma", because she was above 70 when she fought at Siege of Odawara!).
They are all intriguing especially Ii Naotora, Kaihime, Tachibana Ginchiyo, and Katakura Kita and so many are intriguing. But you may wanna use the word "Onna Musha" because Onna Bugeisha is not a word in the Japanese language.
The Japanese people use the word 女武者 which translates to "female warrior".
@@Boopboop-e4tThank you. People calling them Onna Bugeisha is maddening. Particularly because geisha were cultural artists who worked for tea shops and other places of entertainment. AND weren't exclusively female it turns out.
@luelee6168 you're welcome and yeah.
Geishas know what's up with the arts they create.
But "Bugeisha" makes no sense.
I've heard of Onna Musha but also "Onna Josshu" which would be in Ii Naotora's case. But through my studies of the Japanese language and history, Onna Bugeisha? I hardly know her because it never came into anything before nor during the Edo period.
@@Boopboop-e4t Also, correct me if I'm wrong the use of the word "geisha" originated in Tokyo whereas "geiko" or "geiki" are used in Kyoto.
The "bu" in "bugeisha," 武 (onyoumi "bu") is the distinguishing factor. It means "force." When combined with gei (芸, meaning 'art') and sha (者, meaning 'person' or 'doer'), you get something along the lines of "martial artist." So dismissing the term "onna bugeisha" on the grounds that "geisha" commonly refers to the famed female entertainers is like rejecting the term "martial artist" on the grounds that "artist" commonly refers to painters and sculptors.
Who's here after Ghost of Tsushima 2 announcement?
trying to educate myself😆
Seems like a "Episode Shadow" situation, unless it's true.
Looking for truth to combat the idiots screaming DEI
@austinwilson7373 They're not concerned about facts. Thanks for seeking out facts.
@brootlyn Those are all factual points. I am not here to fight them, but let me drop one of my own. Having practiced with a database battle ready if you let that same woman cut you, if her technique is on, you'd not be here making this statement. Also, the last time I checked video games are fantasy. The last time I jumped off the spire of a church into a bale of hay, I died.
One thing that I understandably never see talked about because it would be difficult to track and technically falls outside the definition of female samurai is that we know that around 750 women participated in the US Civil War in disguise as men out of about 2.8 million soldiers. If you were to just skip the nuances and difficulties of adjusting those numbers for different cultures, ease of disguise, and hardship of war in different periods that would project to 1 in every 5000 soldiers being secretly female. Obviously more and better research would need to be done that might prove impossible, but it isn't unreasonable to assume that a large percentage of conflicts/campaigns involving thousands of humans involved at least a couple of women in combat roles, albeit likely mostly in disguise.
Only in times when the gun provided the Great Equalizer. In purely melee times we see virtually no women warriors in history, barring perhaps an archer or two (archery being a weak form of Great Equalizer). In melee, size, strength, speed matter, and biology dictates that women do not have the size, strength, or speed of men.
@@LewisPulsipher it may surprise you to learn horses, chariots, swords, spears, formations and fortifications are also equalizers.
But I also never said that the women actually survived the battles or even made it as far as the battlefield, just that it wouldn't be surprising for a sample size of several thousand human beings to include a couple women in disguise as men.
@@just_radical A spear isn't much of an equalizer when one person is usually stronger, faster, and bigger than the other. A gun comes much closer. Nor is anything else you've listed an equalizer in this sense.
I know there are lots of stories of women disguised as men, but in anon-modern army, that isn't going to work for long. Let's call it "personal hygiene", and the woman is going to be discovered sooner or later. It WOULD be surprising if there were a couple women in disguise as men.
@@LewisPulsipher there's a long running rumor that uesugi kenshin was a woman
@@elgatto3133 I've heard that. Who knows. Yet the supreme leader would not have been exposed for "personal hygiene" the way an ordinary trooper would have. (And might not have been in the thick of battle.) In those respects, the leader is more likely to pull off such a disguise.
I'm surprised Nakano Takeko wasn't talked about in this video. Her story was amazing! She might not be called a samurai by some but one thing that can't be argued is that she died a samurai's death.
I agree , sister ! It's a big shame .
I wrote almost the same comment few weeks ago .
Agreed, her story really flips some of the points of the video on its head. I'm sure that in broad strokes he was fairly correct, women were mostly policed away from male gender roles. We do know however from for instance a letter of a Portuguese missionary to Japan in/around the Sengoku era that men were expected to ask their wives for permission to use the lady's family or personal holdings (certainly in that time period and the area the missionary went to). Gender roles certainly were different from European ones at the time.
The fact that Nakano was able to inhabit that samurai role on the battlefield where she died, in defiance of the patriarchal forces (her unit was not formally accepted as I understand, but not prevented from fighting either) complicates the story of women being 'unable' to inhabit the role of samurai.
Link to letter of the missionary in question: ruclips.net/video/qu-pSBEnMt4/видео.html
If she wasn’t a samurai then it’s obvious why she wasn’t in the video
@@caseyphelps6232 except he discussed women warriors, which is what Nakano Takeko was, so she very well could have been in the video.
@@caseyphelps6232 Did you not watch the video? He mentioned multiple women in the video who weren't even warriors they were just the head of their clans. You're logic doesn't even work.
I'd be interested in learning about women in other classes like Ashigaru and peasants. What were there roles? What did they do during wartimes? Etc. While samurai classes may be prominently depicted, I think it's important to consider what women in lower, more common positions were contributing.
I've read how women often accompanied men on campaign in Europe as followers, usually acting as cooks, nurses, or general support staff. Prostitutes and wives of soldiers would also follow, but generals would often try to diminish their presence to not affect the men. I don't know, however, how true this is for Japan, or even the rest of East Asia
@@maseoembry4165 I see. Thanks for sharing.
Now, do you happen to know about what women did back home during wartimes (managing places and what have you)? I'd also love to learn about what they did during peacetimes with how they contributed to society.
Churn out babies, probably.
@@cadethumann8605 Aristocratic women in medieval societies would often pursue activities considered fit for women. That mainly involved the arts, stuff like poetry and textile weaving. In Europe, alcohol brewing was also women's pursuit and some women even became renowned alchemists. During wartime, the lady of a castle was often tasked with holding down the fort while the men were away, managing the day to day affairs and defending the castle if need be. Wikipedia has a lost of examples of women in post classical warfare if you want to look into specific examples
women at all times did same thing in war time - took over men's jobs. there are rare examples of wariors, in Polanad we had captain Emilia Plater who led 25th regiment in november 1831 uprising against russian occupation. and in terms of lower class lasdies - history does not really consider lower class people no matter the sex
Another great video, as a fan of Tomoe I am glad she was mentioned here.
I love that she's referenced in Ghost of Tsushima
@@shawnamiller191
Not only that but in Sekiro as well...
Why did I think of Tomoe Tsurugi from miraculous?
*Genichiro has joined the chat*
@@shawnamiller191 Also Rurouni Kenshin
I am so glad you mentioned Aizu in this video!
There is so much that went on in the battle of Aizu, that just doesn't get covered enough!
Yamamoto/Niijima Yae who fought in the Battle of Aizu even has her own Taiga drama, absolute madlass
Female samurai as in female members of the samurai class existed of course. And them fighting also existed... to a lesser existant. Yada yada yada. It wasn't as common.
Interesting topic and it's rather complex with many misconceptions about it. Good that you made a video on this one, Shogunate.
If you don't mind me asking, do you know more about the roles women in these clans worked with? As exciting as battles can be, what goes on behind the scenes is arguably just as important, if not more so.
@@cadethumann8605 Honestly no. I'm not that knowledgable on how clans organized themselves in general and my understanding of old Japan is very basic and surface level too because I got into this only a while back.
@@DionysianLovecraftian I understand. Same with me. Still, I do hope that the lives of other people in feudal societies get documented. There's more to it than warriors and leaders.
every mother and wife becomes a samurai given the right situation and circumstances, if u understand the spirit of the samurai. doesnt have to look far.
A samurai is not a dress up, just like a woman is not a dress up.
History, it's always more complex, than whomever recorded it or reported on events, sometimes years after the events occurred. Then there's always the questions of the point of view of the person who wrote the account. What did they choose to emphasize or deemphasize, embellish or reduce involvement in events. Unfortunately, there has never been an independent corps of observers event recording class then or now. So extrapolation is how historical consensus is determined and agreed upon. As you say females of the samurai classes did exist, but from then on their actual involvements just gets murky. Never the less a most informative and entertaining video.
I have to say, my man, your channel is probably my favorite on RUclips. Across all genres I follow. Your voice, the script, the art used within the videos and the subject matter are top tier. As a history buff and someone who loves essay style videos; yours are the perfect match. Thank you continuing your career on RUclips and I'll be here until the inevitable heat death of the earth. 🎉
When you define Samurai as both a title and occupation, which is what it was in contrast to other forms of nobility in the West, then the answer the answer seems simple: yes. Women where samurai by definition, but they rarely performed the part of the martial occupation. It is as you say though, a matter of semantics. Great vid!
Ikeda Sen was a known musketeer who accompanied her father, Ikeda Tsuneoki, on campaign.
Interesting thing to mention, the very little info you find about Lady Tomoe in the Heike Monogatari, mentions her using a bow and ,,an oversized sword", which in turn makes me wonder if the chronicle is referring to an Ōdachi (大太刀) also called Nodachi (野太刀) meaning great big sword and big field sword respectively. as far as I know it was more popular when Tomoe was alive than it was in the later ages. Much like a Naginata which was gradually replaced by Yari as a battlefield weapon. anyway, great video The Shogunate, I recently finished watching. your Sengoku series and I enjoyed it very much. Your other content is also top notch. Thank you for your work and effort.
Heike Monogatari is not a history but a collection of fables based on people in the Gempei wars .The actual history of that era is the Azuma Kagami . There is no mention of any female warrior named Tomoe in the Azuma Kagami . The Azuma Kagami was written when the Hojo were in power and is the only history of that era .Heiki Monogatari was written much later and compiled by a blind monk named Kakuichi in 1371 .The original authors were traveling Biwa players . Azuma Kagami covers the rise of the Minamoto from 1180 through the Jokyu war in 1221 . Minamoto No Yoshinaka and his right hand Kanehira are covered but no mention of Tomoe at all .
True. Thank you for mentioning. Still as you said, the tale of the Heike was comprised from oral tales. Granted Tomoe doesn’t play a large part in the war plus she ends up on the loosing side which may be a reason for her not being mentioned.Also a lot of information is believed to have been destroyed regarding Heian women in general in the turbulent time that followed. Correct me if I’m wrong. On the final note, as Mister Metatron said in one of his recent videos, the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. Thank you for your comment. Take care.
The leader of the Joshitai (Girl's Army) of the Aizu Domain was Nakano Takeko .
She slayed about 127 male samurai . I think it is worth to mention her .
Sorry about my english , it's not my first language .
I love the content of your channel ! Thanks for your hard work and salute to you !
You wrote your point VERY well! ^_^ And Thank You for sharing!
Your english is pretty good man
@@SundownTE It's not the modern obsession . It's a fact .
All sorts of patriarchal societies , often ruled by religious figures tried to hide women characters that was way more heroic than men , more inteligent , etc .
We can't let to forget about those heroines , same as male heroes .
They existed , it's not a fairy tales for good girls ! 😏
There was no samurai during this period.
@@paulodelima5705 What are you talking about ?
Naginata as a modern martial art is heavily dominated by female practitioners, so it's definitely now a "woman's weapon". That is not to say that men don't practice it - they do - or that it's not effective - it's highly effective against a sword or a staff, even multiple opponents.
it's a good weapon: great reach,easy to carry,curved blade that could be used to disarm an enemy..."woman's weapon" is a compliment if that's what a woman's weapon looks like.
The naginata was adopted for sport fencing for women in Japan, because Kendo and Spear fencing was too rough for women versus men. And it was considered dishonorable for men to compete aginast women... just like how it is dishonorable for men to compete against women in sports and MMA today.
I don't get why everything a woman does or uses needs to be reaffirmed as "effective".
Like, if it weren't for mothers and housewives, we literally wouldn't even exist right now.
I watched a Korean movie about an ambassadorial delegation to China that gets arrested in China, barely manages to escape and runs into problem after problem trying to get back to Korea. And one of the characters is a slave who turns out to be a bada$$ with an equivalent to a naginata and it was shown to be extremely effective as a weapon. It would likely be my choice of primary melee weapon due to reach. I would want a shorter sword for indoor situations as a backup; but a really long reach weapon makes sense for most situations.
@@BloodwyrmWildheartbecause just using your biological functions isn’t a accomplishment.They wanted to actually contribute to the community around them.
I imagine 'home defense' was not just about sieges. During war, it would be common that most of the men would be away from home, so the wealthy homes of the samurai would probably seem like a juicy target for bandits, or there could be a peasant rebellion brewing, and they could see the war as an opportunity to strike at their oppressors. Or it could be that enemies outmaneuver your clans army, or another clan joins the war or betrays your clan, striking when there are no men to defend the land. I could be wrong, but I think one of the reasons women would practice martial arts is so that the homes are not seen as 'defenseless' when men are away.
While my sources didn't clarify if she went to battle or not, it's also worth remembering Ii Naotora, who became the head of her clan (I also really hate how she's portrayed in Samurai Warriors). I also read somewhere that Honda Tadakatsu's daughter Komatsuhime used to ride in battle despite being pregnant, which regardless of if it's true or not doesn't sound like the greatest of ideas.
And while she wasn't a samurai, another notable female warrior is Ouhouri Tsuruhime who lived during Sengoku period before Nobunaga's rise to power.
don't forget yoshihime, mother of date masamune and mogami yoshiaki's sister, she was very politically active and even tried assassinating her own son date masamune lol
Ikr, when it comes to the portrayal of Ii Naotora in SW.
You’re very very confused about what pregnant women are capable of, let alone if circumstances and personality make them the commander of the army 😂
There are a number of queens in Western and Eastern recorded history being like ‘welp I’m pregnant I guess we have to call off the giant war for a year’ ….not.
War is never a good idea but if everyone is already running towards death you’re gonna single out a woman who outranks you in every way as dumb?
That’s everything I need to know about you.
Great video as always~ love these series and collaborations you do!. Great video as always~ love these series and collaborations you do!.
I think the easiest explanation that historians can give when it comes to female warriors in any place at any time in history is that "despite not being the norm at all, there are always exceptions". Even today, it is men who go and fight and die in wars while the women are kept away, hopefully safely from the horrors of war. But then, like previously said, there are exceptions~
Note how people were switching and changing names, particularly those in higher classes, it's possible that stories can be created as parallels to real confirmed figures and etc.
There's no way to know.
Far as I'm concerned, I wasn't there, didn't experience it, all the events are false as far as I'm concerned, but do they have something to teach or learn that can be applied or noted in modern day? Absolutely.
"Even today, it is men who go and fight and die in wars while the women are kept awayEven today, it is men who go and fight and die in wars while the women are kept away" not sure what country you are from, but plenty of countries have female soldiers too, who also fight in wars, for the last two decades. They might not be part of the special forces, but they are in the infantry at least and other combat roles and support roles. Working in kinds of fields too, you got plenty of women in the navy, as pilots, boots on the ground, medics, etc.
@@Jorendo no, not really. I can only think of Israel, but otherwise this is just trying to make the exception seem like a norm~
@@Kallikukurinn yes, sadly some want to be morally superior not accurate
@@JorendoSource: Made it up
Come up with better propaganda for once.
An another fantastic and informative video.Excellent work Nick.❤
Lady Kai is my favorite Female Samurai thanks to Samurai Warriors 3. she is also one of my reason why i like the Hojo Clan
Tomoe Gozen is great and i loved researching her when i found out about her around 4 years ago😅
EDIT: Finally someone talked about the Women of Aizu
7:30 This very similar to something that wasn't that unusual amongst higher-ranking wives in Medieval Europe; many noble women acted as administrators within their husband's homes, ie. managing servants, resident guards, household accounts etc. But they often were given some basic tactical education, in case their husbands were out and their residence came under siege. The wives needed to know what to do, how to bunker down, and how to command whatever guards they had on the premises in case of an emergency.
On-na Musha was in general born into Samurai family and on the higher end of the ranks.
They are also generally trained in some form of Marshall arts that were specific to female
like Naginata, Kogatana (small katana), kozuka (hand knife) and Yumi (archery) but
they usually didn't actively fight in the war but more as defense of their home.
Only known figure was Tomoe gozen who was always depicted wearing Kacchuu
(armoire) and Naginata on horse back.
So basically "female samurai" were never a thing but female warriors did rise up to defend their families and support their men did exist like in all countries of the world. Imo it's very similar to the idea of a man who'd defend his family from an attacker is a warrior and defender but is not a soldier.
That's essentially the case throughout most of history all over the world for women as far as we know. At least, that's how it always seems to be. Sure, vikings had "shield maidens," but people tend to push that they were extremely rare if they existed outside of myth at all. At the same time, female remains might dispute this, but for a long time historians dismissed almost all burials found with weapons or on battle grounds to only be male without making closer analysis of the bones other than cause of death until somewhat recently. Since they've started onsidering this more, they've found a possible good few.
It might be the case with women of the Samurai class, but who really knows since information on them is already very scarce. Women throughout history were never considered important enough to write about even in the time they lived unless they were women like Cleopatra, or Elizabeth the first, so on. It also depends on the politics of the time on how these women were seen, favorably or not. It gets harder to find evidence the farther back you go. Kinda disappointing.
There are many records in the west of women fighting alongside men and even commanding troops. At least one band of Vikings who fought at Stamford Bridge was led by a woman. There are records the wives of lords taking control of the defence of her castle when it came under siege while the lord was away. And in America when when the wagon train was attacked women would do more then reload the rifles and tend to the wound. So should we be surprised that there were cases of Japanese women doing the same.
A one eyed Nubian war lady (ig that's the female version of war lord) was able to use her tribe to hold back European forces way cooler than Cleopatra imo.
@@manwhoismissingtwotoenails4811 Amanirenas, am I right?
I also remember 2 women being spotted by Saladins historian at the siege of Acre.
I mean, same thing with Africa, native american history and many other places. I dont see how thats news to anyone. History has shown that when you give people proper training you will see the results.
Well yes we should.
Uesugi Kenshin is also accepted as a true Samurai. I've spoken to a few Feudal historians who are fully Japanese, and most fully accept that Uesugi was a woman. There's lots of evidence towards referencing feminine interests, staying within the women's quarters, her menstrual cycle, etc., and calling her "auntie" by Spanish missionaries. Even those who do not fully believe this often still picture Kenshin as a pretty boy or very effeminate man.
My family comes from an upper samurai class in Osaka. My great great grandfather fought in the Boshin War. Even in the Showa era, they were teaching martial arts to women (and men). I'm not sure if this was just my family or if this was still commonplace. My dad taught me some that he learned from a master in his area so the tradition continued into this modern era.
From my understanding, I will say that the Naginata being a woman's weapon is both issues you said, it's popularized because it was used, and because it was popularized it was more used by women. There have been schools where the masters are women or it appeared to me that most of the members of it are women.
heh...femboy samurai.XD
Hate to burst your bubble, but Kenshin was a dude. You're basically taking one novelist's anecdote as fact over, well, literally everything else.
@@BloodwyrmWildheart Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you met him. Several 'anecdotes' pointing to the possibility were recorded by several different contemporary sources, and the truth is we'll just most likely never know.
Did male lords tend to have monthly cramps and girly tendencies? No. Did they put importance on rearing an heir? Yes. But those contradictions don't mean Kenshin was a woman, per se. He could've just been feminine, he could've been intersex or had a hormonal/chromosomal disorder, heck; he could've been a eunuch for all we know; or maybe those sources were just trolling.
We'll never know the absolute truth of history we ourselves haven't witnessed. I don't even have a point, I just think it's annoying how self-assured you are about something you have no way of knowing. You just sound pretentious, that's all this essay was leading up to.
@@thekroomfsterthat’s a lot of words for I don’t know
@@thekroomfster "Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you met him."
Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think you have either. He's been dead for centuries.
They existed, thats basically it.
They were not at all the norm or really anything more than a uncommon occurence that more often than not usually used Yari, Naginata, and Maybe No-Daichi/Yumi.
And in the majority of apperances throughout Japanese History were too put it simply played a defensive or last resort role with some exceptions.
.... Most Japanese warriors used Yari or Naginata and bows. Those where main battlefield weapons in general naginata switched to a more female role weapon during the Edo period
Most of your point is okay, but the weapon point is kinda not good.
Women rarely used bows, if at all. War bows with a heavy draw weight require a lot of strength. They aren't like the modern light-weight bows used in Kyudo where half the practitioners are women.
@@Perceval777 Thus why I used maybe as I imagine the No-Dachi also requires a great deal of strength to use especially when compared to polearms given how the No-Dachi is mostly made of metal.
@@InquisitorXarius Nodachi was rarely used even by male samurai in general it was a niche weapon Because so many others did the nodachis job better
That's not at all what he was saying.
He's saying there is record of women trained in samurai combat, and armor.
But to call them samurai would be wrong. As they didn't fight on the field, they stayed home. And as the men has to become bureaucrats, the woman had to get "woman jobs"
ain't you forgot the famous aizu women warrior like niijima yae. she fought in boshin war with repeating rifle and become educator.
Amazing channel. I was looking for the accuratge information about the Bushido for a long time. I was so close to visiting and working in Japan at one point. I'm a Motion Capture performer and in late 2015 I was in contact with Capcom about the facial likeness role of Leon for the Resident Evil 2 Remake. I failed to mention I also have a voice acting background, in the end I lost the part and I can't forgive myself for wasting such an opportunity. That would've been a real dream come true to visit South East Asia. Great video.
Bummer! Next time.
I wish you would have included Tsuruhime. She's a particular favorite of mine.
Oohouri Tsuruhime was such a badass.
I think she wasn't included because she's specifically not a samurai, being a daughter of a shrine's head priest. But yeah, Tsuruhime was one badass lady.
The lady of the house was actually in charge of defending it when her husband was gone. For wealthier women that meant that they commanded the bodyguards. In poor Samurai families without armed servants she had to wield the sword herself, so to speak.
I'm not sure if it was common for high born women to receive extensive combat training, but some weapons were especially designed for them.
The Sai, for example, was one such item that double functioned as a hair needle.
As subscribers to this channel are we also Shogunate loyalists?
I went to the Samurai and Ninja museum in Kyoto this past week, and our tour guide said that the reason samurai helmets had mustaches was because the families would also send young boys and women to fight. However, they wanted everyone to look the same so that it looked like an army of men instead of an army of men, young boys, and women. Is that true? O.o
There was no honor in killing a boy or a woman. So Samurai grew mustaches to make sure they would not be mistaken for a boy or woman if their head was taken. This is mentioned in the Hagakure.
@@gatocles99they grew mustaches so that when people decapitated them they’re killer would get praise?
@@caseyphelps6232 Yes. It is in the Hagakure. Look it up.
@@caseyphelps6232 I dunno if it's true, but it makes sense. History is written by the winners, so if your killer was ashamed of killing you, there'd be a chance of them hiding your death and thus removing you from history.
Ninjas are a myth with almost no reference in history unless it is a job for some samurai. This museum is not a good one, same as your guide.
Great video as always~ love these series and collaborations you do!
Thanks man!
@@TheShogunate of course can’t wait for more Edo videos take your time though!
I remember a documentary I saw and they found mass graves with female skeletons where major battles took place, and often weren't even acknowledge.
While still rare there's a good chance female fighters were more common than we think.
@@tjcalihan1953@fbi @mcdonald @whatevertstateyoureinpolice
It is a complex subject and this a good review of cultural relationships. I do find his conclusions flawed due to a lack of information. Recent archeological excavations of battlefields from the pre-EDO periods show anywhere from 12 - to over 20% of the skeletons were female. While these may not necessarily be "female samurai", it does indicate a higher percentage of female participation in Japanese battlefields than this author indicates.
Weeeeelllllllll ...since I just watched the trailer for the NEW "Shogun" miniseries ... I figured I should check this video out!
Ooops ... you have a video on that ... will watch that and then return!
I'd heard of similar things happening in European noble families: the wife still has some degree of martial training in order to handle the home while her husband is gone. I don't really like treating this as somehow inferior or something though. Maintaining and protecting one's home base is at least as important as launching attacks against the enemy, so being able to properly guard the household is potentially huge.
And honestly, the whole thing reminds me of various wild animals, particularly certain species of birds. In many monogamous bird species, the male will travel through his territory, searching for threats to fight, but the female is at least as fierce if not fiercer if anything gets past the male. Militarily speaking, the rear line is as important or often even more important than the front. If anything, the frontline is able to fight because they know that even if they die what matters most will be protected, as there is a powerful guardian standing watch.
Agreed. It saddens me that roles that didn't involve fighting (at least those who were on campaign or on the front lines of defense such as sieges) are seen as unimportant and insignificant. If you ask me, those roles that non-combatants did were just as crucial, if not more so. Without people maintaining basic needs, stimulating the economy, and other things, there obviously wouldn't be a home for those warriors ro return to and/or receive support from.
IMO, it would be fascinating to see videos talking about what non-combatants did during warfare. They deserve to have their spotlight. There's more going on at warfare behind the scenes.
Since we are talking about female Japanese warriors now, it'll be nice to hear your take on "Female Uesugi Kenshin" theory :D
كينشين لم يكن فتاه بتاتا مجرد شائعات عنه لاتوجد فتاه تستطيع هزيمة نوبوناغا و شينجن لوحدها
Thank you my only idea of this subject was the Onna-bushi you get as a castle retainer in total war: shogun 2. Makes more sense why they are always a garrison unit in castles now.
Also you can recruit warrior nuns, which I'm not sure they existed
The first thing that define a samurai is not that they fought in one particular style or using certain weapons, but that they fought in exchange for some rights to a source of income, like a plot of land or an allowance from a lord or noble. Is not a salary or wage, like a mercenary would fight for. If a japanese warrior doesn't receive those rights and favours then is not a samurai.
Great video as always, enjoyed it. Any chance you will ever redo your samurai armor video? I feel that there are too many misconceptions about sengoku armor that not many know of.
Possibly! There are a number of videos I plan to revisit.
@@TheShogunate Yea, sorry to be annoying but I want to share some big misconceptions. You dont have to read all of this, but if you want some information sometime its right here. Im not saying that “All your videos are bad because they used the battle depictions had a wrong armor piece that is Edo period armor!!” I just want points like these in an armor video. And im not saying not to use those images and depictions, because theres no other depiction to use sadly.
-Ashigaru did not wear jingasas until the 1600s onward, there is no evidence for it, there was an excavation at odawara of a jingasa but that is for camp aides. Ashigaru would wear headbands called Hachigane, something called the Hitaite, a headband like thing, and they would wear crappy Kabutos with very short or no Shikoros, if they were lucky they could loot something
-Red armor lacquer was extremley expensive, the name for the lacquer is benga-iro, which means bengal, because it came from Bangladesh, and only rich samurai and most daimyo could afford it
-Little to no samurai had any “formal training” only like 10% had actual formal training, as in being trained from 6 yada yada
-Ashigaru were usually only given spares by armorers, usually it was old crappy equipment, they usually just looted whatever they could after the battle ended
and lastly, the okegawa dō is used too much, usually it would be the haraate, haramaki, and domaru armors, with tsugake, kebiki lacing, similar armors to the okegawa did exist though, like the sendai dō or the kanto dō. Keep in mind that the Domaru, Haraate, and Haramaki only refers to how the armor was constructed, the actual “dō” part refers to the style of the armor
@@safiakhan4627The jingasa point is likely a bit over the top. The armor type existed at the time. So it’s unlikely that no ashigaru pre-1600’s ever wore it. Even if it wasn’t made for them, inevitably one would end up finding one.
@@kaijuslayer3334 Yeah, I agree. Thats what I also thought at first. But, usually if you won I suppose there might have been many other dead bodies to loot with better helmets than a leather conical hat, but I will bet there are some cases of an Ashigaru wearing one, no doubt
@@safiakhan4627 I mean think of it this way, the metal jingasa was a rather cheap helmet that provided decent enough protection while also being light and very comfortable to wear especially as it freed up most of the head and face. That makes it a pretty good helmet for ashigaru stationed as guards out of combat for hours on end. It’s the same principle as the European kettle helm that was used a lot by guardsman. That honestly might be why the jingasa took off in the Edo period as most ashigaru were not in direct combat and so preferred a lighter piece of head armor that was more comfortable for long shifts of just serving as guards and such.
What were your thoughts of the women of Oshi Castle aiding in defending the against the Toyotomi seige? Is it myth that they took charge against the invaders alongside the men?
Came here from another channel recomendation.
Greetings from Metatron subs
Context is everything
Sekiro makes a reference to Lady Tomoe I believe
Just by the same name. The Tomoe of Sekiro is not specifically Tomoe Gozen
Are you saying that Lady Tomoe and Tachibana Ginchiyo does not actually shoots lightning from their weapons? And no mentions of Ii Naotora, the lady with big badonkers who fight with bladed boots, for quite some time became head of Ii clan???
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PS. just kidding lmaoao, these are videogames depiction, love your videos man
ginchiyo tachibana actually became the head of her clan the tachibana after the death of her father joun tachibana, only after she married muneshige that she passed the headship of the clan to her husband
This is very close to what I learned when I was studying about warriors, such as the samurai, the samurai class, and the samurai wife or woman. One thing I was taught through my reading, was that the samurai women were taught limited, martial arts This was because one of their jobs was to protect the family when their husbands were away, which they were a lot. According to my reading, there were a number of women who broke away from the rules, and became female samurai, although mostly limited. A number of them, became extremely efficient in the way of the aero, and in the way of the horse, but, at no time was there mention of them going into battle using these arts., Being only of note because of their skill having been recognized.
One story, which I do not know, is true, or has a basis in truth, and was glorified, which is most likely, of a samurai wife, who in revenge had set out to home what school she had, and to kill the leader that killed her husband. I do not remember the circumstances of his death, except that he was not killed in battle. Nor do I remember if she succeeded, or if she succeeded, and she, too, was killed in the process, my memory is never perfect. I wish it was.
This is the best channel, when will you do the 2nd Edo period Vidio?
I will soon!
@@TheShogunate awesome
@@TheShogunate great!
Also have to keep in mind, Ashigaru aren't of the Samurai class, but they are professional Warriors after the Heian period. Sohei aren't Samurai class, but they also are Warrior. Samurai whom became Monks but are still part of the Samurai class, are however still Samurai, but people don't call him a Sohei.
Equally, Samurai Woman and Warrior Woman are different, a Woman don't have to be a part of the Samurai class to be a Warriors, Mercenaries for hires.
Man, when I look at some this old art all I think is “anime dressings have come a long way.” Lol but it’s odd that realism art isn’t that trendy in Japan .
So the lesson is, don’t turn trained-Japanese housewives into the Dahomey Agoji/Mino. Two very different histories. Awesome video.
I always feel sad when I hear the stereotype of naginata being a woman's weapon. Poor Mushahibo Benkei would be rolling in his grave.
And compared to a katana the naginata can be quite heavy (great range though).
Thanks for the vid and keep up the good work!
Good video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I agree on the fact there were a woman Samurai but not to the extent would people think.
At Wakamatsu farm, near where I live, in Placerville, there were stories I heard about the samurai wife who was very influential at the farm. It was really interesting.
Your channel is so amazing.
There is a channel called "The Shogunate"?!? Why was this never recommended to me this is the perfect channel for me?
there was an article from vice in september 2018 (christobal hastings) talking about this subject. it touches on many of the you talked about but also mentions several recent archeological finds supporting the existence of female bushi. Stephen turnbull also has a book talking about this subject called 'samurai women' where he goes into more detail about current archeological finds indicating that onna-musha were more common that previously thought. Not sure if yo have seen any of this info.
I have searched everywhere and can't find the ukiyo-e print of the woman with the naginata with the child on her back. Does anyone know where to find it?
There is tons of potential for stories about sieges where ladies have to fight because their men are gone
The Aizu women made me think of the women of Iron Town in Princess Mononoke, maybe they are where the inspiration might have came from
Can you make Clan Videos about the Taira, the Minamoto and Fujiwara, if possible
Geisha doesn't mean artist, it means a type of artist, entertainers employed in tea houses who specialized in Japanese material culture. So calling them Onna Bugeisha makes absolutely no sense at all. Especially since geisha weren't exclusively female in some cases.
wow, i didnt even expect it to hit as much as it did. i kinda cried at the end of the vid, wow
3:06 To begin with I have never understood why people think Japan is some different world. Like every single aspect of this just goes for women in western nobility too.
The idea of giving away women to secure political gains or allies is not restricted to Japan. This was done all throughout Europe. And probably done everywhere else in the world.
That was a very well-rounded treatment.
I trust Antony Cummins, and your video covered the same points as his did, so I believe you are a credible source. 👍
Maybe you should look further into Cummins if you trust him.
I'm new here, is this Sunny from BEFRS?
Ghost of Yotei wassup? lol
I have a question: Why don’t some of these women have movies about them? And if they do, please direct me to them.
You wanna learn about a real BAMF lady, look up Nieves Fernandez. She was a Philipino woman who killed about 200 Japanese soldiers during WWII to protect her students and townspeople. I almost never hear people talk about her.
So you're telling me that Anime, Video Games, and Fan Art are not historically accurate sources?
Hey who was woman with the Sanada clan mon /crest on her armor at 11:09?
3:11 left side, the symbols within the circle, the symbol on the left, does anyone know if that is a thunderbolt, or what does it mean or translate to? TY in advance.
The tachibana is interesting cuz his dad mired in legends. If legends were to believe he is the man who cut lighting, he also created water resistant matchlock & bamboo cartridges, all while being a cripple.
And if sangoku barara was to lead me to believe ginchiyo was a master chainsaw user. Strongest under all of hinamoto.
I enjoyed watching the video.I am wondering,does a person have to
be Japanese(male/female) to be a Samurai Warrior.
I was listening and more research with descended families or records of those females' warriors might be prudent. It was mentioned earlier about the regular foot soldiers made up of the commoners being separate from the samurai. The separation of the samurai being a intermediate class versus nobleman wasn't made clear, as many of the noblemen of the time, considered themselves as samurai as well, which complicates discussion. In feudal European, does one merge the Lords of Nobility as knights? Are all knights, noblemen? Can a commoner become a nobleman without being a knight? So, if a common woman took up the weapon that was mentioned used by family/spouse of samurai in defense of the home/castle, is she a samurai? Usually, a samurai's principal weapon was swords, but expected to be familiar with archery or various pole weapons. Wasn't Joan of Arc a woman of historical note in Europe in armor? Would one call her a woman knight? In my martial arts training that I took as a youth, I had heard of Japanese women that were widely recognized by the skill using the weapon that was usually mentioned. A weapon's a weapon, whether defensive or offensive, should cataloging the user by sex, amount of usage, birth differential their expertise? Difficult to say after all these years, but like all historical information, it's a discussion point and more should be investigated to get a better perspective.
Joan of Arc was mostly a political prop
Not every noble was a knight, but every knight was a noble, but most of these soldiers weren't knights, they were called men at arms
The samurai's primary weapon was not actually the sword. That's a movie myth.
Is a no brainer that women born into warrior cast family would not be used for front line combat like their male counterparts unless out of desperation such as getting their homes invaded and no way to retreat.
Women can bear and raise children therefore a women from warrior stock would be prized for their ability to bear many warrior sons or daughters to continue bearing again more sons.
Sending them out to fight a war and getting killed or maimed is simply a waste of resources as human population were lower than today with many work done by humans and not automation like today. Having many women in your clan will ensure your clan stay populated against rival clans.
This too applies to another common myths known as shield maidens from the viking era, where modern people believe they fight/raid like their warrior male vikings. But in reality they are nothing more than ceremonial figures for religious purpose and of course bargaining chips to be married off to another family to bear and rear sons for actual fighting.
I pretty much agree. Add having lower physical strength and endurance and it would be impractical to send them out on the front lines in campaigns. THAT BEING SAID, it is beneficial for them to be local defenders such as settlements (or anywhere should samurai bring them along as warriors in general sometimes bring women with them for common needs). After all, if the danger comes to them, what other choice do they have if surrender is out of the question? With defense, they have the environment to their advantage. Even a house is one's castle. Plus, they can conserve their power until the enemy gets within range (should the foe manage to inspite of the lower position) while the enemy loses stamina. Of course, this isn't to say that only women fought against invaders as a garrison of male warriors were likely there, but it doesn't change the fact that women had to step up in crisis times.
In fact, while I am not usually fond of strict gender roles, I would be interested in learning more about the dynamics during crisis times. I honestly even find the image of men fighting on the frontlines while the women help defend the very foundation of their civilization to be interesting in my opinion.
What I'd love to learn more is what women in general did outside of combat. As mundane as it may be compared to fighting, learning about their political influence and what common necessities they helped contribute is important in my opinion (I know that Shogunate briefly touched upon it in the video but understandably focused on the warrior topic). I'd like to learn more about what they were doing in wartimes while men were away such as managing places and political influence. fact, I'd be interested in learning about women in ashigaru, peasant, and other classes as I believe that those in more common positions have contributed many essential necessities to society but go largely unmentioned.
Sorry for my long post.
The main reason is logistic. Women need to be treated different from men. This creates lot of problems like organization, food , camp etc. If you as a commander had the resources to deal with these problems, you may as well hired more men.
@cck4863 Paedon me, but would you please elaborate more?
Ii Naotora... she was chosen to lead her clan, but she was given a man's name and everyone behaved as she was actually a man.
Even if she his a disputed historical figure, I would absolutely love if a good director made a 3 hour epic on Tomoe Gozaen's life. Her story is deeply fascinating, and I'm still baffled no one would do something like that for her or indeed any of these awesome historical female warriors of Japan! I hope we get one one day! :)
Tomoe gozen's story is more fable than reality
What and how something is remembered is always a problem and people get forgotten all the time. For example, it took the band Sabaton to remember Milunka Savić, which I never heard before:
ruclips.net/video/3AsRfcrZeUE/видео.html
The video is obviously a bit overdramatic
I wonder about this story that the naginata being the weapon of choice for female warriors. A long, heavy weapon with a large blade must surely require more strength to wield than say a katana. We see Mariko wielding one in the recent Shogun adaptation and it seems a little ridiculous that she overcomes many enemies by generating so much rotational momentum with such a small stature.
Many fictions I've watched have the women fight with something more like a wakizashi. Im thinking for example of Lady Snowblood.
I speculate that this may be an urban myth, therefore. Was there a fiction at some point in the past that seeded this idea? Or a posed photo like some of the ones that supported the idea of female samurai that were really just fancy dress / tourist shots.
The Onna Bugeisha are so fascinating
0:43 I JUST HAD A MAJOR VIETNAM FLASH BACK SEEING THE PIC ON THE RIGHT!! She looks like the true corrupted monk 😂😂😂
Great video. Love tomoe gozen ❤❤❤
I learned as a martial artist that women trained with the Naginata because it's long reach let them fight off brigands on horseback who would raid wealthy homes while the men were away at war.
What about urban warriors did they exist? I mean like in Europe, communal militia consisting of artisans, city dependent peasants, bourgeois and urban nobilis?
Wouldn't non-combatant samurai suffice? Or maybe Samurai guard
to be fair this was the norm for nobility all over the world at the time. the marrying off ow the women that is.
I suppose this could be used to reflect on the fact that very few warriors fight for the sake of fighting, as romanticized as that notion sometimes is by people who don't fight. And allowing for female warriors to fight on the frontlines on the regular is a lot more likely to make the creation of offspring that you desire less likely.
Mugen's mother in Samurai Champloo.
I'm just happy that Japan moved past those obsolete times.
0:00: 👩🚀 Female warriors in pre-modern Japan, including samurais, ashigaru footsoldiers, and armed monks, have become increasingly popular over the years.
3:30: 🗝 Prominent Japanese leaders used women as tools for alliances and succession.
6:53: 👩🚀 Female samurai, known as una Musha or onabu Geisha, were trained in combat and often participated in the defense of their homes during sieges.
10:14: 👩🚀 There were very few women who operated as samurai warriors.
13:43: 👩🎓 Ginchio Tachibana, a female warrior, played a notable role in the Sahigahara conflict during the feudal era in Japan.
Recap by Tammy AI
Even if they may not have been samurai like their male family members and spouses, they were still able to be badass warriors.
Sure even though that's a weird way to put it,then you could also say the men were more bad@$$
12:12 AND SHE CAN REDERECT LIGHTNING
No Takeko-sama?
A lot of these stories puts the woman warriors on the losing side of a conflict. The same occurs in the European examples I can think of like Boudicca and Joan D'Arc. I wonder if this is just the small sample size or if this is actually a phenomenome of woman warriors of the past.
Mostly a situation of being on the losing side and having to throw women into battle out of desperation.
@@SundownTE That is what i'm thinking is the most likely explanation.
You might be right but idk why you included Joan D'Arc specifically. She led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans in 1429. And on an overall scale, Joan D'Arc was in the Hundred Years War on the French side. The French won The Hundred Years war.
@@F0r3ver_L0st Joan of Arc was mostly a political mascot, a prop for the Church
@@SundownTE I agree, I said led not necessarily fought. You're missing the point though.
Adding in, I actually read from a scholar once that the most famous picture of the female samurai (the one that you used at 15:58) is actually (and sadly) a posed photo.