14. Japan’s Formidable Female Samurai
Medieval Japanese heroine Tomoe Gozen (circa 1157 – 1247) is perhaps that country’s most famous female samurai, or onna-bogueisha. A formidable warrior, she won renown for her courage, physical strength, and skill with a variety of weapons. It was not just for show: Tomoe put those assets to good use on the battlefield. She fought in the Japanese civil war that led to the creation of that country’s first shogun (military dictator) government – the political system that would govern Japan from the 1180s until 1868.
Back then, it was not unusual for Japanese women to receive military training. For centuries, women of the samurai class were taught swordsmanship, archery, and the use of polearms. It was defensive training, for the women to protect themselves and their households in the absence of their menfolk. Tomoe, however, wanted to test her mettle and training in battle. So she sought an active career as a warrior and was accepted into the service of a general named Minamoto Yoshinaka.
