Tomoe Gozen: The Most Famous Female Samurai.

Tomoe Gozen: The Most Famous Female Samurai.

During the Genpei War from 1180 to 1185, a beautiful young woman named Tomoe Gozen fought alongside her daimyo and possible husband Minamoto no Yoshinaka against the Taira and later the forces of his cousin, Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Tomoe Gozen ("gozen" is a title meaning "lady") was famous as a swordswoman, a skilled rider, and a superb archer. She was Minamoto's first captain and took at least one enemy head during the Battle of Awazu in 1184.

The late-Heian era Genpei War was a civil conflict between two samurai clans, the Minamoto and the Taira. Both families sought to control the shogunate. In the end, the Minamoto clan prevailed and established the Kamakura shogunate in 1192.

The Minamoto did not just fight the Taira, though. As mentioned above, different Minamoto lords also fought one another. Unfortunately for Tomoe Gozen, Minamoto no Yoshinaka died at the Battle of Awazu. His cousin, Minamoto Yoritomo, became shogun.

Reports vary as to Tomoe Gozen's fate. Some say that she stayed in the fight and died. Others say that she rode away carrying an enemy's head, and disappeared. Still, others claim that she married Wada Yoshimori and became a nun after his death

Tomoe Gozen on Horseback

The story of Tomoe Gozen has inspired artists and writers for centuries.

This print shows an actor in a mid-19th-century kabuki play portraying the famed female samurai. Her name and image have also graced an NHK (Japanese television) drama called "Yoshitsune," as well as comic books, novels, anime, and video games.

Fortunately for us, she also inspired a number of Japan's great woodcut print artists. Because no contemporary images of her exist, artists have free rein to interpret her features. The sole surviving description of her, from the "Tale of the Heike," states that she was beautiful, "with white skin, long hair, and charming features." Pretty vague, huh?

Tomoe Gozen Defeats Another Warrior

This gorgeous rendition of Tomoe Gozen shows her almost as a goddess, with her long hair and her silk wrap flowing up behind her. Here she is depicted with traditional Heian-era women's eyebrows where the natural brows are shaved off and bushier ones painted high on the forehead, near the hairline.

In this painting, Tomoe Gozen relieves her opponent of his long sword (katana), which has fallen to the ground. She has his left arm in a firm grip and may be about to claim his head as well.

This holds up to history as she was known for beheading Honda no Moroshige during the 1184 Battle of Awazu.

Tomoe Gozen Playing Koto and Riding to War

This very intriguing print from 1888 shows Tomoe Gozen in the upper panel in a very traditional female role, seated on the floor, her long hair unbound, playing the koto. In the lower panel, however, she has her hair up in a powerful knot and has traded her silk robe for armor and wields a naginata rather than a koto pick.

In both panels, enigmatic male riders appear in the background. It is not really clear whether they are her allies or enemies, but in both cases, she is looking over her shoulder at them.

Perhaps a commentary of women's rights and struggles of the time emphasizing the constant threat of men to women's power and autonomy.

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