The Truth About Female Samurai
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- Опубліковано 11 чер 2023
- The image of "Female Samurai" has risen a lot over the years but were there really female warriors in premodern Japan or is this just a romanticism of the times? The answer is a bit more complicated.
This video is done in collaboration with channels "Samurai and Ninja History", "Sengoku Studies戦国研究", and "Samurai Traditions of the Tada Genji" Check out their Female Samurai videos!
(I'm the first to release my video this month so I will fill in these videos as they are released!)
Samurai and Ninja History: • Are Samurai Women a Re...
Sengoku Studies戦国研究: • The Legend of Ōhōri Ts...
Samurai Traditions of the Tada Genji: Skipped this month.
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Sources Used:
"Women and Asian Martial Traditions" by Michael DeMarco
"Onna-Bugeisha, the Female Samurai Warriors of Feudal Japan" from JStore: daily.jstor.org/onna-bugeisha...
"Women Warriors of Early Japan" by Rochelle Nowaki from University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Further articles found through the Japanese Wiki Corpus.
Special thanks to Scott from the channel "Sengoku Studies戦国研究" for helping check over the accuracy of the script for this video.
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Music:
"Dance Of The Gypsies" by Hanu Dixit
Artwork and Images:
Classical art, which in most cases can be considered public domain.
Art and images from the Nobunaga's Ambition series.
Art from Osprey Publications.
Samurai portrait from the Nobunaga's Ambition series.
Other modern artist renditions and photos, if you see your work in this video please contact me so that I can give you proper credit!
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Social Media:
Facebook: / theshogunateyoutube
Twitter: / shogunatethe
Support the channel on Patreon! www.patreon.com/theshogunatey...
#Samurai #History #Japan
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.
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".
@@AtemourisanThank 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.
@@Atemourisan 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.
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: ua-cam.com/video/qu-pSBEnMt4/v-deo.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
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.
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
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.
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.
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 ?
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!
I have to say, my man, your channel is probably my favorite on UA-cam. 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 UA-cam and I'll be here until the inevitable heat death of the earth. 🎉
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.
Yamamoto/Niijima Yae who fought in the Battle of Aizu even has her own Taiga drama, absolute madlass
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.
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.
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!
Great video as always~ love these series and collaborations you do!. Great video as always~ love these series and collaborations you do!.
An another fantastic and informative video.Excellent work Nick.❤
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.
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.
Ikeda Sen was a known musketeer who accompanied her father, Ikeda Tsuneoki, on campaign.
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.
Your channel is so amazing.
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!
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
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
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"
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
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.
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.
This is the best channel, when will you do the 2nd Edo period Vidio?
I will soon!
@@TheShogunate awesome
@@TheShogunate great!
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
ain't you forgot the famous aizu women warrior like niijima yae. she fought in boshin war with repeating rifle and become educator.
As subscribers to this channel are we also Shogunate loyalists?
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
The movie Heaven & Earth (1990) features a Onna-Bugeisha Samurai Wife who led her own female troop.
Also the Tomoe Gozen books by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (is what I was typing as you got to Tomoe in the video).
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.
Since we are talking about female Japanese warriors now, it'll be nice to hear your take on "Female Uesugi Kenshin" theory :D
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.
Even if they may not have been samurai like their male family members and spouses, they were still able to be badass warriors.
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.
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.
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?
Context is everything
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.
Can you make Clan Videos about the Taira, the Minamoto and Fujiwara, if possible
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.
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.
I enjoyed watching the video.I am wondering,does a person have to
be Japanese(male/female) to be a Samurai Warrior.
There is a channel called "The Shogunate"?!? Why was this never recommended to me this is the perfect channel for me?
Good video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I agree on the fact there were a woman Samurai but not to the extent would people think.
That was a very well-rounded treatment.
Great video. Love tomoe gozen ❤❤❤
wow, i didnt even expect it to hit as much as it did. i kinda cried at the end of the vid, wow
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.
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
Hey who was woman with the Sanada clan mon /crest on her armor at 11:09?
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.
Interesting. However women warriors did exist in other cultures because their remains have been found with weapons. Remains of Japanese women would not be able to provide such evidence due to cremation. Three generations of Scythian warrior women have been discovered, and a Birka warrior woman, among others. I would be very surprised if a warlike race would not have women warriors. But we weren't there. Good video.
There is tons of potential for stories about sieges where ladies have to fight because their men are gone
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.
Sekiro makes a reference to Lady Tomoe I believe
Just by the same name. The Tomoe of Sekiro is not specifically Tomoe Gozen
So the lesson is, don’t turn trained-Japanese housewives into the Dahomey Agoji/Mino. Two very different histories. Awesome video.
Ahhhh, my wife is one, bless her,,,,A great vid,,,,thank you.
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?
It is a fact that there were onna bugeisha that were warriors we would recognize as Samurai. But it was very rare.
It's important to understand that when war was widespread everyone picked up weapons including women and children. More often than not women and children followed armies as camp followers supporting the army. And when things went south they fought too or died. Things like Confucianism and Christian,muslim basically any organised religion tended to relegate women's roles. But prior to that tribes often had men and women working together to defend their homes or interests as well as farming and working together. Rome often talked about the barbarian Germans whose women were just as fierce and fought back with the men. The same with the mongols. Women's rights actually waxed and waned throughout history. Many of the older religions had powerful female deities and fertility Goddesses and women's unique life bringing gift was celebrated. These time periods brought greater respect and equality. As patriarchal powers rose often the religion was changed or suppressed and God became more like Father figures instead of mother figures. Gradually men and women roles would be more enforced and status more enforced. Gradually it just became a given that certain things where male, certain things where female traits. Rather then just being human traits.
This is pretty cool.
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.
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! :)
The Onna Bugeisha are so fascinating
I'm new here, is this Sunny from BEFRS?
What about Naotora Ii?
I'd like to see women like Nobunaga, Toyotomi, Musashi, Honda, Ittosai, Yagyu, etc.
so another thing that should probably be mentioned here is that depending on what period of Japanese history you’re talking about, many samurai women would have seen about as much combat as samurai men, which is to say none. Especially in later-period japan, The role of samurai morphed into being what we would think of as military officers, directing battlefield operations rather than actually participating.
What’s really interesting about this is that the written histories We’re still written as if these people were actually fighting, saying “such such samurai took his bow and shot such and such other samurai” It was understood that signified that the archers under the command of said samurai attacked the forces of the other samurai.
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.
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.
0:43 I JUST HAD A MAJOR VIETNAM FLASH BACK SEEING THE PIC ON THE RIGHT!! She looks like the true corrupted monk 😂😂😂
4:02 sounds like memoirs of a geisha
to be fair this was the norm for nobility all over the world at the time. the marrying off ow the women that is.
Interesting.
So you're telling me that Anime, Video Games, and Fan Art are not historically accurate sources?
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 .
nice
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.
Pre-samurai, the first historically recorded leader of Japan was Himiko, a shaman warrior queen who lived in a palace filled with 1000 women and no men.
actually on historical battlefields excavations in japan which took place not near or around castles showed up to 30% female remains.
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:
ua-cam.com/video/3AsRfcrZeUE/v-deo.html
The video is obviously a bit overdramatic
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.
I think the points in history where women really crush it and make you go "wow" is when they are either leading in politics or academics. I've not seen many historical examples where women do well in physical combat. (Though I'm still looking😁)
1:12 BARZZZZ!!!
❤❤❤
Very interested but true history of the female samurais in Ancient Japan in pre-modern times in a fact.
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.
Mugen's mother in Samurai Champloo.
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!
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.
12:12 AND SHE CAN REDERECT LIGHTNING