damn... I cant upload to the files section because I don't have a yahoo
account? I'll just paste in here then, the footnoting won't transfer but
*shrugs*
Copyright Sophie Peacock (University of Tasmania) 2002.
Women Warriors
A romanticised image of the Samurai as a fanatically loyal warrior with a
sword has come to represent Japan in the west. The samurai rose to
predominance during the late Heian and the Kamakura periods. It was the
Gempei war between two great provincial clans (the Taira and the Minamoto)
which resulted in the establishment of an hereditary Shogunate, and defined
the medieval era. In the war, women participated in political, economic and
not least, military roles. Standing beside many of the great men was an
equally great woman, but their stories are often documented unreliably (if
at all), and rarely filter through to English language sources. What was
women�s role in establishing the supremacy of the Samurai and how did their
position change? Discussed with particular emphasis on the martial sphere.
Japan is often thought of as a strong patriarchy with a tradition of
oppression of women. Even today there are many areas of unresolved
discrimination against women. Japanese history centers on the deeds of
heroic warriors, and the Samurai is perhaps the most widely recognized
symbol of Japan internationally. Women, however, were not necessarily always
kept indoors practicing flower arranging. Alongside some of the most
legendary warriors fought women. Before the entrenching of the Shogunate and
Samurai dominated feudalism, women were soldiers, generals, strategists,
judges, Empresses and even Regent Shogun. Women contributed significantly to
establishing the social structure which would come to repress them.
There was a significant change in the role of Japanese women over the Heian,
Kamakura and Muromachi eras as society moved from a matriarchal influence to
a patriarchal structure. Representative of this change was the social
upheaval around the Gempei war of the late twelfth century, and that period
is the focus of this paper. Were the women warriors of the period acting
according to ancient matriarchal principles in an attempt to maintain old
traditions in a period of chaotic change? Were they trying to enter a male
world upon the collapse of the old order with its certainties and clearly
defined roles? Or were they fighting because in an all out war every hand is
needed? What reasons may there be for these women either to be largely
ignored in standard historical accounts or for their histories to be turned
into myth? In seeking answers to these questions there will be an overview
of conditions extant in the period under consideration and the lives and
activities of a range of female protagonists who were active players during
the period will be examined.
Before discussing these women's lives, the deeds for which they are
remembered and the background of the wars in which they fought, there is a
wider historical context which must be addressed: the status of women. The
twelfth and thirteenth centuries were turbulent times of great changes in
Japan, seeing the rise of the Samurai, Shogunate and warrior ethics and the
diminishment of the leisurely court life devoted to the arts for which the
Heian period is best known. Not surprisingly, this was also an era of
significant change for women. The status of women decreased rapidly through
this era into the oppression of the Sengoku and Edo (or Tokugawa) periods.
It is the laws of those later years which people generally seem to associate
with Japan, projecting women�s status from those eras back to earlier times.
In fact, in the opening centuries of the CE the regions which then composed
Japan were under matriarchal rule (although possibly much earlier also, this
is the date from which Chinese written records provide primary evidence) .
This tradition was so strong that when a man inherited rule a bloody civil
war broke out, appeased only when a woman assumed the throne . Skipping
1400 years, by the age of Sengoku Turnbull writes that there was no
equivalent to Tomoe, nor �any woman remotely approaching the status of
Masako� . In contrast, Sengoku women were treated as objects, useful only
for seiryaku kekkon, political alliance marriages . He goes on to give
often graphic examples of the negative treatment of Sengoku women. The
period with which we are concerned is set between these extremes. Although
active in many areas, women were moving increasingly to the periphery of
society.
With the rise of the Samurai and Bushido warrior ideology, women�s status
declined, and the intellectual women�s networks disappeared . However useful
women may have been on the battlefield they were still inferior. Although
Tomoe was among his last seven defenders, when the time came for him to die,
a man asks her �how would Yoshinaka be shamed if in his last fight he died
with a woman?� and sends her away . However, as Bingham and Gross point out,
�In a curious way�bushido created a parallel ideal for Japanese women of the
Samurai class� . It is no coincidence that the legendary women of this
period were themselves warriors or military strategists. War was
all-important.
In the lower classes gender was a less significant issue. Women worked
alongside men, inherited property and had property rights in divorces, which
were easily obtained . After the mid-seventh century Confucian style Taika
reforms, �women were barred from becoming government officials, and a
women�s share of government-distributed land (kubunden) was set at
two-thirds of that for a man� . Despite this women in rural areas were
somewhat better off; if necessary they could hold the office of steward,
which in some areas was the highest local authority, and entailed tax
collecting, providing military services, and carrying out all law and also
infrastructure .
Marriage had traditionally centered on women, with the husband joining her
family and daughters inheriting and having income rights . Although this
system continued in the lower classes until the nineteenth century, the
Samurai (increasingly and eventually exclusively) adopted the ie, an
exclusively patrilineal, primogenitural and hierarchical family structure .
Although �Japanese women have traditionally had an unusually prominent role
in dealing with the supernatural� , Japan: An illustrated Encyclopedia
attributes the decline in women�s status to Confucianism, Buddhism and the
economic changes brought about by protracted warfare, which cause
primogeniture to be safer . How did the different religions affect women�s
status?
Religious beliefs may be assumed to have a significant influence over social
morality and values, including gender relations. In the �native� religion
of Shintoism the first-born god is in fact a goddess, Amateratsu. As the
eldest she inherited the earth and sent her grandson to rule Japan, giving
him the three items of the Imperial Regalia . Thus members of the Japanese
Imperial Family are her descendants, and she is Japan�s principal deity.
The best evidence for a positive Shinto attitude towards gender equality was
the existence of �female shamans who acted as powerful religious and
political leaders� . The negative side however is the strong focus on
pollution, which excludes women from certain places and ceremonies because
of their �unclean� reproductive processes .
In the early sixth century CE Buddhism was brought to Japan from Korea , and
became a major religion. Because of the many different sects and
interpretations, Buddhism presented a more mixed view of women. On the one
hand, Buddhist convents provided a refuge for women whose status had been
removed or who were seeking divorce; an outlet for charitable works,
learning, and leadership roles, and women even founded temples . On the
other hand, although some sects preached equality others focused again on
pollution or on female specific sins, elements which prevented female
enlightenment until they were reborn as men .
Although Confucianism arrived in Japan from China at around the same time as
Buddhism, it did not become a dominant philosophy until much later , its
rise accompanying that of the Samurai. According to Bingham and Gross, in
Japan �Confucianism seems to have been entirely negative for women� ,
although they contradictorily discuss some benefits. For example, in return
for her obedience, a woman could expect her male relatives to safeguard her
welfare; in old age she would be looked after; and as the mother of sons her
power within the family could increase . The price was severely reduced
independence, expressed through the Triple Obedience Doctrine. This
prescribes that a woman should always be under the control of a male
relative (father, brother/husband, son) . In addition, a new bride was
totally subservient to her mother-in-law, a system which caused centuries of
misery . It is from Confusion philosophy that a plethora of very sexist
proverbs stem, and which promoted the idea that husband and wife not display
public affection for each other . The impact of these attitudes is clear in
law and in the Tokugawa �house rules.�
To take a closer look at some specific Samurai traditions, a philosophy now
associated deeply with Japan in general and Samurai in particular is Zen.
Its focus on austerity and, simplistically put, voidness, appealed to the
Samurai and became an important philosophical source in notions of
self-destruction. In a philosophy that came to have such strong association
with warriors, it is interesting that a woman played an important role in
its early years in Japan. Mugai Nyodai lived for most of the thirteenth
century , and rarely for a non-literary Japanese woman, is know in her own
right, rather than by her association with a man (in fact, her father and
husband are unknown) . Although married to a Hojo, for some reason she
began to study Zen under Mugaku Sogen, a Chinese priest who had been invited
to Japan in 1279 to head a temple . She became his star pupil, and he
acknowledged her as the heir to his teachings, giving her the character Mu
from his own name . Mugai was the first women in Japan �fully qualified not
as a nun but as a Zen priest (Zen so)� . She founded a network of temples
and convents, and served as Abbess of them .
The overarching philosophy of the Samurai was Bushido, and it is symbiotic
with martial training. How then did it apply to women? Nitobe Inazo�s text
�Bushido� on Samurai ethics first appeared in bookshops in 1900 . It reads
very strongly as an attempt to justify Bushido and Japanese culture to
Christians and Europeans. �Bushido� contains an entire chapter on women,
and it is largely concerned with arguing that Japanese women are just as
chaste and feminine/domestic as their Western counterparts. Before this
however Inazo makes a revealing comment: �While the Samurai went on
practising and extolling martial traits�they went so far as to tinge the
ideals of womanhood with Amazonian character� . His description of the
education of young girls� demonstrates many similarities to that of young
boys. They �were trained to repress their feelings, to indurate their
nerves, to manipulate weapons� and how to commit suicide . Bushido most
valued women who �displayed a heroic fortitude worthy of the strongest and
the bravest of men� . Inazo refers to the triple-obedience doctrine,
linking it to self-sacrifice and suicide with numerous examples . Woman
annihilates herself for man, and he for his master . Thus women have the
same moral duty as men, but directed by gender, not status. Also woman were
thought to provide naijo, inner help, as their primary duty . The examples
of many warrior women clearly indicate that a woman�s help was not
restricted to naijo � if it seemed necessary her martial training could be
put to immediate use.
According to Tyler most Samurai class women received instruction in the
martial arts . Amdur points out that in the early days of the Samurai, women
were pioneers in dangerous new lands, where martial skills were extremely
necessary . Salmondson claims that every Samurai woman was expected to
master the naginata (see below) by the time she was eighteen . In fact, she
argues that Samurai women were vital to defense and offence throughout the
medieval era . To quote Ribner and Chin:
�As part of their position, the Samurai women were expected to be as
excellent with weapons as the Samurai men of their families. Starting when
they were young girls, they were taught how to use several traditional
weapons- the straight spear, the dagger, and, of course, the naginata. This
long weapon was usually hung over the doors of every Samurai household, and
women were expected to protect their homes with it if necessary. More than
this, women were sometimes important warriors in their own right, commanding
large numbers of men in huge battles� .
A naginata is a curved sword blade attached to a spear, is between five and
nine feet long and was especially used by women and priests . There were
other weapons which were particularly favored for women also. The bow was
useful for defending the home at long distances, such as from the roof ; a
small dagger was always carried in case suicide became necessary ; and
finally the kusari-gama, which resembles a cycle with a weighted chain and
is useful against a sword and in close quarters. This shows that although
their presence on a battlefield was unusual (as is shown by Hatakeyama�s
surprise at seeing Tomoe) women were actually expected to possess martial
skills. Samurai women maintained these skills until modernization (see
below).
Without a doubt, Tome Gozen is the most famous of Japan�s women warriors.
There are two primary sources relating to Tomoe: The Heike Monogatari and
the Gempei Josui Ki. Sadly the only English translation I could obtain of
the Heike Monogatari is abridged and much (although not all) of Tomoe's
story has been left out, and no translation of the other is available, so
these works are only accessed through secondary authors. Tyler is a
particularly valuable source since his translations are his own. Tyler
cautions that the story of Tomoe has been much embroidered, and therefore
not all of the story which is to follow can be considered historical truth.
In the majority it comes, however, from primary sources. Tomoe fought with
Yoshinaka Minamoto. Tomoe is described as a horse-breaker who rode
fearlessly on the roughest ground; her handling of bow and sword a match for
a thousand warriors; she had won matchless renown in many battles against
the bravest captains; in short, she was "fit to meet either god or devil" .
Other descriptions add that she had commanded large forces ; including that
she was �commander of Minamoto forces in the earlier phases of the
Taira-Minamoto war� and that her fierce horse kicked up so much snow that
the Taira thought they were facing a dozen men . As Yoshinaka retreated from
Kyoto with Yoshitsune in pursuit, Tomoe escaped injury through several
fierce battles , and in the "last fight, when all the others had been slain
or had fled, among the last seven there rode Tomoe" . It is for these last
skirmishes that she is famous.
After a disastrous engagement with Yoshitsune, Yoshinaka and his forces rode
to meet Imai Kanehira who was commanding forces in Seta . They were pursued
along the way until, as the quote says, only seven accompanied the
dishonorably fleeing Yoshinaka . According to The Gempei Josui Ki, the head
of the force pursuing them was Hatakeyama, who was puzzled to see a
formidable warrior he did not recognize . Upon being informed that she was
Tomoe, a women, he appears to have been somewhat at a loss how to handle the
situation . He eventually decided to engage her in single combat, in the
process concluded that she must be a demon, and as a result retreated . A
little later the band of seven encountered around thirty-five riders, led by
Uchida, who despite being afraid of Tomoe had orders from Yoritomo to
capture her alive . This did not prevent him from trying to behead her, but
she returned the favor and presented the head to Yoshinaka, who was
profoundly unenthusiastic . He commanded her to leave so that dying with a
woman would not disgrace him, and sent her to inform his wife of what had
happened . The Heike Monogatari differs slightly, placing Tomoe's duel after
she has been ordered to leave, and she searches out a commander to fight to
prove her worth to Yoshinaka . Any number of naginata schools have claimed
her as their founder , despite the fact that she is described as using a
sword, bow and dagger, but not a naginata.
There in a Noh play titled Tomoe which "is the only nibamme-mono
[warrior-genre] in which the shite (main character) is a woman" . In the
play the cowardliness the chronicles describe in Yoshinaka is ignored; in
fact he has been deified . Tomoe on the other hand is a ghost tainted by her
bitterness at his refusal to allow her to die with him . Thus although it
pays tribute to Tomoe's valor, "she is stained and, in an important sense,
humbled. In this manner the play restores proper harmony" . So although
Tomoe captured the popular imagination, it was inconceivable that a woman
could display more honor than a man, particularly a great General such as
Yoshinaka. Heroic warrior though she was, she was not worthy spiritually to
die with her lord as any male retainer could have done. Yoshinaka needed her
help but seems to have been uncomfortable about it.
Tomoe was not, by any means, the only woman to fight in the Gempei war and
the surrounding years; it is the great number who did, in fact, which led to
my choice of this period. She is the best documented however, and warnings
about unreliability must be emphasized even further for the other women
discussed below. Tomoe was not the only woman to ride with Yoshinaka.
Another female commander was Aoi, who had however been killed before the
escape from Kyoto . It is interesting that most women warriors fought on the
side which lost. Perhaps the desperation of their side�s situation allowed
them to put their skills to the test.
On the other side was Yoshitsune's mistress Shizuka Gozen, who did use a
naginata and to good effect, notably in the defense of Horikawa palace in
1185 . Shizuka was a very famous Shirabyoshi dancer, a style in which the
dancer dresses as a man . Her defiance after her capture by Yoritomo,
despite her pregnancy, is one of the most romantic episodes in the
thoroughly romanticized story of Yoshitsune, and two Noh plays Yoshino
Shizuka and Futari Shizuka retell the tale . After her interrogation she was
ordered to dance for Yoritomo and some of his favored vassals . She
accompanied the dance with a song in praise of Yoshitsune and longing for
their happy days to return, a deliberate insult to Yoritomo and a
potentially fatal act of defiance . Her life was spared allegedly because of
the intercession of Yoritomo�s wife and daughter , but her son was killed at
birth and she died a year later . Her decision to face death and remain
loyal to her lord exemplifies Samurai ethos.
When faced with a rebellion in 1221, Masako Hojo over-rode her brother's
defensive plan to enforce her own aggressive tactical decisions, which
resulted in total victory . The fact that the army supported a female
General over a male one again indicates that in times of crisis martial
ability was more important than gender. Early in his career Masako�s husband
Yoritomo had his life saved by Ike Gozen, a Zen nun, warrior, and Fujiwara .
The famed first Shogun (in the modern sense) seems to have been surrounded
by strong women.
Women attempted feats their male counterparts would not, caused desperation
among their enemies and did their duty as warriors even when death was
certain. At the battle of lake Biwa a woman named Koman saved the Minamoto
banner from the Taira, swimming to shore with it in her teeth as arrows
rained about her . In a battle between Yoshinaka and the Taira, a woman
named Hangaku, daughter of Moritsuna, earned renown, and even more so in
1201 when she defended her father's stockade with bow and naginata .
According to Jones, the enemy so despaired of felling her that they resorted
to shooting her in the back, "a very un-Samurai act" . The wife of Kajiwara
Genda Kagesuya, Fujinoye, defended Takadachi Castle in 1189 and killed two
famous warriors, Yemeto Juro and Nagasawa Uyemen-taro in a duel . A naginata
master named Itagaki was a female Taira general who commanded three thousand
soldiers in a suicide charge against ten thousand Hojo in 1199, an act which
has remained inspirational and maintained respect for her . Han Gaku fought
in around 1200 (unsuccessfully) against the Kamakura Shogunate . She was
sentenced to execution but saved when an enemy Samurai asked to marry her ,
showing that martial valor did not lead the women to be perceived as
masculine.
Many Taira women also fought in the sea battle that decimated their clan.
The number adds credence to the suggestion that women fought most in
situations where there was the least hope of victory and survival. An
interesting detail of the history of that battle is that in possibly its
most famous incident, where a Minamoto archer shoot down a fan bearing a
design of a red sun on white field (the origin of the national flag) , is
that the fan was hung by a teenaged girl in hakama , the split skirt still
worn by martial artists. More actively involved was Tamaori Hime, Atsumori's
wife, who fought on the beach with a naginata . Tenji-no-tsubone fought with
Sagami Goro and Mochimitsu's mistress Sasaraye also fought; she is depicted
somewhat tragically in prints, wielding a naginata on a sinking ship .
Salmondson claims that others fought but with somewhat less convincing
evidence than she presents for the above cases.
It may be observed that many of the warrior women discussed bare the title
or surname "Gozen". According to Salmonson, "Gozen" was "a title of high
respect given to many martial women" . However the possession of the title
by non-warriors shows that it was not isolated to them. The Heike Monogatari
provides a clue as to the title's origins. One of the first stories is that
of Kiyomori (the great leader of the Taira) and two Shirabyoshi. Shirabyoshi
were dancers, the pre-runners of Geisha , and bore the title "Gozen". These
dancers had originally danced with a white dagger in their belt, although by
medieval times this had been discarded . Given that Samurai class women all
had a dagger, often presented as a wedding gift, with which to kill
themselves if necessary , perhaps "Gozen" is connected to the possession or
use of such a weapon. Tyler either equates it with the English title
"mistress" or links it (by reverse association) to professional women
storytellers who related the tales of the warrior women , while towards the
end of The Heike Monogatari appears a young boy very confusingly given the
title Gozen .
Probably much used in Japanese warfare (especially from the Sengoku era
onward), although their use was dishonorable and consequently only
sporadically recorded, were shinobi or ninja. The thirty-fourth Grand master
of the Togakure Ryu, Dr. Hatsumi, writes that "kunoichi or female ninja made
up an important part of the historical ninja families and clans of Japan" .
Kunoichi, while trained fully in fighting techniques, were also trained to
make the best use of "their own unique features and strengths" . He gives
illustrations of bunches of flowers used to conceal daggers and tea kit bags
containing explosives , and one can imagine any number of other advantages
women may have had in concealment, not least in their otherwise restrictive
layers of bulky kimono. Because of her sex, enemies often overlooked "her
potential as a destructive adversary. Women in feudal Japan were often
underestimated in terms of their capabilities for power, and this permitted
the kunoichi...to gain easy access to the very center of the enemy
stronghold" .
The most famous kunoichi lived in the later half of the sixteenth century,
outside the main scope of this paper, however she has been included because
she was not just a female ninja but also a kunoichi jonin, or the commander
of a group of female ninja . Working for the Takeda family, she was the head
of a miko (female Shinto shrine attendant) spy-ring: "Chiyome gathered
orphaned and runaway girls...and trained them as miko vestal virgins while
also training them as kunoichi female ninja agents" . She is so famous that
she even turns up in a children�s book by Mayer titled "Women Warriors" .
Ninja were outcastes, so the participation of women in shinobi activities
shows that female martial prowess was not restricted to, or necessarily a
product of, the Samurai class alone. In fact, Omi province was especially
famous from its strong peasant women such as Okane and Oiko , and there are
stories of women brawlers and bandits also, such as Oroku and Omatsu
respectively .
An area of martial life where abilities were put to the test was revenge.
Revenge was in medieval Japan �a solemn duty, both sanctioned and practiced
at the highest levels of the Samurai class� . Not only was it a duty, but
�its requirements were by no means confined to the male line of the family�
. Women avengers include Hatsu-jo, who�s story is the basis of the kabuki
play Onoye Iwafuji (her victim was Tsubone Iwafuji) and Tora Gozen who aided
the Soga brothers (The Soga brothers� revenge occurred during an incident
which was initially thought to have killed Yoritomo ). Revenge was also
possible between women. Haru-jo, also the basis of a play, avenged an insult
against her mistress that had caused her to commit suicide . The maid took
her revenge with a sword against the noblewomen who had perpetrated the
insult .
The revenge story that is best documented is that of Miyagino and Shinobu,
which occurred in the Edo period and is told in the kabuki play Gotai Eiki
Shiro Ishi Banashi . They were daughters of a farmer who was murdered by a
Samurai; further more Miyagino was a tayu, or courtesan of the highest
status . The sisters ran away from their respective occupations and studied
the martial arts . In 1649 they formally asked their Daimyo to authorize the
revenge . The Samurai was still in service; he was summoned and the duel was
�carried out in front of the approving daimyo and his senior retainers�
Miyagino was armed with a naginata� which by the Edo Period had become the
traditional weapon for women. Shinobu wielded a kusari-gama� . Shinobu
entangled their opponent�s sword in her chain while Miyagino finished him
off . The combination of these weapons was very popular. Sono-jo and Kiku-jo
also avenged their father in an arraigned duel using these weapons . Revenge
was made illegal in 1873 .
A female specific form of revenge was uwanari-uchi. This was the socially
sanctioned custom (common in the Heian period) of a wife attacking a second
wife, concubine or lover, usually by attacking her house . The rival had the
right to defend herself and her property . Such attacks were not just
motivated by jealousy. Other reasons were to defend the succession of
children or the family of the first wife�s economic interests . At that
time the man joined the women�s family, not vice versa, and they supported
him economically . Although the custom continued until the sixteenth century
, Masako�s command of a small army to destroy Lady Kame�s house is the
best-known example.
Masako�s husband was Yoritomo, who is considered a great example of a
Samurai, and is acclaimed as the first Shogun and the man who unified Japan
under a central government. He was a hard man who executed many, including
women, children and his own brothers. That is what makes it particularly
interesting that his wife repeatedly defied him, took armies to his
mistresses and after his death took over government. Although not a warrior
by conventional definition, Masako was an able general, and maintained the
loyalty of the Samurai in preference to male leaders. Because of her
significance, a brief biography in included.
Masako Hojo was Yoritomo's wife, the daughter of his guardian as mentioned.
Historical and popular opinion has been divided on Masako, who is seen as
"either one of the most tragic or one of the most Machiavellian figures in
Japanese history" . Her family was quite insignificant, ruling only a small
area, and although descended from the Taira the Hojo were not of
distinguished lineage . Masako was only three when the thirteen year-old
Yoritomo was exiled into the care of her father . Her mother had died when
she was young , and when she was twenty her father met and married a woman
the same age as her while on guard duty in Kyoto . On his return Masako and
her stepmother Maki began an enmity which would eventually result in her
father�s disgrace and exile . At the same time her father, Tokimasa, also
discovered that Masako and Yoritomo had begun a relationship .
Although some authors have maintained that Masako married Yoritomo because
of political ambition, her father's reaction shows the foolishness of the
idea. He was angry at the affair for good reason; Yoritomo was an exile with
no prospects, an alliance with the Minamoto would seriously jeopardize the
position of the Hojo and not least Yoritomo had already fathered a child
with the daughter of another local lord of superior power to Tokimasa, and
this lord had killed the child to maintain good relations with the Taira .
Masako and Yoritomo eloped .
Their first son, Yoriie, was born in 1181 . Yoritomo appointed the daughter
of his own Menoto as Yoriie's . This was a great honor, as "the family of
his nurse would stand to gain tremendous power and influence...the choice
would later prove to have been a poor one" . The family spoilt the child and
grew "arrogant in their assumption of power" . Menoto relationships were
crucial, providing "an undeniably influential force in Kamakura politics" .
Masako, coming from a provincial and unimportant family, had not experienced
this system . She was already raising her daughter , and as the eldest child
had probably raised her brothers after her mother's death. Her life and that
of her family was radically changed, as she went from being the wife of an
exile to the wife of the most powerful man in eastern Japan was . While she
had been pregnant Yoritomo had established a house for a mistress, Lady Kame
. Under Masako's orders, a small army belonging to Masako's stepmother's
brother destroyed the house, although the mistress escaped . Yoritomo was
furious and snubbed his wife, resulting in the Hojo faction marching back to
Izu . Unable to lose their support, Yoritomo was reconciled with Masako .
The importance of their marital harmony to politics and to the course of
Japanese history seems bizarre in retrospect. This was the first incident of
the conflict which would continue throughout their marriage over the issue
of Yoritomo's mistresses. It is also the most famous recorded incident of
uwanari-uchi, the right of a first wife to defend her interests against
others.
Yoshinaka sent his eldest son Yoshitaka to Yoritomo, hoping to marry him to
Masako's eldest child, Ohime . Masako and Ohime were pleased with the idea
and continued to grow fonder of the boy over time, but Yoritomo considered
him a hostage . Keeping the example of his own life in mind, Yoritomo
decided to kill him . Masako and Ohime tried to help Yoshitaka escape, but
the plan failed and he was killed . Ohime became seriously ill in grief and
this caused another rift between Masako and Yoritomo . Another event which
pitted mother/daughter against Yoritomo was the sentencing of Shizuka. Both
Masako and Ohime visited Shizuka while she was captive, and according to the
Azuma Kagami Masako is supposed to have justified the woman's defiance to
her husband after the dance, pointing out that she would have done the same
. Ohime went further, offering to help Shizuka escape, an offer the dancer
turned down as she was resolved to die . In 1194 Ohime's parents tried to
marry her to her cousin, but she refused and threatened suicide .
Ohime died in 1197 aged nineteen . In 1199 Yoritomo died . In the same year
Masako's second daughter Sanman, aged fourteen, also died . Yoriie succeeded
as Shogun, only to be assassinated in 1204 at the instigation of Masako's
father . His brother Sanetomo, who was a minor, replaced Yoriie . This gave
rise to the position of regent for the Shogun, filled first by his
grandfather Tokimasa . The son of Yoriie, who was in turn killed by Masako�s
younger brother, the second Regent Hojo Yoshitoki, had purportedly
assassinated Sanetomo in 1219 . This was the end of Yoritomo's line, and
Sanetomo was the last Minamoto Shogun . In the debate over who should
succeed Sanetomo, Masako and her father, apparently under the influence of
his wife, were pitted against each other, and Tokimasa was forced to retire
by Masako and her brother Yoshitoki . Masako began
"immediately putting the finishing touches to the organizational machinery
of the Kamakura government which would assure the continued dominance of her
own family, the Hojo, for more than a century to come" .
The governmental system seems bizarre, even by medieval standards!
Fitzgerald describes it thus:
"There was now an Emperor, almost always a child: an ex-Emperor, his father,
and often a senior ex-Emperor, who had more influence than the junior one.
Then there was the Minamoto Shogun, now also often a child, and behind him,
the real power in the land, the Regent for the Shogun, always...[a] Hojo" .
If possible, during Masako's lifetime it was even more complex, because she
stood behind the Regent.
In her political maneuvering, she worked with Kaneko no Fujiwara, also
called Kyo no Tsubone, the menoto of Emperor Go-Toba, and who controlled all
court appointments . According to Butler, contemporary sources refer to the
women as "the two women politicians of east and west" and he claims that
they were "two of the most powerful figures in Japan" . Kaneko had received
the Junior Second Rank (equivalent to the rank of the Three Ministers) in
1207, a tangible symbol of the influence she wielded at court . One could
parallel the women with the Emperor and the Shogun, the men they
manipulated. Mulhern describes them in these terms: "While Kaneko displayed
the quick wit and mastery of social stratagem highly valued in court
circles, Masako demonstrated the rugged pride of Bando warriors ...as well
as their pragmatic attitude" . The women had met in 1218 to find a successor
from the Imperial family, a "joint effort of these formidable women, both in
their sixties" . Keneko also arranged an award of the Junior Third Rank for
Masako, who, having become a nun on her second son�s death , was the first
tonsured person to receive court rank since the only other example in the
eighth century .
Her successful tactical decisions in 1221 enhanced her reputation and her
pre-battle speech, maybe created by the authors of Azuma Kagami, shows her
understanding of the warriors� mentality . It is not surprising that she was
known as Ama-Shogun, the Nun-General . According to Sansom, �hers was a
supreme example of a women�s rise to eminence, but it was by no means
without parallel in early feudal Japan� . She died in 1225 . Dilts describes
her rule glowingly as an era of justice and lower taxation . Her biography
would be almost unthinkable in the Japan of later years, certainly for a
hero. She disobeyed her father, argued violently with her husband and went
against his direct orders to try and save people he had condemned. After his
death she took government and along with other politically capable women
successfully ran the country for the rest of her life. The Samurai preferred
to be commanded by a woman rather than by her brother.
Women were therefore significant actors in medieval Japanese history, not
least in the martial sphere. As Mulhern writes:
�By no means isolated, unusual cases born of freakish twists of fate or
preternatural strength, these are�women who exerted their influence on
society, people, and nation far beyond the familial sphere. They are not
heroes who happened to be female nor who renounced their female identity in
defiance to bravely enter the male domain in pursuit of success and power.
Rather, their feminine identity was an essential factor in most of their
contributions significant enough to alter or shape the course of Japan�s
History� .
Women were pioneers in new lands alongside their husbands in the regions
where the Samurai class developed. They fought in the wars which brought the
ascendancy of the Samurai class, and were political forces to be reckoned
with. The course of Samurai, and of Japanese, history would have been
radically different had later standards regarding gender relations been
rigorously applied in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The Gempei War and aftermath could be seen as the last fling of active,
participatory women in pre-modern Japan. The Heike Monogatari, the primary
source for the war, although �labeled as a war tale, described as a story of
the rise and fall of men, it is fundamentally a tale about women . Although
there followed many other significant and powerful women, they became
increasingly the exception and isolated from one-another. Japanese Samurai
class women maintained their martial abilities and preparedness, but tended
not to take to the battlefield in such large numbers again. A notable
exception is the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, which saw a regiment of naginata
wielding women pitted against the Imperial Army�s artillery . Writing in
1899, Bacon relates discovering a military uniform, complete with spear
cover, among the clothes of a Japanese Lady . It was explained to her that
they were a vital part of the wardrobe of any Lady, to be used in defense of
the premises if necessary in the absence of the men . Another nineteenth
century traveler records a Samurai women showing off her sword. The Lady
explained that all high-ranking women wore them for self-defense, calling an
attendant to attack her daughter in example . Her defense was so energetic
that the retainer was �very glad when she cried out �Enough�� . These
examples, and the two million women who continue to study the naginata ,
show that the martial legacy of women such a Tomoe lives on.
Appendix A
Sources
Because of the mono-linguistic restrictions of the author, it is impossible
to verify the accuracy of information all of which is based on primary
sources in Japanese, and most unavailable in translation. In compensation,
care has been taken that the sources listed in the bibliography are of
scholarly standard. Nearly all of the authors are/were professors at
internationally acclaimed Universities, and the validity of those without
academic credentials is assured by virtue of their citation in other of the
sources whose authors do posses them. An example of this is Salmondson, a
central source but not an academic one. She is cited in many of the other
works, and her reliance on Mary Beard, an acclaimed author, from whose work
"Women Who Shaped Japan" most of the stories come (I was sadly unable to
obtain a copy of this work as it has been out of print for some time), lends
her legitimacy.
Most of the authors are male, and while this does not necessarily mean that
they neglect the agency of women when discussing Japanese history, in this
instance it seems to be the case. The few female authors, such as Dilts,
show women to have been far more significant when narrating the same events.
The approach of many authors may be guessed at when Turnbull, the
pre-eminent authority on Samurai history in English language sources and
widely acclaimed for his Japanese works, can write a statement such as "the
only 'female warrior' in the whole of Samurai history - Tomoe Gozen" . There
are, of course, many explanations for this. Military history is not a field
which attracts many women and since 'women's history' became a separate
category those not concerned with it have more justification in neglecting
to mention women. The Japanese sources themselves provide little information
on those women who are mentioned, making it difficult to discuss them
confidently in an historical work without specifically researching them.
Therefore the focus must be somewhat sociological rather than strictly
historical. All Japanese names are given in the western format to save
confusion, that is, surname last.
Appendix B
Historical Background
Although the medieval age was �a time of considerable disintegration and
warfare, it also saw great economic, social, and cultural changes� . The
period between the Heian and Kamakura eras is significant because the Gempei
War was the crucible in which the Samurai, as they are known today, were
formed. It replaced the aesthetic court of The Tale of Genji with Shogunal,
military government which continued in various forms until 1868 . War often
defines or alters societal boundaries. Likewise �Japanese history provides
striking examples of how changes in the status of women can be linked with
other broad socioeconomic trends� . The following summery of the period
illustrates some of these changes.
The rise of the great houses, the Taira and the Minamoto, occurred against
the background of the Fujiwara court dominance. The Fujiwara had modelled
their government on the Chinese (T�ang) model . Life at court was also
modelled on the Chinese example, even, as Dilts point out, when it was far
from practical . Maintaining the court�s life-style was very expensive and
placed an almost impossible burden of taxation on the peasants . From the
late eighth century onwards �aristocrats and princes with no prospects in
the Fujiwara dominated capital left to seek their fortunes in the outlying
regions� . As part of the Fujiwara policy of allotting large portions of
land to simplify tax collection, provincial territories were allotted to
these nobles, who were often younger or less favoured sons of Emperors .
Because of their more immediate presence and lower taxation demands (because
they no longer had to maintain an expensive court life-style), many peasants
chose to place themselves under the protection of the provincial lords
rather than the Fujiwara . These lords became powerful, rich and the centre
of significant military forces . The Fujiwara used these forces rather than
challenging them .
The courtiers, having turned to more aesthetic pursuits, were unwilling to
accept a Shogunal commission, so the rural lords were �the men upon whom
fell the task of maintaining law and order� . In land wars against the Ainu
and sea battles with pirates, professional, hereditary soldiers (the
forbearers of the Samurai) emerged, in the service of local lords and not
the court . The most powerful of the military clans who emerged from this
background were the Minamoto (who gained territory from the Ainu) and the
Taira (who fought pirates on the inland sea and coast) . Eventually the
clans gained a sense of their own power and importance and inevitably the
day came when they were called in to settle a court dispute . This battle is
known as the Hogen Incident , and occurred in July of 1156 . The conflict
was not strictly divided along clan lines, with a significant Minamoto named
Yoshitomo and others supporting the Taira, and vice versa , but the Taira
family was the clear victor .
The Minamoto retaliated in 1160 led by Yoshitomo and his sons ; he had not
been successful in court politics and moreover had been obliged to execute
is own father, which was particularly difficult given the cultural emphasis
on filial piety . This was termed the Heiji incident , and again resulted in
defeat of the Minamoto, who were subject to �a savage series of executions�
. Of Yoshitomo�s nine sons , all who were considered adults were executed ,
leaving thirteen year-old Yoritomo (who had fought beside his father) and
three younger half-brothers who escaped with their mother before being
dramatically captured . The younger boys were sent to different monasteries
while Yoritomo was exiled into the custody of a Taira ally . By 1164 �there
was but one adult Minamoto left alive� .
In 1180 this survivor, then seventy-four, led an insurrection which was the
opening conflict of the Gempei war . It was not a widespread rebellion and
was crushed by the Taira . However, because of the support that the warrior
monks of Buddhist temples had lent the Minamoto, the Taira forces indulged
in a vengeful rampage against the monasteries . In one burning, 3, 500
people of all ages and both genders were killed . The Taira leader
Kiyomori, Yoshitomo�s old enemy, also ordered that Yoritomo be executed .
With the support of his custodian, whose daughter he had married, Yoritomo
killed the local Deputy Governor and raised the Minamoto banner, to which
supporters flocked . On the ninth of November 1180, the massed armies of the
great houses faced each other for the first time since the war began, and
the Taira fled in the night .
Over the following years two other Minamoto played pivotal roles. The first
was Yoritomo�s cousin, Yoshinaka. A great general, Yoshinaka and his
supporters formed the third power-bloc (between the Taira and Yoritomo�s
supporters) in Japan by 1181 . A series of natural disasters interrupted the
war until mid 1182, and popular resentment was directed at the monk-slaying
Taira . As soon as action resumed, Yoshinaka rapidly expanded his territory
until he was only forty miles from Kyoto, the capital . To face him, the
Taira press-ganged a huge army, which, however, �was probably deserting
faster than it was marching� . Yoshinaka defeated this army in a victory
which marked the turning point of the war . He took the capital and the
Taira escaped with most of the Royal Family and the Imperial Regalia .
The second man mentioned was Yoshitsune, Yoritomo�s brother. He was the
youngest child of Yoshitomo, having been born the year his father died .
Yoshitsune was an exceptionally gifted general; in fact, he won most of
Yoritomo�s battles for him. His first mission from his brother was to
eliminate the rival Minamoto, Yoshinaka . When that was done, Yoshitsune was
sent after the Taira . On April twenty-fifth 1185 the last battle took place
at sea, resulting in �the most tragic mass suicide in the history of the
Samurai� by the Taira and the Royal Family . After their defeat, �the name
of the Taira disappeared from Japanese history. No other victory in the
story of the Samurai was so complete and so decisive� .
Yoritomo established a hereditary military dictatorship with the title
Shogun, and removed government to Kamakura . There he established the first
central government of unified Japan, called the Bakufu (tent government),
and �the institutions of Japanese feudalism derive in a great part from his
work� . As reward for his contribution, Yoshitsune was hunted down and
beheaded . In 1193 Yoritomo also had killed his last remaining brother .
Having eliminated all competition, in 1199 he fell off his horse and died .
After such promising beginnings, �within thirty years of the founding of the
Kamakura Shogunate the third and last Minamoto Shogun had been assassinated,
and his place taken by the Hojo� . Thus the outcasts of the Heian court and
the warriors who gathered around them became the rulers of Japan.
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www.loc.gov/exhibits/ukiyo-e/images/8486s.jpg
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