Onna Bugeisha - Female Samurai

[theletch1]

While watching a History channel special on the Samurai they discussed very briefly the role of women in fuedal Japanese warfare. I found it quite the contrast to the western view of women in Japanese culture. This prompted me to do a quick search on the "web" for info. Pretty sparse readings to be honest. I found this on Wiki and this on another website. Anyone have any other historical data on Onna Bugeisha? My wife is quite the warrior in her own right and I could actually see her doing this.

 

[nitflegal]

Well, women of a samurai family were samurai by birth. In the Kamakura and Sengoku periods this meant women were trained as warriors as well. While it was rare for them to fight on a battlefield (Tomoe Gozen is a good example of an exception to the rule) they were expected to defend their homes, generally with naginata, yari, or some sort of chain/rope weapon to make up for their smaller stature and less intensive training (and strength, I suppose). Towards the end of the 1500's women became more useful as marital collateral and their training was said to diminish, although a good samurai woman was expected to be able to defend her home and children along with herself. Instead of katana, they were expected to carry tanto instead and were expected to know how to use it.

Incidentally, I've been told that the term "Onna Bugeisha" is a fairly modern term as it was just expected that a samurai woman would have weapons training prior to the Edo period. Never really checked into that so I could be wrong.

Matt

 

[theletch1]

Thanks, Matt. I've always been a proponent of women knowing how to defend themselves and was somewhat horrified to hear from someone that women warriors (mma fighters) were looked down upon in Japan so decided once I heard that blip on the History channel to look into it. Great info.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Cool research Jeff.

 

[MA-Caver]

I only caught the first half of that same show and was disappointed that I had to leave, but knowing that it'll be back on later.
Female Samurai, yes indeed by birth and marriage given same rights, status privileges as the males just as was said, expected to defend the home.
Not quite as chauvinistic as originally reported to be, though everyone understood their place in society structure.

 

[nitflegal]

I only caught the first half of that same show and was disappointed that I had to leave, but knowing that it'll be back on later.
Female Samurai, yes indeed by birth and marriage given same rights, status privileges as the males just as was said, expected to defend the home.
Not quite as chauvinistic as originally reported to be, though everyone understood their place in society structure.

I think it tracks with a lot of what happened during the cultural scrubdown of the Tokugawas. Whatever the Edo period practices became or were manipulated into being became the "way it always was". So, the definition of a samurai changed to the idealized structure that is commonly accepted today, the martial traditions changed in many cases to fit the time, and the view on women, peasants, and such changed to fit the official doctrine.

Matt

 

[Sukerkin]

Quite so, Matt.

I've mentioned before in other discussions that Japanese history, moreso than any other culture I've ever studied, is constantly revised and rewritten to reflect the wishes of those holding the reins of power at the time.

All countries do this to some extent but during the centuries of internicine warfare in Japan, systematic efforts were made to erase or re-invent the 'annals of history' as written by the preceding power-group.

What I'm getting at is that you have to be really careful how you interpret what you read and see if you can fit it into the 'structure' of what you've already learned.

 

[Chris Parker]

Hi,

Just adding my understanding into this as well, although I don't have a lot to add to the above posts. From what I've been able to gather, Samurai women were just as well trained as their male counterparts, just with a slightly different emphasis. From what I've seen, the use of the Naginata as a "womens weapon" is more from the Sengoku Jidai and Edo Jidai than the Kamakura and other earlier periods, mainly because in those times, the Naginata was primarily a battlefield weapon, and had a size and length that reflected that.

Later, as the Sengoku Jidai took over (and the men were often out at war), and then moving into the Edo Jidai (when there was the situation of Daimyo being forced to keep two separate households - one in their own domain, the other in Edo - and spending one year each in each home, but separated from their wives and children resulting a constant threat to ensure loyalty) there would be more cause for a Samurai woman to need to defend her home (from raiders/robbers/disenfranchised Samurai etc). At this time, the Naginata became lighter, with a shorter blade, more suited to woman's physical attributes. This made the weapon more manoueverable, and lead to many swordsmen not wanting to try their luck against a well-trained Samurai Lady with her blade. Even today, I understand that there are still competitions between male Kendo-ka and female Naginata-do players...and the men often find it very difficult to make it out in one piece!

But the weapon I have seen most associated with Samurai women is the Tanto in it's various forms (the Aikuchi probably the most common). Schools such as the Tendo Ryu Naginatajutsu still have a component focussing on just the use of tanto in their syllabus, and Tanto have been traditional wedding gifts for women in Samurai families. Their is even a different way of commiting suicide for Samurai women wherein the woman cuts her own carotid artery with her tanto (rather than the more familiar dis-emboweling of the men).

 

[arnisador]

The naginata was indeed originally a (man's) battlefield weapon--with the sword as a backup.

 

[nitflegal]

The naginata was indeed originally a (man's) battlefield weapon--with the sword as a backup.

That's the part that typically gets lost; the Bow, the naginata, and the yari were the battlefield weapons. The tachi and katana were the easy-to-carry back-ups when those broke or the distance was too close. Same thing in Europe, actually. It's interesting that in Japan the naginata is still considered a woman's weapon in many quarters; a legacy of the days when it was their defnsive weapon.

Matt