Women warriors of Japan: Highly trained, some fought with two swords, and one led an all-female force against the Imperial Army

An omnipresent image of Japanese culture is that of the samurai, the “all-masculine” warrior who will decapitate an enemy in cold blood, or who will commit seppuku if he is to keep the honor of his name.

When thinking of Japanese women from history, a common image might be that of the geisha, the woman represented as gentle as a flower, always nicely dressed, making tiny steps forward, sometimes even looking so fragile it’s as if she were sick. When it’s springtime, the Japanese woman is walking down the lane beneath the cherry trees and perhaps having an ice cream.

However, there are still women from Japanese history who can help deconstruct these stereotypical gender representations, one great example being that of the onna bugeisha, who by all means had nothing to do with a demure geisha. The onna bugeisha was, as the term virtually translates to, a woman warrior. They did exist, and some of them had an excellent talent with the sword, as much as, if not more than their male counterparts had.


https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/12/07/women-warriors-of-japan/

Wow how interesting. Never knew this. Such little women with strength to handle 2 swords.

magica wrote:Wow how interesting. Never knew this. Such little women with strength to handle 2 swords.

Glad you found it interesting magica.