The Truth About Female Samurai 

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".

​@@ShyBlueWaffleThank 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.

@@ShyBlueWaffle 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 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: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qu-pSBEnMt4.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.

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.

trying to educate myself😆

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

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

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.

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 ?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bummer! Next time.

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.

.... 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"

⁠@@tjcalihan1953@fbi @mcdonald @whatevertstateyoureinpolice

Thanks man!

@@TheShogunate of course can’t wait for more Edo videos take your time though!

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

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 will soon!

@@TheShogunate awesome

@@TheShogunate great!

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.

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.

Also you can recruit warrior nuns, which I'm not sure they existed

I pretty much agree. Add having lower physical strength and endurance and it would be impractical to send them out on the front lines in campaigns. THAT BEING SAID, it is beneficial for them to be local defenders such as settlements (or anywhere should samurai bring them along as warriors in general sometimes bring women with them for common needs). After all, if the danger comes to them, what other choice do they have if surrender is out of the question? With defense, they have the environment to their advantage. Even a house is one's castle. Plus, they can conserve their power until the enemy gets within range (should the foe manage to inspite of the lower position) while the enemy loses stamina. Of course, this isn't to say that only women fought against invaders as a garrison of male warriors were likely there, but it doesn't change the fact that women had to step up in crisis times. In fact, while I am not usually fond of strict gender roles, I would be interested in learning more about the dynamics during crisis times. I honestly even find the image of men fighting on the frontlines while the women help defend the very foundation of their civilization to be interesting in my opinion. What I'd love to learn more is what women in general did outside of combat. As mundane as it may be compared to fighting, learning about their political influence and what common necessities they helped contribute is important in my opinion (I know that Shogunate briefly touched upon it in the video but understandably focused on the warrior topic). I'd like to learn more about what they were doing in wartimes while men were away such as managing places and political influence. fact, I'd be interested in learning about women in ashigaru, peasant, and other classes as I believe that those in more common positions have contributed many essential necessities to society but go largely unmentioned. Sorry for my long post.

The main reason is logistic. Women need to be treated different from men. This creates lot of problems like organization, food , camp etc. If you as a commander had the resources to deal with these problems, you may as well hired more men.

@cck4863 Paedon me, but would you please elaborate more?

And if sangoku barara was to lead me to believe ginchiyo was a master chainsaw user. Strongest under all of hinamoto.

Mhm it was a minority but there were still badass women who were warriors.

Women can be useful in wars, if you know where to place them. Subversive tactics, inflitration, manipulation. But putting them against men in hand to hand combat it is suicide, plus someone needs to protect the next generation, when men are at war. If the men lose the battle and the enemy goes to conquer that country, the women are needed to pick up arms and join the guards in combat.

I have not read a single comment that claimed no female warriors existed in pre-modern Japan. You are correct, however. History today is indeed colored by the lens of modern societal ideas and attempted standards. Anything female in any historical context is completely blown out of proportion to please and support the current feminist narrative that "women were just as [insert positive adjective] as men!!" even when that just isn't true. For example, look at the "shield maiden grave" in Birka, Sweden. To please "modern audiences", it was swiftly claimed - without any scientific evidence, that here we have the grave of a "fierce viking warrior-goddess of exceptional standard and bla bla bla...". It's laughable to anyone with just a mild interest in the era and topic presented. The whole onna-bugeishi/onna-musha topic is not too different. While they did indeed exist, their actual numbers, frequency and ultimately effectiveness and deeds paint a very clear picture, one that "modern science" doesn't like to entertain so much as it contradicts the narrative mentioned above. Articles about these women usually skip over important details that put things into perspective, like the things just mentioned. Clearly, this is due to the colored lens you mentioned. Although I am aware you meant a different kind of lens. Your convictions seem quite clear, but correct me should I be mistaken here. Saying "women are perfectly capable of using strength since we do in fact (shocker) have muscles that can be trained" is misleading at best and it completely ignores the massive difference when it comes to male and female muscle strength and endurance, as well as other biological differences, like body fat, weight/mass, height and so on. These are the differences why to this day, females are completely unable to keep up with men as soon as strength or endurance is required. Look at professional tennis, where Serena Williams in her prime loses to some no-name low-lister without any realistic chance. Look at professional soccer, where female national teams get destroyed by amateur teams of 14 year old boys. Look at swimming, where pseudo-women (transgender) leave actual women no chance whatsoever. Look at mixed martial arts, where the same "women" literally break the skulls of actual women. Look at weightlifting, where amateur hobbyists lift more than the top female athletes world wide. Need more examples? I assume not. Aside from women being more valuable, biologically speaking (children), the above are the logical reasons why women were basically never found on the battlefields of the past and modern ages alike and not because of the evil patriarchy oppressing them poor damsels. It's biological/physical shortcomings that make women rather useless for these things, at least compared to men. That is why men are the ones being sacrificed in wars since mankind existed. "Because apparently we only like to acknowledge women's strength when it can be exploited in other forms of labour (like housework, carrying around children all day, producing things)." What do you mean, "only"? The things you mentioned are amazing and paramount for a society to not just thrive, but even exist and make it that far. Without women excelling in these roles, we'd all be absolutely screwed. What brought us this far was not that women can vote now, or join the military with less restrictions, it is that societies throughout history and across the globe realized that both sexes have their ideal purposes. That is what ultimately shaped societies. It worked for thousands of years - until now, because now it's "wemen are strong too!" and "the force is female!" above all else and whoever questions this, is a patriarchal misogynist. The fact how negatively you speak of the perhaps most important job in the world, "carrying around children all day" says more about you than you might be willing to share as long as you expect to be taken serious. "But obviously there were female warriors and women of great strength." *Skill, but yes, here we agree - leading back to my original point: No one said otherwise, but let's not glance over the details here to put things in context, shall we.

Alright, good vide. Fairly accurate too. Women wheren't on the frontlines true. They defended homes but also where sometimes mercinaries. They where mostly trained in the Naginata as female weaker form can level the playing field by leveraging physics using the polearm; naginata.

Maybe you should look further into Cummins if you trust him.

Gay people in Greece did more than exist it was the norm

​​@@lisagonzalez1371do you know what Socrates said about homosexuals?

Not to mention that a not insubstantial amount of "information" available about female combatants is pure propaganda and often used to emphasize how dire a situation is or bolster the morale of one's own side, as we saw even during WW2 with the Soviets. However, in Western society, we tend to over-embellish or outright fictionalize events, or believe propaganda wholesale, which on the whole diminishes the very real achievements of some by calling into question their overall credibility.

⁠​⁠@@polaris30000Embellishing events is not just a western concept. It’s done in almost every culture.

Get off 4chan maybe, women are fighting for their lives across the world on a daily basis, you're so deluded if you think women are only capable of childbirth and sex. It just shows your limited brain capacity and how heavily you've been influenced by modern western culture, the fact that you sexualize women being violent is pretty absurd. Trust me, I'd be more than willing to kick the shit out of men to defend my values, country and safety of the people around me.. Most women in fact protect their families with their lives and bodies just as much as men do. You are a total manchild if you choose to believe that women are incapable of anything and your willingness to try and put women down just illustrates your fear of women.