Were There Women Samurai?

The word samurai is derived from the Japanese word saburau, meaning to serve. Before the 11th century, this is primarily what they did—served a master, in both martial and civil matters. Gradually, samurai gained influence and status and eventually the Kamakura shogunate, a military government, was formed in 1192. Samurai during this period referred to warriors who served the shogunate. As the country fell into chaotic civil war during the Warring States Period from the 15th century, the connotation changed once again and samurai was broadly understood as warrior. Women, having no masters and rarely participating in battle, existed largely outside the realm of samurai.

Eventually, the Warring States Period waned and Japan was unified. As a means of consolidating his power and establishing a clear tax base, the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi conducted cadastral (real property) surveys. Families registered as status groups: samurai, peasant, artisan, merchant, and several others. In this system one’s legal status was tied to one’s family, and many women, the wives and daughters of warriors recognized by the shogunate, were brought under the umbrella term samurai.

From the 17th century to the mid-1800s, Japan entered a period of large-scale peace, and samurai had few battles to fight. Most male samurai served as government officials, police officers, or teachers, and they engaged in various cultural practices like tea ceremony, poetry, and calligraphy. Women of samurai families openly participated in this cultural sphere and, more quietly, took part in politics. Of course, this was nothing new. Even in the 12th century, women like Hōjō Masako (1157–1225) used their family’s influence to manipulate the political sphere; in no small part due to Masako’s help, her husband became a successful shogun. Even after his death, Masako took part in government affairs as the mother of the shogun.

Except for rare cases, such as Tomoe Gozen in the 12th century or Akai Teruko in the 16th, women rarely fought on the battlefield. That is not to say, however, that they did not take part in the martial sphere of samurai culture. Many were trained in weapons and martial arts. Traditionally, women were most closely associated with the naginata, a polearm with a long-curved blade, but it was not unusual for them to be familiar with swordplay or archery. Yamamoto Yaeko even fought in the Boshin War (1867–68) in the gunnery unit. Samurai women were expected to be able to defend their families and, in most cases, this simply meant taking up arms if their home was attacked. In times of war, however, defending hearth and home could mean protecting a castle during a siege or fighting alongside husbands, fathers, and sons.

Samurai women operated behind the scenes—the Japanese word for wife, oku-sama, directly translates to “inside person,” referring to a woman’s role in the home. As a result, unfortunately, women’s history is not well documented in the written record. However, that does not mean they held no power. Explore Samurai: The Making of a Warrior to learn more about female samurai like Hōjō Masako, Tomoe Gozen, and Yamamoto Yaeko.