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Thomas Blake Glover, a shrewd man with vision, forever changed the course of Japan’s history.
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Tomoe Gozen – the Legend Survived the Test of Time
According to an epic account written at the beginning of the 14th century –Tomoe Gozen, a 12th century “onna bugeisha” (female samurai) who slashed her way to samurai stardom, leaving severed heads and several romantic myths in her wake, was especially beautiful, had white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was born in the Heian Period (794 to 1185 CE), an extraordinary time to live an extraordinary life.
The capital court of the Imperial Kyoto had become an enclave of pleasure and ostentation. Meanwhile rebellions rose in the provinces, the seas were swarmed with pirates, crime was rife, and disorder had engulfed the country. When at last the ruling class were knocked out of their reverie by the disgruntled society, they had to rely on the warriors to keep order in the country.
The warrior clans displaced the aristocrats to claim their place of honour in the political arena, ushering in the Age of the Samurai (1185 to 1868).
The decisive Dan-no-Ura Battle of the bloody and brutal Genpei Wars fought by two powerful warrior clans: the Minamoto (Gen) and Taira (Hei) is the historical mark of this transition. Yet, against all odds, Tomoe Gozen, one of the concubines of Minamoto Yoshinaka, a cousin of Minamoto Yoritomo, the first Shogun with absolute powers to sway the country, made a name for herself.
Tomoe was also a remarkably skilled archer and swordswoman; a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with a strong armour, an oversized sword, and a mighty bow; and she performed more deeds of valour than any of his male warriors. At the Battle of Yokotagawara in 1181, for instance, Tomoe defeated and collected the heads of 7 mounted warriors (at a time, head collections were coveted like trophies).
So, what was Tomoe’s plight after that? No one knows for sure. What makes our heroine more appealing and the legend to grow bigger than the historical character.
Over the last eight centuries, Tomoe became a myth on platforms as divergent as kabuki and television, woodblock prints and manga.
Yet, recent archaeological work unearthed a staggering female presence in warrior grave sites, women otherwise unaccounted for in–and possibly deliberately excluded from–traditional historical texts. A headmound excavated from the site of the 1580 Battle of Senbon Matsubaru revealed that 35 of the 105 heads buried there were female. DNA testing on two other battlefield gravesites had similarly gender-stratified results.
Tomoe must not had been the only one, but the one who survived the test of time…
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