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Book review: Samurai Women 1184-1877
At the library, I came across a very interesting book and thought I'd share it with those of you interested in Japanese history/culture: Samurai Women 1184-1877 by Stephen Turnbull. The story of the famous female warrior Tomoe Gozen is well known to those familiar with Japanese history, but Turnbull explains that samurai women have played a much bigger role, both on the battlefield and behind the scenes, than most people realize.
Turnbull tells the story of Tomoe Gozen, along with lesser known female warriors such as Tsuruhime of Omishima, who led an army into battle against the invading Ouchi clan, or the women of Aizu-Wakamatsu, who believed that they faced certain death from the opposing imperial troops, and so chose to die in battle or take their own lives.
There are also women like Hojo Masako, who did not literally fight in battle, but wielded politcal power. A strong-willed woman, she married Minamoto Yoritomo against her father's wishes, when he was still merely an exile whose life had been spared by the ruling Taira clan after they defeated the Minamoto in battle. She must have sensed his potential--he eventually defeated the Taira in turn and became Japan's first shogun. When he died, Masako governed from behind the scenes, setting up a ruling council of Hojo family members. According to Turnbull, when her own father made a power play and attempted to replace Masako's choice of shogun with another, she had the pretender shogun murdered and exiled her father to a monastery.
Turnbull also discusses the lives of samurai women in general--they were often trained in the use of the naginata, a type of spear that was a traditional weapon for the samurai women. And when the men were away during times of war, it was often left to their wives to oversee the castle's defenses.
There are also tragic stories of the fates that samurai women faced during or after a battle. The women were often married into other clans in order to seal a peace treaty or political alliance, but would find themselves torn between their two families when the treaty fell apart and their husbands went to war against their fathers or brothers. In one example, Oda Nobunaga married his sister Oichi to Asai Nagamasa, but the Asai eventually turned against Nobunaga. When faced with defeat, Nagamasa committed suicide, and although he could have killed Oichi in revenge, he returned Oichi and their children safely to Nobunaga. However, although Nagamasa and Oichi's three daughters were spared, their young son was executed (presumably, he would have posed a potential threat as Nagamasa's heir).
The three daughters would also find themselves on opposing sides later in life. Chacha (later known as Lady Yodo) became the concubine of Nobunaga's former vassal Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and gave birth to his heir, Hideyori. One of her sisters married a Tokugawa vassal, and the third married the son and heir of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Hideyoshi's death, the Toyotomi and Tokugawa fought over who would rule the country, and the Toyotomi eventually lost. Yodo and Hideyori commited suicide, while the third sister (Oe in Turnbull's account, but referred to as Gou in a recent historical drama) would become the mother of the third Tokugawa shogun. Adding to the complicated and tragic situation was the fact that Oe/Gou's daughter Sen was married to Hideyori, although Sen was spared and returned to the Tokugawa before Osaka Castle (the Toyotomi stronghold) fell. Turnbull doesn't really speculate on how the sisters must have felt, but the NHK drama Gou offers a fictionalized account of the divided loyalties and heartbreak that the three sisters suffered.
The book also discusses the female form of ritual suicide (cutting one's throat with a dagger), and how samurai women would often commit suicide rather than let themselves be captured. Sometimes this was to preserve the family honor, but at other times, to escape a worse fate--they were often killed, raped, and/or enslaved by the conquering army.
The book is interesting, though very short (less than 100 pages), and I wish it were longer. I understand that there is limited historical information available about samurai warrior women, but Turnbull does skim over some accounts that could have been covered in more detail. For example, he leaves out a story told about Oichi, that she supposedly sent her brother a coded message warning him that the Asai were going to betray him. (Perhaps because it's not clear if this story is fiction or fact, but he does discuss other legends and fictionalized accounts.) The book also mentions Hosokawa Gracia very briefly, saying that her Christian beliefs prevented her from committing suicide. But what it leaves out is that during the power struggles between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa, Gracia was killed (or allowed herself to be killed) rather than be taken hostage and used against her husband. In some versions of the story, she willingly accepts death but because of the Christian prohibition against suicide, has a family retainer strike the killing blow. In others, her husband or father-in-law ordered the suicide, and Gracia submitted to the order, once again with the family retainer carrying out the killing. It's a well-known story that's been dramatized numerous times, so I was surprised that Turnbull left out such a tragic and dramatic account.
But overall, the book was very interesting and provides a view of samurai women that most Westerners are probably unaware of, and I do recommend it for anyone interested in that period of history
Turnbull tells the story of Tomoe Gozen, along with lesser known female warriors such as Tsuruhime of Omishima, who led an army into battle against the invading Ouchi clan, or the women of Aizu-Wakamatsu, who believed that they faced certain death from the opposing imperial troops, and so chose to die in battle or take their own lives.
There are also women like Hojo Masako, who did not literally fight in battle, but wielded politcal power. A strong-willed woman, she married Minamoto Yoritomo against her father's wishes, when he was still merely an exile whose life had been spared by the ruling Taira clan after they defeated the Minamoto in battle. She must have sensed his potential--he eventually defeated the Taira in turn and became Japan's first shogun. When he died, Masako governed from behind the scenes, setting up a ruling council of Hojo family members. According to Turnbull, when her own father made a power play and attempted to replace Masako's choice of shogun with another, she had the pretender shogun murdered and exiled her father to a monastery.
Turnbull also discusses the lives of samurai women in general--they were often trained in the use of the naginata, a type of spear that was a traditional weapon for the samurai women. And when the men were away during times of war, it was often left to their wives to oversee the castle's defenses.
There are also tragic stories of the fates that samurai women faced during or after a battle. The women were often married into other clans in order to seal a peace treaty or political alliance, but would find themselves torn between their two families when the treaty fell apart and their husbands went to war against their fathers or brothers. In one example, Oda Nobunaga married his sister Oichi to Asai Nagamasa, but the Asai eventually turned against Nobunaga. When faced with defeat, Nagamasa committed suicide, and although he could have killed Oichi in revenge, he returned Oichi and their children safely to Nobunaga. However, although Nagamasa and Oichi's three daughters were spared, their young son was executed (presumably, he would have posed a potential threat as Nagamasa's heir).
The three daughters would also find themselves on opposing sides later in life. Chacha (later known as Lady Yodo) became the concubine of Nobunaga's former vassal Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and gave birth to his heir, Hideyori. One of her sisters married a Tokugawa vassal, and the third married the son and heir of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After Hideyoshi's death, the Toyotomi and Tokugawa fought over who would rule the country, and the Toyotomi eventually lost. Yodo and Hideyori commited suicide, while the third sister (Oe in Turnbull's account, but referred to as Gou in a recent historical drama) would become the mother of the third Tokugawa shogun. Adding to the complicated and tragic situation was the fact that Oe/Gou's daughter Sen was married to Hideyori, although Sen was spared and returned to the Tokugawa before Osaka Castle (the Toyotomi stronghold) fell. Turnbull doesn't really speculate on how the sisters must have felt, but the NHK drama Gou offers a fictionalized account of the divided loyalties and heartbreak that the three sisters suffered.
The book also discusses the female form of ritual suicide (cutting one's throat with a dagger), and how samurai women would often commit suicide rather than let themselves be captured. Sometimes this was to preserve the family honor, but at other times, to escape a worse fate--they were often killed, raped, and/or enslaved by the conquering army.
The book is interesting, though very short (less than 100 pages), and I wish it were longer. I understand that there is limited historical information available about samurai warrior women, but Turnbull does skim over some accounts that could have been covered in more detail. For example, he leaves out a story told about Oichi, that she supposedly sent her brother a coded message warning him that the Asai were going to betray him. (Perhaps because it's not clear if this story is fiction or fact, but he does discuss other legends and fictionalized accounts.) The book also mentions Hosokawa Gracia very briefly, saying that her Christian beliefs prevented her from committing suicide. But what it leaves out is that during the power struggles between the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa, Gracia was killed (or allowed herself to be killed) rather than be taken hostage and used against her husband. In some versions of the story, she willingly accepts death but because of the Christian prohibition against suicide, has a family retainer strike the killing blow. In others, her husband or father-in-law ordered the suicide, and Gracia submitted to the order, once again with the family retainer carrying out the killing. It's a well-known story that's been dramatized numerous times, so I was surprised that Turnbull left out such a tragic and dramatic account.
But overall, the book was very interesting and provides a view of samurai women that most Westerners are probably unaware of, and I do recommend it for anyone interested in that period of history