Female samurai

There were also female samurai in feudal Japan. They were called Onna-bugeisha meaning a woman practicing martial arts or Buke-no-onna to stand for a woman from the class of warriors skillfully mastering martial arts. They were members of the Bushi samurai class.

As any women, Onna-bugeisha was believed to stay home obeying her husband, keeping the household and taking care of children instead of going off to battle. However, there were women who took part in many battles and wars along with male samurais. When men used to battle, the female had to stay and protect their houses and thus, their mastership of the cold weapon was essential when a single woman could resist the attack of horseback warriors where strength and weight did not count at all against her skill only.

As for any samurais, Bushido code was of higher consideration for Onna-bugeishas who consider other’s interest higher than their own’s. The tribute was the highest point to keep and as the case might be these female samurai would kill themselves committing the dzigai ritual (analogous to seppuku (hara-kiri) but the abdomen was not eventrated. The binding provision to commit the suicide in this way was cutting the throat with the tied ankles to end the ritual with esthetically attractive look.

From the early ages women of samurai class were trained on:

• Jujutsu practice;
• Polearms mastering as naginata and yari;
• Archery (kyu-jutsu);
• Mastering the bill Tanto (tanto-jutsu);
• Shuriken-jutsu.

A kwaiken or a short anlace was the regular weapon kind for woman-samurai to be on her every minute. A girl aged 12 would be awarded a kwaiken to mark her majority. It was a Tanto with the short handle and long blade. It was used by Samurai since the weapon was practicable to fight indoors and smallers spaces unlike katana or naginata. Women used to wear the Kwaiken in their Obi (a sash that they wore at the waist over their traditional kimono. However, naginata is mostly associated with the image of a female samurai.