Episode 9: Tomoe Gozen, Japan's First Female Samurai

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Onna-bugeisha Tomoe Gozen is as legendary as she is mysterious. Fighting in the Genpei War from 1180 to 1185 CE, she was known for her deadly precision in battle and beauty. While Tomoe disappeared from history shortly after the end of the war, she lives on in myth and the arts.

Come along as we cover Japan's first female samurai through history and astrology.

Sources

Articles:

• "The Amazing Stories of Asahina Yoshihide: Japan’s Hercules” by Cezary Jan Strusiewicz (https://tinyurl.com/y7jwdy7p)
• "From Woman Warrior to Peripatetic Entertainer: The Multiple Histories of Tomoe" by Steven T. Brown (https://tinyurl.com/y3tkwp3r)
• “Japan’s Mugen-Noh: Let the Ghosts Speak and Dance One Last Time” by Yuri Minamide (https://tinyurl.com/jdtjrpdu)
• "The Legend of Tomoe Gozen" by Leah Silverman (https://tinyurl.com/yaxjd2pv)
• "Onna-Bugeisha, the Female Samurai Warriors of Feudal Japan" by Christin Bohnke (https://tinyurl.com/3ujxf7r4)
• "Tomoe Gozen" by Kai Fay (https://tinyurl.com/4f2bya3a)
• "Women Warriors of Early Japan" by Rochelle Nowaki (https://tinyurl.com/36vez64j)

Books:

• A Brief History of Japan by Jonathan Clements
• Heroic with Grace: Legendary Women of Japan by Chieko Irie Mulhern
• Japan before Perry: A Short History by Conrad Totman
• Samurai Women: Forgotten Heroines of Japan by Keiko Morikawa

Digital Media:

• Lady Tomoe, A History of Japan podcast (https://tinyurl.com/6u9zkff7)

Primary Sources:

• Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke by Thomas Cleary
• The Tale of the Heike translated by Royall Tyler
• Tomoe, a Noh play (https://tinyurl.com/2syh6j56)

Websites:

• The Battle of Awazugahara Historic Site Monument of Honor (https://tinyurl.com/mr2z4df8)
• "Tomoe Gozen" (https://tinyurl.com/42t65j9c)
• "Tomoe Gozen, Samurai Warrior" (https://tinyurl.com/mr36bz7d)

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