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NINJA RIVALS

1184 A.D.

Name: TOMOE GOZEN

巴御前

Birth/Death: 1157?-1247?

Occupation: Taisho (Military Commander)

Cause of Death: Unknown

Gender: Female

A.K.A.: Lady Tomoe

伴絵 (alternate kanji for "Tomoe")

鞆絵 (alternate kanji for "Tomoe")

Known Associates: Minamoto no Yoshinaka

Preferred Technique: Decapitation

Hobbies: Horseback riding

Clan Affiliation: Minamoto

Existence: Confirmed

The Woman

A lone female face amid a millennium of testosterone-fueled warriors, it is tempting to compare Tomoe Gozen to another fighting femme from times of old: Joan of Arc. But the comparison ends with the swords and armor, for unlike Joan, Tomoe wasn’t a warrior of God. She was a warrior of love.

The thousand-year-old Tale of the Heike describes her thus:

Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot.

Tomoe wasn’t a ninja in any sense of the word. She was, if anything, a samurai. But her bravery on the battlefield undoubtedly served as an inspiration to generations of women who found themselves having to engage in battle, including female ninja. In fact, she may well have crossed paths with at least one proto-ninja of sorts: Togakushi Daisuke. Tomoe was one of the commanders of the legendary battle of Kurikara Pass in 1183, in which Daisuke secured victory for the Minamoto by stampeding flaming cattle directly into the midst of enemy Heike forces. While it is unlikely that he was under her direct command, word of Daisuke’s innovative strategy undoubtedly spread through the ranks back to her.

The Moment of Glory

The battle of Awazu, January 21, 1184. Tomoe is twenty-seven. Sheathed in samurai armor, she sits astride her steed surveying the carnage of the just-concluded battle. Does a rivulet of the blood of fallen enemies mingling on her tachi blade drop upon the trampled grass below?

She turns to face her lover, her confidant, her superior officer: General Minamoto no Yoshinaka. Officially, she was but another of his (ahem) “consorts.” But she was no stay-at-home concubine. Tomoe was an ass-kicker to rival any Amazon out of ancient Greece. That this manly man in an age of manly men deigned to ride into battle alongside someone with two X chromosomes is a testament to the respect in which she was held. A beast on the battlefield, her beauty was equally legendary; even in crimson-spattered armor, with an elaborate helm hiding her silken tresses, Tomoe must have been a sight to behold.

Artist Yoshitoshi’s take on Tomoe, from his 1875 “Mirror of Ladies Past and Present” series.

But her fellow warriors proved no match for those of the enemy, Yoshinaka’s cousin and rival, the legendary Minamoto no Yoshitsune (see p. 30). The once-proud army of Yoshinaka, a thousand men and one woman strong, now numbers just five survivors.

Yoshinaka is no fool. He knows he and his men will not be returning from this battle. But as a woman, Tomoe Gozen is exempt from the normal code of conduct for a samurai. So he tells her to run.

Of course she refuses. It is unthinkable. But the general stands fast. Precious moments remain before his inevitable last stand, and there is no time to argue. In desperation he orders Tomoe off the battlefield, forcing her hand with the only currency he now possesses: he declares that her continued presence is an embarrassment to his honor. It must sting Tomoe to the quick—not out of humiliation but rather because it means her Yoshinaka will really and truly never return.

Tomoe grudgingly acquiesces —but follows with a flourish only she could pull off. Spurring her horse directly into the midst of the enemy forces, she clotheslines the biggest soldier she can find, physically dragging the utterly surprised man from his steed onto her saddle. Viciously twisting her opponent’s neck while drawing her blade, she severs his head from his body with a fluid motion driven in equal parts by skill and fury. Does she turn and raise the gruesome trophy in a final salute to her master? We’ll never know, but legend has it she rode through the stunned forces unscathed.

The End

Legend also has it that she never took up the sword again, marrying and spending her remaining years first as a devoted wife and later, after her husband’s death, as a Buddhist nun. She eventually passed away at the age of ninety-one, some six decades after cheating death alongside General Yoshinaka.

Tomoe standing guard over Kiso Yoshinaka, at Nagano’s Yoshinaka Yakata museum.

Trivia

FACT OR FABLE?

The Tale of the Heike is more saga than history book, and there is no physical or even circumstantial evidence proving that Tomoe actually fought on the battlefield. On the other hand, neither is there any evidence conclusively proving that she did not. The topic remains controversial among historians.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

“Gozen” is not a name, but rather an archaic title for a woman of high social rank. It literally means “one who stands before an honorable individual,” but more colloquially translates into something along the lines of “her ladyship” or “my lady.” Interestingly, she is never actually referred to this way in The Tale of the Heike. The title “Gozen” seems to have become associated with her many centuries later in the Edo period, when Noh and kabuki plays based on her life story debuted, transforming her from a historical footnote into a pop-cultural superstar. Tomoe’s actual surname remains unknown.