10 questions · History
Nobody knows for certain whether Tomoe Gozen really existed. Almost everything we know about her comes from the Tale of the Heike, the great war epic about the fall of the Taira clan, which blind monks recited to the lute long before it was written down. There she appears in the 12th century in the following of Minamoto no Yoshinaka, a cousin of the later shōgun Yoritomo. Yoshinaka had brought her from the mountainous province of Shinano, together with a second woman named Yamabuki, who fell ill and stayed behind in the capital. The epic describes Tomoe as beautiful, with fair skin and long hair, and at the same time as a fearless rider, unusually strong with the bow and, with the sword, a warrior worth a thousand. She rode horses no one else could tame and galloped down steep slopes. Whenever a battle was coming, Yoshinaka sent her ahead as one of his first captains. Her most famous scene takes place in 1184 at Awazu on Lake Biwa. Yoshinaka’s army had been shattered and only a handful of riders were left. He ordered Tomoe to flee: it would be a disgrace if people said he had died with a woman at his side. She obeyed, but first she took on a strong warrior from Musashi, Onda no Hachirō, pulled him against her saddle and killed him. Then she threw off her armour and rode away to the east. Yoshinaka fell soon afterwards. Later stories have Tomoe marry or grow old as a nun, but none of it is attested. She lives on in Noh theatre: in the play “Tomoe” her ghost appears and laments that she was not allowed to die with her lord.
Practise for freePurFact brings every card back right before you would forget it. That's how knowledge sticks.
Minamoto no Yoshinaka
In 1183 Yoshinaka drove the Taira from the capital, but then fell out with his cousin Yoritomo, who sent troops against him.
💡 Did you know? He took the name Kiso from the Kiso valley in Shinano, where he had grown up.
Tale of the Heike
The epic of the war between the Taira and the Minamoto was recited by blind monks to the biwa lute and only written down later.
💡 Did you know? Other chronicles of the time do not mention her, so many historians see her as at least an embellished figure.
Battle of Awazu
Yoshinaka’s army had been shattered there by the troops of his cousin Yoritomo; only a handful of riders were left.
💡 Did you know? Yoshinaka fell soon afterwards, hit by an arrow when his horse broke through the ice of a paddy field.
Onda no Hachirō
According to the epic she pulled him against her saddle, pinned him down and twisted off his head.
💡 Did you know? Then she threw off her armour and vanished eastwards from the story.
Yamabuki
The Tale of the Heike names Tomoe and Yamabuki as the two women Yoshinaka had brought from Shinano.
💡 Did you know? The epic says nothing else about Yamabuki; her name means the yellow-flowered kerria.
Shinano
Yoshinaka had grown up in the Kiso valley in Shinano and began his campaign against the Taira there in 1180.
💡 Did you know? Temples and monuments in the Kiso valley still recall Yoshinaka and Tomoe today.
Bow
The Tale of the Heike calls her a remarkably strong archer; later pictures often show her with the naginata polearm.
💡 Did you know? At the time the bow was regarded as the noblest weapon of the mounted warrior.
Lake Biwa
Lake Biwa, north-east of Kyoto, is Japan’s largest lake; the road by which Yoshinaka hoped to escape ran along its southern shore.
💡 Did you know? Yoshinaka’s grave still lies by Lake Biwa, at the Gichū-ji temple in Ōtsu.
Noh
A travelling monk meets a woman at the place of her parting who reveals herself as Tomoe’s ghost.
💡 Did you know? Among the warrior plays of Noh it is the only one with a woman as the main character.
12th century
The war ended with the first shogunate in Kamakura; the age of the samurai as the ruling class began.
💡 Did you know? Her name Tomoe refers to a swirl-shaped sign that was also popular as a crest.
Home · All topics · Legal notice · Privacy · Terms · Contact
