Tomoe Gozen

This article is about the female samurai. For the 1981 Jessica Amanda Salmonson novel, see Tomoe Gozen (novel).

Tomoe Gozen (巴 御前, Japanese pronunciation: [tomo.e]^[5]) was an onna-musha, a female samurai, mentioned in The Tale of the Heike.^[6] There is doubt as to whether she existed as she doesn't appear in any primary accounts of the Genpei war. She only appears in the epic "The tale of the Heike".^[7][8] She served under samurai lord Minamoto no Yoshinaka during the Battle of Awazu,^[9] part of the Genpei War in the late Heian period, which led to the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.^[10][11]

Gozen / Lady [1] Tomoe Gozen
巴 御前
Tomoe Gozen, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Leader	Minamoto no Yoshinaka (commander)
Personal details
Born	1157
Died	1247 (aged 89–90)[2][3][4]
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Buddhist Nun (After the Battle of Awazu)[2]
Military service
Allegiance	The Minamoto clan (Specifically Minamoto no Yoshinaka)
Years of service	One (1182)
Battles/wars	Battle of Awazu
Military role/occupation	Onna-musha (Before the Battle of Awazu)

Genpei War

"Tomoe Gozen Killing Uchida Ieyoshi at Battle of Awazu no Hara (1184)", print by Ishikawa Toyonobu, c. 1750.

She commanded, under the leadership of Yoshinaka, 300 samurai against 2,000 warriors of the rival Taira clan during the war. After defeating the Taira in 1182 and driving them into the western provinces, Yoshinaka took Kyoto and desired to be the leader of the Minamoto clan. His cousin Yoritomo was prompted to crush Yoshinaka, and sent his brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori to kill him.

Yoshinaka fought Yoritomo's forces at the Battle of Awazu on February 21, 1184, where Tomoe Gozen took at least one head of the enemy. Although Yoshinaka's troops fought bravely, they were outnumbered and overwhelmed. When Yoshinaka was defeated there, with only a few of his soldiers standing, he told Tomoe Gozen to flee because he wanted to die with his foster brother .

There are varied accounts of what followed. At the Battle of Awazu in 1184,^[12] she is known for beheading Honda no Morishige of Musashi.^[13] She is also known for having killed Uchida Ieyoshi and for escaping capture by Hatakeyama Shigetada.^[14] After Tomoe Gozen beheaded the leader of the Musashi clan, she presented his head to her master Yoshinaka.^[15]