Tomoe Gozen | |
---|---|
巴 御前 | |
Leader | Minamoto no Yoshinaka (commander) |
Personal details | |
Born | 1157 |
Died | 1247 |
Nationality | Japanese |
Occupation | Onna-musha |
Military service | |
Allegiance | The Minamoto clan (Specifically Minamoto no Yoshinaka) |
Years of service | One (1182) |
Battles/wars | Battle of Awazu |
Tomoe Gozen (巴 御前, Japanese pronunciation: [tomo.e][1]) was an onna-musha, a female samurai, mentioned in The Tale of the Heike.[2] 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".[3][4] She served under samurai lord Minamoto no Yoshinaka during the Battle of Awazu,[5] part of the Genpei War in the late Heian period, which led to the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.[6][7]
Although more than a little hyperbole embellishes the extant accounts of Tomoe's military exploits, there is little disagreement over the basic outline of Tomoe's involvement in the Genpei Wars.