#takeko nakano

[redsamuraiii]

Yae no Sakura (Ep 27)

Takeko Nakano, will forever be known throughout history for her skills with Naginata that inspires girls today in Aizu.

[ultra-rockart]

Another Thing Blue Eye Samurai Got Wrong

There were women who fought as fighters and samurai (or more often called as onna-bugeisha or onna-musha) for their clan. They didn't have to hide their femininity. There is a long history of female warriors in Japan that date back to an Empress named Jingū (she ruled from 201 to 269 AD). I bring you two of the greats:

Tomoe Gozen

She was skilled at archery, the sword and the use of the naginata. Tomoe is one of the most feared women because of her cleverness and offensive tactical skills. Her men trusted and respected her. During the Battle of Awazu, she killed the Musashi clan leader. Sadly, there is no more records of her after that. Tomoe is the most known and celebrated of the onna-bugeisha.

Nakano Takeko

Like many samurai of her time, she wore the typical samurai armor but instead chose to wear a red hakama. This red hakama became a symbol of not just her femininity but empowerment. She fought in the Boshin War against Imperialists who wanted the Emperor to rise to power (they eventually won during the Battle of Toba–Fushimi).

Similar to the Kiheitai (or the ad hoc army by the Imperialists), she led the Jōshitai or women's army fighting on the side of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Nakano was wounded with a rifle shot and rather than allowing her enemies to parade her lifeless body as a trophy, she ordered her sister (also a capable warrior as with her mother. all 3 women fought alongside each other) to cut her head off and burry her head in secret so her enemies would not have a reason to disgrace her. Her head was buried under a pine tree and her beloved naginata was given to a temple.

In Aizu during the Autumn festival, girls parade around the streets wearing a red hakama and a white headband to honor Nakano and the women fighters of the Jōshitai.

Other female fighters include Yamamoto Yae aka "Bakumatsu Joan of Arc" and Hangaku Gozen or Lady Hangaku.

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There is a reason the filmakers of Lady Snowblood (a film Blue Eye Samurai heavily borrows from) didn't chose to disguise Yuki as a man when she enacted her revenge.

[silent-deydreamer23]

Nostalgia for A Cartoon Theory #1

I felt nostalgia so I watch one of those top 10 craziest cartoon theories and got reminded of this one. I.e. professor utonium and samurai jack being the same person through time shenanigans. I did a drawing of the girls based on this concept.

In this AU jack is approached by this old sorcerer who claims they have a way to defeat who using his own essence against him in the form of a super serum labed something like the "Elixir X". And then this person like tasks him with collecting all these items (the whole sugar spice everything nice). Basically making Jack do the heavy lifting in the process then-BOOM!!

"the three perfect little girls!!"

Nothing like what he was expecting at all. Turns out the sorcerer was the evil High priestess of Aku the whole time ( Ashi's mom). The Powerpuff girls would be Aku's daughters made by Jack's hand. Long story short Jack defeat her and takes the girls to raise them as his own. And they would join him in his fight against Aku filling in that place of student mentor and daughter father figure. I tried to based the girls design on onna-bugeisha(term for female samurai) attire. They came out in a rough sketch that could be better.

[intriguingpeoplebyangelafloyd]

Nakano Takeko

#nakanotakeko

[lifestruestories]

[ramshackledtrickster]

Haiii Trickster!!

I got a quick question.

Have you gotten into the Assassin's Creed Fragments books lately? I've recently got one called "AC Fragments: The Blade of Aizu". It's set in 1800s Japan about the Shiba siblings, Atsuko and Ibuka, and their bond was tested by the circumstances of war and politics.

I even liked how it had Takeko Nakano as a member of the Assassin Brotherhood.

I haven’t !! Sounds cool though, thank you for bringing it to my attention !

Here’s the cover if anyone’s interested

[royumijapon]

Onna — Bugeisha — The Mighty Samurai Warrior

In periods like Heian and Kamakura , within the samurai class there were also female members, known as Onna-bugeisha , who excelled and were even present on the battlefield although they were the exception rather than the rule. These women fought alongside male samurai primarily in times of need.

The onna-bugeisha or warrior women were very unusual, although there were some very famous warriors such as Tomoe Gozen (late Heian period) and Nakano Takeko (1847–1868). There is also a legendary figure, Empress Jingū (c. 169–269 AD), who is said to have also been a female samurai, who used her skills to inspire economic and social change in early Yamato Japan. According to legend, after her husband Emperor Chūai (Japan’s 14th Emperor) was killed in battle, she led an expedition west (in what is now Korea) around AD 200. C. returning victorious. Although the figure of Empress Jingū is surrounded by controversy since many historians believe that the accounts that are told of her are fictitious or misleading, Empress Jingū and the onna bugeisha despite having been a very small group of members in the Japan’s feudal era, represent a very important presence in its history.

Empress Jingū (b. 169 AD — d. 269 AD)

Bushi (samurai) women were mainly trained with the naginata (薙刀) for its great versatility against all kinds of enemies and weapons. This training ensured protection in communities and towns that lacked men who could fight. Historically, many women used a version of the tantō , called a kaiken (a type of dagger) for self-defense, however the onna-bugeisha learned the art of tantōjutsu to fight in battle.

Continue Reading >>>

[lightmelodyva]

The six piece is done!

Starting from the left: Junichi Hayashida, Takeko Nakano, Daichi Kurusu, Takeaki Enomoto, Kimigiku Suzumori, Keisuke Otori. Glad this is done now.

[redsamuraiii]

Female Warriors and Lords from Japanese Historical Dramas.

[moonstone-vibe]

"SAMURAI WOMEN"

WERE THERE SAMURAI WOMEN?

In early medieval Japan there was an elite of women trained in martial arts and the use of weapons whose mission was to be prepared to defend their honor and their home in times of war, when men had died or marched to the front. These were the onna bugeisha (literally translated as “warrior women”), the samurai women of ancient Japan.

Despite the submission to father and husband that Japanese society imposed on women, converted into cultured wives and devoted mothers by the mentality of the Heian period, there is evidence of women belonging to the noble and warrior classes who were prepared for enter combat if necessary.

These women were trained in the use of the naginata, a spear with a long shaft and curved blade that allowed them to keep their distance from the enemy, the kaiken (a straight-bladed dagger) and the Tanto (a short katana). Although they were prepared for defensive situations in which they could repel enemies that came to their home when there were no men to fight, there were cases in which women participated in offensive actions.

The best-known direct antecedent is that of Empress Jingu, a semi-mythical character who took the place of her husband and assumed the government of the islands and command of the army in an attempt to conquer Korea. Although historians question the veracity of the facts, Jinpu is represented as a fierce warrior who imposed her will on a society that rejected her and ended up overcoming the obstacles that would have prevented her from ruling.

Tomoe Gozen's deadly katana

But without a doubt, the best-known samurai woman in Japanese history is Tomoe Gozen, who is mentioned in the Tales of the Heike and whose beauty and bravery in combat stand out. Tomoe went a step further and she surpassed the standards of the onna bugeisha both because of her skills and the situations in which she was involved. In addition to weapons such as the naginata or the Tanto, Tomoe Gozen was an expert in the use of the katana, archery and horseback riding.

It is one of the few cases in which a woman actively participated in an offensive war action, specifically in the battle of Awazu (1184) where she led a small number of troops in the charge against Minamoto Yoritomo's troops. It is said that Tomoe Gozen fought alongside her husband (or lover) Kiso Yoshinaka and her end is not clear since, depending on the source, some claim that she died or committed suicide in combat and others that she was one of the few survivors of that battle. .

Other famous samurai women

Although history forgot them (or tried to do so), cases of female warriors in Japan are much more common than one might think and extend in time until the very end of the samurai. A striking case is that of Hojo Masako, a contemporary of Tomoe Gozen but with a better documented and less mythologized life. This woman was the wife of a shogun and as such she decided to accompany him in his skirmish as his lieutenant. It is said that when her husband died she abandoned the warrior life and became a nun, but later she took up arms and continued working as an onna bugeisha.

The most recent case, and perhaps therefore one of the best known, is that of Nakano Takeko. She lived between 1847 and 1868, she was the daughter of an officer who educated her in both literature and combat. During the Boshin War, which pitted the worn-out Tokugawa shogunate against a group of nobles seeking to return power to the emperor, Nakano Takeko turned her loyalty to the shogun and led a small army made up entirely of women. She died during the Battle of Aizu when she, seriously injured, decided to perform seppuku (suicide ritual) to avoid being taken alive.

[sweetbaloonsriseboldly]

Nakano Takeko (中野 竹子, April 1847 – 16 October 1868) was a Japanese female warrior of the Aizu Domait, who fought and died during the Boshin War. During the battle of Aizu she fought with a nagitana (a Japanese polearm) and was the leader of an ad hoc corps of female combatants who fought in the battle independently. After taking a bullet in the chest she had her sister behead her, so that the enemy would not take her as a war trophy!

[hypathie]

Hanzo Shimada's Drag Queen Names

Because he would be a deadly queen.

Do forgive my mistakes if you see any, I don't speak japanese (neither english lmao). Here are the main categories I've looked at to find inspiration.

Related to this post :

Japanese Gods (Buddism and Shintoïsm)

Enma-ō 閻魔王 King of Hell (Buddism).

Fudō Myō-ō 不動明王 God of fire and anger (Buddism)

Zōchō-ten 増長天 "he who causes to grow" King of the south. His symbolic weapon is the sword. Associated with the color blue (Buddism). Sounds like the legend of a certain dragon, huh ?

Izanami 伊邪那美 the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess (Shintoïsme).

Real persons who existed

Hattori Hanzō gave his name to Hanzo. In fact this surname means "demon"... FIERCE

Shimada Ichirō. Another samourai. He's famous because he assassinated a powerful politician in 1878.

Sada Yacco, geisha, descendant of a family of samurai.

Jingū, Tomoe Gozen, Nakano Takeko are all Onna-musha (女武者) female warriors in pre-modern Japan. They fought in battle alongside samurai men. Inspiring I guess.

Culture

Arashi アラシ : Best stack you can have in Oicho-Kabu, a traditional japanese cards game. In opposite the worst stack, called Yakuza, might be the origin for the term used nowadays to call the outlaw gangs . It's also a name that is still used, meaning "storm", or is a metaphor for emotional turmoil.

The Great Mirror of Male Love (男色大鏡 Nanshoku Ōkagami) is a collection of homosexuality stories by Ihara Saikaku, published in 1687.

Shimada Shinzaemon, hero from the japanese movie called "13 assassins".

Kuwabatake Sanjuro (桑畑 三十郎), a wandering ronin and master swordsman drawn into a gang war. He is a character from the movie Yojimbo.

Random japanese names

Reiki (Unisex) A practice of healing the spirit. Yeah Hanzo needs to be healed.

Rin : (Unisex) A cold, severe and dignified person. It's litteraly Hanzo's personality.

Ahmya (Female) means black rain. Melancholic, like him.

Random adjectives

Blue - 青 aoi

Redemption - 取り戻し torimodoshi

Honor - 栄誉 eiyo

Dragon - 竜 ryu

Bow - 弓 yumi

Arrow - 矢 ya

Archer - 弓術家 kyuujutsu ie

Let's mix my favourite ones ...

Arashi Saikaku Jingū Hattori Ahmya Ihara Blue / Aoi Zōchō-ten

...

Have I just done hours of research to realise that my favourite Drag Queen name for Hanzo would be Blue ?

YES

I just want him to walk into a room and say

Hi, I'm Blue.

[seventhdecrees]

what’s the best inspiration for your muse?

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Munday Ask!!

Oh this is a goody! My inspiration for Ei are lovely onna-mushas. Though they diminished in Edo period another influence towards my Ei’s behavior, I do really enjoy learning about these women, before leaks and Inazuma story. I had a very faint idea of making Ei a geisha that went up the ranks to Shogun but it could work more for Makoto than Ei.

One onna-musha I adore and use frequently is Nakano Takeko. Takeko and other women stepped forward on the front line without permission, as the senior Aizu retainers did not allow them to fight as an official part of the domain's army. This unit was later retroactively called the Jōshitai.

She was good-looking, well-educated, and came from a powerful samurai family.

From 1853 to 1863, she received a strict and complete training in martial arts, in the literary arts on Chinese Confucian classics and in calligraphy, and was adopted by her own teacher, Akaoka Daisuke, who was also the famous instructor of Matsudaira Teru, adoptive younger sister of Matsudaira Katamori, daimyō of Aizu. She taught students younger than her, like her sister, who also attended school. She loved to read the many stories of Japanese female warriors, generals and empresses, but the legend of Tomoe Gozen deeply affected her.

[heroineimages]

"We'll need at least a dozen samurai, doing a combination of jobs. Off the top of my head, I'd say you're looking at a Date Masamune, a Yasuke, a Tomoe Gozen, two Minamotos, and a Miyamoto Musashi, not to mention the biggest Nakano Takeko ever."

watching Seven Samurai

[pussy-ache]

Nakano Takeko

[valkyries-things]

NAKANO TAKEKO // SAMURAI

“She was one of the last samurais, fighting in the Boshin War. During the Battle of Aizu, she fought with a naginata and was the leader of a corps of female combatants who fought in the battle independently without permission. She asked her sister to cut off her head when she was shot, so the enemies could not take it as a trophy and give her an honourable burial. Her sister agreed, and after the battle, her head was moved by her sister to the temple of her family and was buried with honour by a priest under a pine tree.”