Tomoe Gozen

Tomen Gozen

Some people try to identify themselves with their predecessors and they often model themselves on an ideal that is personified in heroic myths or tales. I am also of that kind of person who likes to dream about heroes of the past. So I’ve chosen a hero whose story is largely inspired by legends.

The name is Tomoe gozen translated in English as Lady Tomoe. She was a high women warrior bearing a Naginata, a Japanese arm used to protect the home and on the field of battle by the men warriors by a lot of Japanese women in the twelfth century. She was high level samurai, skilled in riding, archery, ready to confront a demon or even a god mounted or on foot. She lived during the period 1161-1184 but no one can say where and how she died and even her surname is still unknown today. Some sources claim that she was the concubine of minamoto no yoshikana, a master of different fields in japan and a leader but all we can know for sure is that she had a strong link with minamoto’s clan. She fought as a senior captain with even more bravery than any man warrior. That is the reason of her success in japan as one of the most famous and impressive women who succeed in making her own room in Japanese legends close to the “big” warrior of the past.

A lot of poems and tales have been written about Tomoe’s life on Yoshikana’s side. Here are some words from Tale of Heike translated in Japanese “ Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features..”. This description underlines the perfection of Tomoe’s character. More and more, Tomoe gozen appears like a warrior goddess. And this criterion is not so far from the Greek mythology. Besides, the most interesting thing about Tomoe’s life is the mystery that includes her disappearance. This lack of information lets us guess what atrocious or wonderful death she could have known. After having taken the city of Kyoto, Yoshikana was confronted with his clan members’ jealousy, so that his cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo sent his brothers to kill him. The last scene of the main part of Tomoe’s life was the battle of Awazu on February 21, 1184.

The defeat of Yoshikana has been related as a wonderful defeat because Yoshikana’s troops composed of few men was standing to protect their master. Of course, Tomoe was fighting ahead for the safety of her leader. At the last moment, Yoshikana, conscious of his imminent death, asked Tomoe to surrender instead of facing Yoritomo. The story stopped here and several ends are guessed … Tomoe might have fled the field with Yoritomo or the more romantic ending is that she fought and died in the last battle.

There is, however, no historical justification for these several claims. Even if all story might be only a simple fairy tale, I consider Tomoe as a Hero thanks to her behaviour. If I had to live in a difficult period of war where a woman was just considered as a stalwart mother who grooms her son, a merciful and weak woman or even a seductress who preoccupies the warrior leader and diverts him, I would like to surpass myself, to develop my knowledge and my skills to give a proof of my existence as a human being free of defending my own values in a hard world. Nevertheless, I well know that we are lucky to live in a temporary peaceful period in this country. I can’t really imagine how much it costs to bring peace with sacrifice of one’s life, but if a critical situation of war would happen, I would try to do my best to protect the hope for installing peace again.