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Description
A Concept Re-Drawing of the Original Japanese Woman Warrior (Onna Bugeisha) in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited , which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800s AD to 1400s AD. She is one of the Three Minamori Sisters in the series, which represents the Japanese faction, comparable to that of the Kamakura Period in the early days of Samurai.

Inspired by the Music: Ona Hei - Total War:Shogun 2 OST

DRAWING COMMENTARIES

The first re-drawing of the Japanese woman warrior, the Onna-Bugheisa (or in a highly innacurate term, female samurai) of the Medieval Historically Wrong Sketch Series. Minamori no Takeko and her sisters are one of the earliest characters created in the series, thanks to my fascination with Japan. While the internet and artistic media are filled with depictions of Onna-bugeisha, from the most epic to the fantastic, I wanted to create one that is still historically believable inspired by the period attires. In my opinion, historical armor have their own beauty appeal to those who wear it, which in this case, the woman warrior of the Historically Wrong Sketch series.
Given that she is the most martially able of the three sisters, She is depicted with O-Yoroi dou armor, with Kozane and decorated Kabuto helmet. Historically speaking, during the Genpei war, most Samurai fought as horse archers gallantly, while the dirty close combat fighting were left to their retainers and foot soldiers. Though, in this drawing, she lacks the "yumi" or japanese bow, but still retain the arrow quiver for artistic license. She is armed with a long polearm called naginata, the preferred weapon of choice for Onna bugheisa due to their lenght. Most Japanese women were short and fighting with naginata gave them advantages by distancing themselves from the enemy that otherwise, could have easily overwhelmed them. Apart from that, she is also drawn with a Tachi for close combat fighting, as well as Tanto dagger for extra protection, or for committing suicide if all else fail. Meanwhile, the mon of the Minamori clan is based on water chesnut, similar to Mitsubishi logo, with some extra stylization.
Overall, I wasn't really that happy with this drawing, but I do hope that you'll enjoy it, or at least appreciate my mediocre effort in trying to make an onna-bugeisha .

OTHER RELATED WOMAN WARRIORS IN THE SERIES

See the Chinese, Ryukyuan, and Mongol

A Part of the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited - You can find more on the various faction on the map here:

HISTORICAL COMMENTARIES

The term Samurai has now become synonymous with the symbolism of Japanese warriors, clad in their richly decorated and intricate lamellar armor and Kabuto helmet. Technically speaking however, the term itself was not that commonly used until the 12th, as warrior nobility class of the time was locally referred to as Bushi or Buke by the Japanese. The terminilogy was believed to be derived from the Chinese Character 侍, which also read as Saburai in Japanese, meaning "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility". Regardless of the origins of the word, war has a special place within Japanese societies which could be traced back to the many histories of its past.

The origin of this so called warrior class could supposedly be traced back to the aftermath of battle Hakusukinoe that took place in mid 7th CE, against the Silla Dynasty of Korea and the Tang Dynasty of China. Reformation in the form of Taika Reform and following that, the Taiho Code as well as Yoro code, allowed the Japanese to adopt the political culture, bureaucracy, philosophy, religion and social structure of the Chinese System. The reformation also enabled extensive population census, which allowed the japanese ruler to determine their manpower reserves, and therefore, conscription. Military service was required to those who held land amd they were rquired to supply their own equipments; in retuen, they were exempted from taxes. This system was believed to be short lived however, as another reformation that took place in the Heian era that laid the foundation for the birth of Samurai.
During the Heian-jidai, the Emperor began to place more reliance on regional clan leaders to serve the imperial military interest. These warlords would later be bestowed the title "Shogun", or military leader. At this time, it only had a titular meaning and was considered a military position in the imperial court. Going forward to the later heian era, military activity became lesser and these regional clans became more and more powerful. They managed to take positions as ministers and imperial bureaucrats, filling the positions with their family members. The result was often catastrophic, as most of the nobility were too inadequate to manage their holdings. Taxes were heavily imposed, economy was in ruins, people were hungry and bandits roam free like a walk in the park. These caused a lot of resentments amongst the populations, and in particular, the heavily taxed and opressed. Some of them began to form alliances into clans, to protect themselves from the already powerful and influential nobles during the era, adopting the Japanese armour and the code of Bushido, giving rise to the military caste or class, that would later become the basis for Samurai.
With the fall of Heian after the Genpei war in the late 12th century, the victory of the Taira Clan against the Minamoto Clan allowed the Taira to established the Kamakura Shogunate, a Samurai dominated government. At this time, powerful samurai clans rose to nobility and lead an aristocratic way of life, engaging in poetry, art, music and etc, which had profound influence on the court aristocrats, further exerting the Samurai Influence within the Japanese society. The spread of Zen Buddhism amongst the Samurai Class also influenced their way of conducts, in particular the fearlessness of death and killing. The development could be compared to the feudal knights of Europe in the middle ages, with their chivalry code and religious fervor in fighting against their enemies. Thus, the status of Samurai and their culture had been properly established.
Nevertheless, the Samurai clans were often on each other's throat, especially during the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunate. This could be attributed to the fact that by now in the 14th century and beyond, primogeniture (eldest eligible son) successions was becoming more and more common instead of the previous division of succession (simillar to Gavelkin) dictated by law prior to 14th century. The constant infighting, with the addition of Mongol-Yuan Invasion of Japan as well as the weakening power of the Imperial court over the powerful clan leaders, would lead to the warring states period, known as Sengoku-Jidai.
Sengoku-Jidai itself is an interesting era in the history of Samurai. The constant battles against rival clans, destructions of land as well as rampaging bandit activities, caused a lot of uncertainties and insecurities within the Japanese society. This allowed an increasingly more mobile society, where farmers could take arm and gained reputation, earning his status as "Samurai", or even beyond, which is true in the case of Hideyoshi Hashiba, later known as Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a sandal-bearer who would later served Oda Nobunaga as one of his most trusted generals, before unifying Japan after his master death, becoming the Emperor of Japan. Ironically, this social mobility also made many samurai to farm, caused by loss of wealth, status or a combination of both .
With the unification of Japan, and subsequent Tokugawa shogunate which followed after that, the role of Samurai as warrior was given less importance. The reason being, many of the Samurai clans now finds themselves in the position of bureaucrats and administrations, focusing more on the political intrigue as part of their career goals. The lack of wars after the 17th century also contributed to the fact that, the ideals of Samurai Warrior Class to become highly romanticized and therefore, set as the role model of Japanese societies. With the modernization of Japan after the Fall of Tokugawa Shogunate, the role of samurai had became diminished with the rise of professional armies and soldiers. Nevertheless, because many of the Samurai were highly educated, they would later served as journalist, scholars, writers and government officials. A good example is Iwasaki Yataro, a great-grandson of Samurai, established his engineering company that we know today as Mitsubishi.
Now, the role of Samurai had been mostly romanticized and these proud warrior elite class ceased to exists. However, their ideals and legacy survives, and would forever be in the minds of every Japanese Man and Women, as well as foreigners interested in their history.

Description
A Concept Re-Drawing of the Original Japanese Woman Warrior (Onna Bugeisha) in the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited , which is roughly based on the Middle ages covering 800s AD to 1400s AD. She is one of the Three Minamori Sisters in the series, which represents the Japanese faction, comparable to that of the Kamakura Period in the early days of Samurai.

Inspired by the Music: Ona Hei - Total War:Shogun 2 OST

DRAWING COMMENTARIES

The first re-drawing of the Japanese woman warrior, the Onna-Bugheisa (or in a highly innacurate term, female samurai) of the Medieval Historically Wrong Sketch Series. Minamori no Takeko and her sisters are one of the earliest characters created in the series, thanks to my fascination with Japan. While the internet and artistic media are filled with depictions of Onna-bugeisha, from the most epic to the fantastic, I wanted to create one that is still historically believable inspired by the period attires. In my opinion, historical armor have their own beauty appeal to those who wear it, which in this case, the woman warrior of the Historically Wrong Sketch series.
Given that she is the most martially able of the three sisters, She is depicted with O-Yoroi dou armor, with Kozane and decorated Kabuto helmet. Historically speaking, during the Genpei war, most Samurai fought as horse archers gallantly, while the dirty close combat fighting were left to their retainers and foot soldiers. Though, in this drawing, she lacks the "yumi" or japanese bow, but still retain the arrow quiver for artistic license. She is armed with a long polearm called naginata, the preferred weapon of choice for Onna bugheisa due to their lenght. Most Japanese women were short and fighting with naginata gave them advantages by distancing themselves from the enemy that otherwise, could have easily overwhelmed them. Apart from that, she is also drawn with a Tachi for close combat fighting, as well as Tanto dagger for extra protection, or for committing suicide if all else fail. Meanwhile, the mon of the Minamori clan is based on water chesnut, similar to Mitsubishi logo, with some extra stylization.
Overall, I wasn't really that happy with this drawing, but I do hope that you'll enjoy it, or at least appreciate my mediocre effort in trying to make an onna-bugeisha .

OTHER RELATED WOMAN WARRIORS IN THE SERIES

See the Chinese, Ryukyuan, and Mongol

A Part of the Historically Wrong Sketch Series: Medieval Revisited - You can find more on the various faction on the map here:

HISTORICAL COMMENTARIES

The term Samurai has now become synonymous with the symbolism of Japanese warriors, clad in their richly decorated and intricate lamellar armor and Kabuto helmet. Technically speaking however, the term itself was not that commonly used until the 12th, as warrior nobility class of the time was locally referred to as Bushi or Buke by the Japanese. The terminilogy was believed to be derived from the Chinese Character 侍, which also read as Saburai in Japanese, meaning "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility". Regardless of the origins of the word, war has a special place within Japanese societies which could be traced back to the many histories of its past.

The origin of this so called warrior class could supposedly be traced back to the aftermath of battle Hakusukinoe that took place in mid 7th CE, against the Silla Dynasty of Korea and the Tang Dynasty of China. Reformation in the form of Taika Reform and following that, the Taiho Code as well as Yoro code, allowed the Japanese to adopt the political culture, bureaucracy, philosophy, religion and social structure of the Chinese System. The reformation also enabled extensive population census, which allowed the japanese ruler to determine their manpower reserves, and therefore, conscription. Military service was required to those who held land amd they were rquired to supply their own equipments; in retuen, they were exempted from taxes. This system was believed to be short lived however, as another reformation that took place in the Heian era that laid the foundation for the birth of Samurai.
During the Heian-jidai, the Emperor began to place more reliance on regional clan leaders to serve the imperial military interest. These warlords would later be bestowed the title "Shogun", or military leader. At this time, it only had a titular meaning and was considered a military position in the imperial court. Going forward to the later heian era, military activity became lesser and these regional clans became more and more powerful. They managed to take positions as ministers and imperial bureaucrats, filling the positions with their family members. The result was often catastrophic, as most of the nobility were too inadequate to manage their holdings. Taxes were heavily imposed, economy was in ruins, people were hungry and bandits roam free like a walk in the park. These caused a lot of resentments amongst the populations, and in particular, the heavily taxed and opressed. Some of them began to form alliances into clans, to protect themselves from the already powerful and influential nobles during the era, adopting the Japanese armour and the code of Bushido, giving rise to the military caste or class, that would later become the basis for Samurai.
With the fall of Heian after the Genpei war in the late 12th century, the victory of the Taira Clan against the Minamoto Clan allowed the Taira to established the Kamakura Shogunate, a Samurai dominated government. At this time, powerful samurai clans rose to nobility and lead an aristocratic way of life, engaging in poetry, art, music and etc, which had profound influence on the court aristocrats, further exerting the Samurai Influence within the Japanese society. The spread of Zen Buddhism amongst the Samurai Class also influenced their way of conducts, in particular the fearlessness of death and killing. The development could be compared to the feudal knights of Europe in the middle ages, with their chivalry code and religious fervor in fighting against their enemies. Thus, the status of Samurai and their culture had been properly established.
Nevertheless, the Samurai clans were often on each other's throat, especially during the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunate. This could be attributed to the fact that by now in the 14th century and beyond, primogeniture (eldest eligible son) successions was becoming more and more common instead of the previous division of succession (simillar to Gavelkin) dictated by law prior to 14th century. The constant infighting, with the addition of Mongol-Yuan Invasion of Japan as well as the weakening power of the Imperial court over the powerful clan leaders, would lead to the warring states period, known as Sengoku-Jidai.
Sengoku-Jidai itself is an interesting era in the history of Samurai. The constant battles against rival clans, destructions of land as well as rampaging bandit activities, caused a lot of uncertainties and insecurities within the Japanese society. This allowed an increasingly more mobile society, where farmers could take arm and gained reputation, earning his status as "Samurai", or even beyond, which is true in the case of Hideyoshi Hashiba, later known as Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a sandal-bearer who would later served Oda Nobunaga as one of his most trusted generals, before unifying Japan after his master death, becoming the Emperor of Japan. Ironically, this social mobility also made many samurai to farm, caused by loss of wealth, status or a combination of both .
With the unification of Japan, and subsequent Tokugawa shogunate which followed after that, the role of Samurai as warrior was given less importance. The reason being, many of the Samurai clans now finds themselves in the position of bureaucrats and administrations, focusing more on the political intrigue as part of their career goals. The lack of wars after the 17th century also contributed to the fact that, the ideals of Samurai Warrior Class to become highly romanticized and therefore, set as the role model of Japanese societies. With the modernization of Japan after the Fall of Tokugawa Shogunate, the role of samurai had became diminished with the rise of professional armies and soldiers. Nevertheless, because many of the Samurai were highly educated, they would later served as journalist, scholars, writers and government officials. A good example is Iwasaki Yataro, a great-grandson of Samurai, established his engineering company that we know today as Mitsubishi.
Now, the role of Samurai had been mostly romanticized and these proud warrior elite class ceased to exists. However, their ideals and legacy survives, and would forever be in the minds of every Japanese Man and Women, as well as foreigners interested in their history.