Women Warriors puts the focus on inspirational and legendary Japanese women who’ve left their mark on history. The original female warriors of Japanese culture were the onna-bugeisha and their more secretive cousins, the kunoichi. The latter were female ninjas who earned a fearsome reputation as spies and assassins, striking from the shadows.
All kunoichi traced their history back to the story of Mochizuki Chiyome. The founder of the order, Chiyome is a figure shrouded in mystery and legend.
Ninjas are undoubtedly one of the most well-known tropes in Japanese pop culture. As practitioners of ninjutsu, the warriors who followed this path were referred to as shinobi. But it would be incorrect to assume that the role of black-clad assassin was reserved solely for men.
Women could be moulded into the ultimate expression of death as well and they were known as Kunoichi, a term that’s evolved to mean ‘female ninja’ in the modern day. So, what is the history of these mysterious figures and how did they function within Japanese society? Continue reading “Japan’s Deadly Female Ninjas: Walking The Path Of The Kunoichi”
Yamato Magazine 