Ueno Tsuruhime
Ueno Tsuruhime (上野鶴姫) was a Japanese female warrior (onna-musha) in the late-Sengoku period. She was the daughter of Mimura Iechika and wife of Ueno Takanori the last leader of Ueno clan. In 1577, she led thirty-four women in a suicidal charge against the Mōri army in the Tsuneyama castle during the Bitchū Conflict .[1]
Siege of Tsuneyama castle
In 1575, the Mōri army attacked the Bicchu Matsuyama castle, after half a year of battle, Mimura clan lost the battle and Mimura Motochika (Tsuruhime's brother) killed himself.
Next Mōri army arrived at Tsuneyama mountain and encircled Tsuneyama castle. Takanori and Tsuruhime desperately fought against overwhelming army, but lost every branch castle and the number of soldiers gradually declined then the fall of castle is approaching.[2]
Tsuruhime and her husband were determined to die and she prepared to lead a sortie out of the castle to die in battle. She then went down into the castle courtyard and invited the other women of the garrison to join her, they were very reluctant to do fear of punishment in the afterlife. Tsuruhime assured them, that they should not fear death because death on the battlefield would lead to the Western Paradise of Amida Buddha in the Pure Land. At this the castle gate was opened and Tsuruhime led a suicidal charge into the midst of the enemy, accompanied by 34 other women whom she had inspired. The first reaction from the Mori troops was one of surprise and disbelief, she advanced against the huge army and after much resistance arrived at the enemy main camp.[3]
Ueno Tsuruhime spotted Nomi Munekatsu, the commander of Mōri army and tried to challenge him to a single combat, but Munekatsu said he would not be able to fight a woman and politely declined this request saying she was a woman of honor. Giving up the call for a challenge, Tsuruhime tendered her precious sword (known as the Kunihira Long Sword) to Munekatsu.
The victory was already decided, Ueno Tsuruhime returned to the castle and killed herself along with the thirty-four women, the last act of honor as a samurai. Ueno Takanori followed his wife to death and the history of Ueno clan at Bizen province had ended in the year of 1577. The fall of Tsuneyama Castle marked the last chapter of the Bitchū Conflict.[4]
References
- ^ Toler, Pamela D. (2019-02-26). Women Warriors: An Unexpected History. Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807064320.
- ^ Ken, 投稿者. "Tsuneyama Castle -Castle known for tragic female platoon-". Retrieved 2019-04-11.
- ^ Turnbull, Stephen (2012-01-20). Samurai Women 1184–1877. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781846039522.
- ^ Salafranca, Federico Lanzaco (2012). La mujer japonesa (in Spanish). Editorial Verbum. ISBN 9788479627591.
External links
- 謎多き心霊スポット 常山城に眠る女の霊とは/
- v
- t
- e
- Go-Kashiwabara
- Go-Nara
- Ōgimachi
- Go-Yōzei
- Oda Nobunaga
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- Tokugawa Ieyasu
- Amago Tsunehisa
- Amago Haruhisa
- Asakura Yoshikage
- Ashina Moriuji
- Akechi Mitsuhide
- Azai Nagamasa
- Chōsokabe Motochika
- Date Terumune
- Date Masamune
- Hatakeyama Yoshitaka
- Honda Tadakatsu
- Hōjō Sōun
- Hōjō Ujimasa
- Hōjō Ujiyasu
- Ii Naomasa
- Imagawa Yoshimoto
- Imagawa Ujizane
- Isshiki Yoshimichi
- Itō Yoshisuke
- Kitabatake Tomonori
- Kuroda Nagamasa
- Matsunaga Hisahide
- Miyoshi Nagayoshi
- Mogami Yoshiaki
- Mōri Motonari
- Ōuchi Yoshitaka
- Ōuchi Yoshinaga
- Ōtomo Sōrin
- Rokkaku Yoshikata
- Ryūzōji Takanobu
- Saitō Dōsan
- Saitō Yoshitatsu
- Sakai Tadatsugu
- Sakakibara Yasumasa
- Satomi Yoshitaka
- Sanada Yukitaka
- Sanada Masayuki
- Sanada Nobuyuki
- Satake Yoshishige
- Sagara Yoshihi
- Shimazu Yoshihisa
- Shimazu Yoshihiro
- Tachibana Dōsetsu
- Takeda Nobutora
- Takeda Shingen
- Tōdō Takatora
- Uesugi Kagekatsu
- Uesugi Kenshin
- Uesugi Norimasa
- Ukita Naoie
- Uragami Munekage
- Yamana Toyokuni
- Yamana Suketoyo
- Kobayakawa Takakage
- Kuroda Yoshitaka
- Naoe Kanetsugu
- Takenaka Shigeharu
- Usami Sadamitsu
- Yamamoto Kansuke
mercenaries
religious figures
- Lady Acha
- Akohime
- Asahihime
- Lady Chaa
- Chikurin-in
- Gōhime
- Lady Goryū
- Dota Gozen
- Gotokuhime
- Tsumaki Hiroko
- Lady Hayakawa
- Hosokawa Gracia
- Irohahime
- Izumo no Okuni
- Jukei-ni
- Shimazu Kameju
- Lady Kasuga
- Keigin-ni
- Kitsuno
- Konoe Sakiko
- Kōzōsu
- Kyōgoku Maria
- Kyōgoku Tatsuko
- Kyōun'in
- Matsuhime
- Megohime
- Lady Myōkyū
- Naitō Julia
- Nōhime
- Odai no Kata
- Oeyo
- Oichi
- Oinu
- Ohatsu
- Lady Ōkurakyo
- Ōmandokoro
- Ono Otsū
- Ōtomo-Nata Jezebel
- Rikei
- Lady Saigō
- Lady Sanjō
- Seien-in
- Seikōin
- Senhime
- Sentōin
- Tobai-in
- Toyotomi Sadako
- Tomo
- Lady Toida
- Tokuhime
- Tōshōin
- Lady Tsukiyama
- Yamauchi Chiyo
- Yoshihime
- Yoshihiro Kikuhime
- Alessandro Valignano
- Francis Xavier
- Gaspar Coelho
- Jacob Quaeckernaeck
- Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn
- Julia Ota
- Luís Fróis
- Soga Seikan
- Wakita Naokata
- Wang Zhi
- William Adams
- Yasuke