Tomoe Gozen was famed for her beauty and skill with the Naginata (Lance). She lived during the time of the Heike Wars in the 12th Century. Her husband was the famous General Kiso Yoshinaka. She is described as a warrior of peerless skill, going into battle "like a man".

"…Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot. She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a might bow; and she preformed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors."
(Tale of the Heike, McCullough)


It seems that at a certain point her husband wanted to become the overall leader of the clan, but Yorimoto's forces attacked Yoshinkaka at Awazu, and their forces were overwhelmed. With only a handful of warriors standing, Yoshinaka ordered his wife to flee the field rather than face capture and death. Accounts vary of what followed. Some say that Tomoe Gozen stayed and died with her husband, while others state that she fled the battlefield with a severed head, but again sources vary between claiming that she took the head of an enemy soldier named Onda no Hachiro Moroshige, or that of her husband taken to keep him from capture. The 'Heike Monogatori' records that, facing a powerful enemy, she "flung herself upon Onda, and, grappling with him, dragged him from his horse... and cut off his head." She told her husband that she would hold off the enemy long enough for him to commit seppuku, the samurai s ritual suicide in defeat, but he was struck by an arrow. Tomoe Gozen's fate after the battle is not known, but it is thought that she retired to a Buddhist convent. She became the subject of legends, plays, and poems. Even today Tomoe is celebrated as a folk hero during Japanese festivals and has inspired comic books and cartoon characters.