※圖片為示意圖。Hangaku Gozen
板額御前
A master archer — the Kamakura-era woman warrior who held a mountain fortress during the Kennin Rebellion
介紹
Life
Hangaku Gozen (dates unknown) belonged to the Jo clan, a powerful family of Echigo Province, and was the aunt of Jo Sukemori and younger sister of Jo Nagamochi. Once a dominant Taira-aligned force in Echigo, the Jo clan had declined following the Genpei War and were forced into a long period of dormancy.
The Kennin Rebellion
In 1201, when her nephew Sukemori raised arms in Echigo in response to her brother Nagamochi's plot against the Kamakura shogunate — an episode known as the Kennin Rebellion — Hangaku Gozen herself held out at Torizaka Castle against a punitive force led by Sasaki Moritsuna. The chronicle Azuma Kagami records that, "though a woman, her skill was such that she hit the mark nearly every time, surpassing even her father and brothers," describing how she tied up her hair like a young man's, donned armor, and shot arrows from atop a tower, felling any attacker she struck.
Capture and Later Life
After a fierce stand she was ultimately captured and brought to Kamakura, where she was presented before Shogun Minamoto no Yoriie. Azuma Kagami praises her composed bearing as "unashamed even before brave men." The Kai Genji warrior Asari Yoshito then petitioned Yoriie to take custody of her, a request that was granted, and she was taken to Kai Province in his care. Alongside Tomoe Gozen, she remains one of the most celebrated women warriors of the Kamakura period.