Nakano Takeko

Common card · No. 385031

Nakano Takeko (中野 竹子; April 1847 – 16 October 1868) was a Japanese female warrior of the Aizu Domain, who fought and died during the Boshin War. During the Battle of Aizu, she fought with a naginata (a Japanese polearm) and was the leader of an ad hoc corps of female combatants who fought in the battle independently. Takeko and other women stepped forward on the front line without permission, as the senior Aizu retainers did not allow them to fight as an official part of the domain's army. This unit was later retroactively called the Jōshitai (娘子隊, Girls' Army).

Read on Wikipedia · Image Hokaiji Temple (法界寺蔵) in Kyoto (Hokaiji Temple Amidado, 法界寺阿弥陀堂), unknown, Public domain