Jidai Matsuri

My interest in interpretations of Tomoe Gozen started when I attended the Jidai Matsuri for the first time. For those of you unfamiliar with the festival, Jidai Matsuri is called the Fesival of the Ages and is held every October 22 in Kyoto and is distinctive for a five hour, two kilometer long parade of around 2,000 people dressed in historically accurate costumes and was originally meant to increase interest in Kyoto as the historical capital Heian-kyo. During the parade, warriors and important figures are portrayed from  the Heian to Meji eras. Of course, there are many important figures from the Genpei War, including Tomoe Gozen.

 

 As you can see, she is weilding a naginata, which was an appropriate weapon for mounted combat, and also carries a signal fan, a tachi and a short blade without a tsuba in her belt (a katana or sayamaki) as well as a bow and arrows. Her armor seems to be rather light compared to many of the male warriors in this area of the parade.

This somewhat follows with the description form the Heike Monogatari which says "She was a remarkably strong archer, and as a swordswoman she was a warrior woth a thousand men"  but fails to take into account the later passage "Yoshinaka sent her out with strong armor, an oversized sword and a mighty bow" (291). While the naginata seems to be an appropriate weapon both as a mounted warrior and as a traditionally female weapon, there is no mention of it in the original text and her armor, while including a brocade silk hitatare appropriate for a warrior of her status is a bit light for the heavy fighting she is described as doing. More emphasis is placed on her beauty, which is emphasised by her courtly make-up in many parades which would never last through a battle. The portrayal, although quite plausible, leaves Tomoe Gozen a beautiful warrior rather than a strong one.