(This is going to be a big thread with several figures and WIP, but that's how I roll...)
Nakano Takeko (中野 竹子) is by far the most famous Aizu woman warrior from the Boshin War. Born and raised in Edo (Tokyo), she was the daughter of a high-ranking Aizu samurai. Trained from the age of six in the martial arts, especially with the naginata and the katana (in one of the prominent itto-ryu (“one sword”) styles), she had developed a fearsome reputation for her prowess by the time she arrived in Aizu for the first time at the age of 20, in winter of 1868, mere months before the climactic battle. In the show Yae no Sakura she makes an immediate impression, entering Yae’s dojo and defeating every one of her cohorts (including Yae) in her first day of practice naginata matches. The real life Takeko was beautiful, sophisticated, cultured, and fierce, and they depicted her as such in the show. (She’s played by Kuroki Meisa, a model/singer/actress from Okinawa who’s part Brazilian)
She grew up reading tales about famous women warriors such as Tomoe Gozen, and it is clear she absorbed that ethos into her soul. When the time came to repel the invaders, she unhesitatingly took the lead to form a group of women (later given the moniker joshi-tai, or women’s corps) who would be a human shield to Princess Teru (the step sister of the lord of Aizu). Interestingly, Wikipedia lists Yae as a member of that group, although in the show Yae declines Takeko’s invitation to join them. Who knows which is accurate, but that scene effectively set the stage for Yae’s decision to fight with a rifle as one of the men.
The group tried to join up with one of the Aizu military units outside the castle but was refused, so Takeko calmly told the commanders that they would all commit suicide on the spot, since they were no longer of use to the princess or the clan. Needless to say, the commanders quickly relented and they were allowed to join the unit in an attack near Yanagi bridge, about a mile away from the castle.
When the attack commenced she and her cohort furiously rushed the enemy, shocking many of them when they realized they were women. The enemy’s initial confusion and hesitation worked to the women’s advantage as they succeeded in cutting down many, and Takeko was credited with killing five or six during the melee. But Takeko was soon shot (it’s not clear whether in the head or chest; sources conflict) and while dying she asked her sister to cut off her head and take it away so that the enemy would not be able to claim it as a trophy. According to most sources, the sister was unable to do so (either from exhaustion, grief, shock, or all of the above) and asked a male soldier to help her finish the grisly task. (In the show, they did not show anyone decapitating Takeko. Instead, they sanitized it by merely having her mother cut off a lock of her hair before fleeing.)
By this point the enemy’s numbers and firepower were starting to win the day and the women and the Aizu soldiers were forced to retreat. Takeko’s sister and mother eventually carried her head to their hometown Aizubange, about six miles away, and buried it at Hokai-ji Temple where it remains to this day (it’s unclear when they did this, but it’s unlikely they were able to do this until after the surrender several weeks later, which means they carried the head with them when they retreated to the castle and kept it with them for four weeks while the battle raged around them). A simple stone monument stands near the grave, and in 1938, members of her family commissioned a statue of her at the battle site where she died, and it sits at the end of a quiet alleyway in Aizu, tucked away in a little park among apartments and businesses.
The commemorative monument near her grave in Aizubange:
Nakano Takeko (中野 竹子) is by far the most famous Aizu woman warrior from the Boshin War. Born and raised in Edo (Tokyo), she was the daughter of a high-ranking Aizu samurai. Trained from the age of six in the martial arts, especially with the naginata and the katana (in one of the prominent itto-ryu (“one sword”) styles), she had developed a fearsome reputation for her prowess by the time she arrived in Aizu for the first time at the age of 20, in winter of 1868, mere months before the climactic battle. In the show Yae no Sakura she makes an immediate impression, entering Yae’s dojo and defeating every one of her cohorts (including Yae) in her first day of practice naginata matches. The real life Takeko was beautiful, sophisticated, cultured, and fierce, and they depicted her as such in the show. (She’s played by Kuroki Meisa, a model/singer/actress from Okinawa who’s part Brazilian)
She grew up reading tales about famous women warriors such as Tomoe Gozen, and it is clear she absorbed that ethos into her soul. When the time came to repel the invaders, she unhesitatingly took the lead to form a group of women (later given the moniker joshi-tai, or women’s corps) who would be a human shield to Princess Teru (the step sister of the lord of Aizu). Interestingly, Wikipedia lists Yae as a member of that group, although in the show Yae declines Takeko’s invitation to join them. Who knows which is accurate, but that scene effectively set the stage for Yae’s decision to fight with a rifle as one of the men.
The group tried to join up with one of the Aizu military units outside the castle but was refused, so Takeko calmly told the commanders that they would all commit suicide on the spot, since they were no longer of use to the princess or the clan. Needless to say, the commanders quickly relented and they were allowed to join the unit in an attack near Yanagi bridge, about a mile away from the castle.
When the attack commenced she and her cohort furiously rushed the enemy, shocking many of them when they realized they were women. The enemy’s initial confusion and hesitation worked to the women’s advantage as they succeeded in cutting down many, and Takeko was credited with killing five or six during the melee. But Takeko was soon shot (it’s not clear whether in the head or chest; sources conflict) and while dying she asked her sister to cut off her head and take it away so that the enemy would not be able to claim it as a trophy. According to most sources, the sister was unable to do so (either from exhaustion, grief, shock, or all of the above) and asked a male soldier to help her finish the grisly task. (In the show, they did not show anyone decapitating Takeko. Instead, they sanitized it by merely having her mother cut off a lock of her hair before fleeing.)
By this point the enemy’s numbers and firepower were starting to win the day and the women and the Aizu soldiers were forced to retreat. Takeko’s sister and mother eventually carried her head to their hometown Aizubange, about six miles away, and buried it at Hokai-ji Temple where it remains to this day (it’s unclear when they did this, but it’s unlikely they were able to do this until after the surrender several weeks later, which means they carried the head with them when they retreated to the castle and kept it with them for four weeks while the battle raged around them). A simple stone monument stands near the grave, and in 1938, members of her family commissioned a statue of her at the battle site where she died, and it sits at the end of a quiet alleyway in Aizu, tucked away in a little park among apartments and businesses.
The commemorative monument near her grave in Aizubange: