鶴姫

Tsuruhime (c.1526–1543), daughter of the chief priest of Ōyamazumi Shrine on Ōmishima island, is Japan's most famous female warrior commander. When her brothers were killed in battle one after another, she donned armor and led the island's forces herself against enemies fighting for control of the Seto Inland Sea. Her armor still exists — preserved at Ōyamazumi Shrine, it is the only surviving example of women's tōsei-gusoku (full combat armor from the Sengoku period) and is designated an Important Cultural Property. The armor's dimensions confirm it was made for a woman's body and was intended for actual battlefield use. Tsuruhime participated in at least three naval engagements, commanding the island warriors in the complex tidal waters of the Inland Sea. According to tradition, she died by drowning herself at seventeen after losing the man she loved in battle. Ōyamazumi Shrine, the 'mother shrine of all military deities,' holds more designated armors and swords than any other shrine in Japan — a collection that includes weapons dedicated by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Minamoto no Yoritomo, and Takeda Shingen. Tsuruhime grew up surrounded by this extraordinary heritage, and the sword she carried into battle was understood by everyone around her as a sacred object connecting the human warrior to the divine.