The samurai Tomoe Gozen in mortal combat with Onda No Hachiro Moroshige, Japan, Edo period, 17th century.
In the early 17th century, as a prolonged era of peace dawned across Japan, samurai served in roles ranging from patrons of the arts and scientists to painters and firefighters.
The word “samurai” typically evokes the image of a fierce Japanese Wearing elaborate armor and wielding a sword. However, a new exhibition at the British Museum is challenging these assumptions — and revealing the little-known story of the samurai.
According to the curator Rosina Bucklandhalf of Japan’s samurai were women in the 17th century.
Although many of them played roles traditionally feminine within the home, others worked as artists or firefighters, and some even fought on the battlefield alongside their male counterparts.
The Buckland exhibition, which will be on view from February to May 2026, features artifacts of these samurai, forgotten heroines of Japanese history.
Os samurai, known at the time as bushiemerged in 10th century Japan as mercenaries who fought for landowners wealthy. Over time, his political power expanded, especially when the first informationor military government, was officially established in 1192.
During this period, samurai transformed from subordinate fighters into a elite ruling class. Although most warriors were in fact men, there are many stories of female samurai renowned, known as Onna-bugeisha e Onna-musha.
One of the most famous was Tomoe Gozenwho reportedly led hundreds of men into battle in the late 12th century. According to legend, she was a notable combatant who decapitated his enemies and who later became a Buddhist nun.
There was also Ohori Tsuruhimedaughter of a 16th-century priest who led an army into battle to defend his island of Ōmishima. Historical accounts state that once infiltrated an enemy ship full of samurai and killed their leader in a duel. His combat skills and religious background earned him the nickname “Joan of Arc of Japan“.
After the beginning of the Edo period in 1603the role of samurai changed again. There was no great demand for warriors during this peaceful era, so members of the samurai class became government officialsacademics and patrons of the arts.
It was during the Edo period that Half of Japan’s samurai were womenand artifacts illustrating the various positions they held in society are now on display in London.
Buckland, a specialist in Japanese art, says that his aim, in organizing the exhibition “” for the British Museum, was to explain “that there is much about samurai that is misunderstood and based on myths“.
“What I intend to address in the exhibition is how perception of samurai has reduced just to this male warrior in armor to wield a sword,” Buckland said. “That’s a tiny part of who they were for hundreds of years. They were warriors in the beginningbut there was a balance between the military and the literary and the artistic.”
The 280 artefacts on display at the British Museum include armorweapons, paintings, wood engravings, clothing, ceramics, art and much more. One of the most impressive relics is a samurai helmet that dates back to 1519 and features gold lacquer and decorative iris leaves.
But maybe the most surprising artifact on display is an orange-red coat and hood that was worn by samurai firefighters in the service of Edo Castle.
“Fires were so common in the wooden town of Edo (present-day Tokyo)which were known as the ‘Edo flowerand the design of this coat, with tassel-decorated grappling hooks amid turbulent waters, evokes protection against flames,” explains the museum in a statement about the exhibition.
“This rediscovery of samurai history reshapes centuries of gender myths and challenges the hypermasculine image of the samurai which still dominates cinema, anime and video games”, concludes Buckland.
