Wonder Woman of the Week: Nakano Takeko

This week's Wonder Woman was one of the last samurai in history. Nakano Takeko was inspired by the stories of Tomoe Gozen (one of our WWoW alum) as a child, and devoted her life to becoming a samurai just like her. Unknown to Takeko, her training would soon be needed. While growing up in Japan, European and American powers were forcibly opening the ports of the country to de-isolate the island empire. The external powers influencing Japan's economy wanted more though, and they worked with the Japanese imperial court to return the emperor to the chief executive power long suppressed under the shogunate period which saw centuries of Japanese control under the leadership of warlords- the most recent of which were the Tokugawa.

A civil war erupted between those loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate and those aligned with the Meiji Dynasty's return to power. The war would become a battle between tradition on modernity as the samurai that long held power in Japan maintained traditional weapons and lifestyles in opposition to their neighbors embracing European and American cultural customs and weaponry. Nakano Takeko organized a group of all women warriors to fight beside the Tokugawa forces in battle and caused chaos as her warriors swept through the westernized imperial forces. The early success though would not last.

In 1868, the war was turning against the Tokugawa; and several surviving samurai retreated to Tsuruga Castle for a final stand against imperial forces. Nakano Takeko was among the last of the fighting samurai at the castle, but feared what might happen if she would be captured in battle. Takeko asked her closest family and friends among the remaining Tokugawa forces to decapitate her- the final act of honor among samurai. Takeko's forces withdrew from the castle with Takeko's remains to bury her at a temple near her home town. Takeko's death made her one of the last samurai in Japan's history- a group of traditional warriors who would become symbols of resistance against the economic domination of foreign powers.