Tachibana Ginchiyo

was head of the Japanese Tachibana clan and onna-musha during the Sengoku period. She was a daughter of Tachibana Dōsetsu, a powerful retainer of the Ōtomo clan (which were rivals of the Shimazu clan at the time). Because Dosetsu had no sons, he requested that Ginchiyo be made family head. Biography Tachibana Ginchiyo was the daughter of Tachibana Dōsetsu, a powerful samurai known as "Lightning God". Her mother was the daughter of Monchūsho Akitoyo(問注所鑑豊). Her mother and her former husband Yasutake Shigenori(安武鎮則) had a son Yasutake Moan(安武茂庵) and a daughter who married Netami Shigehisa(米谷比鎮久). According to one source, the chronicle of Komono clan, Dōsetsu had another daughter, Masachiyo(政千代) who died at 12 years old. The letter "誾" in Ginchiyo's name was named by Masugin, a monk in Hizen province. Ginchiyo was personally named by her father, with the name more or less meaning "one who would not listen idly to others". There are many speculations about Ginchiyo's personality, but according to some reports from Otomo Family Document (大 友 家 文書 録), it is said that she was a severe and rigid figure, a valiant woman, with remarkable communication skills, as strong and determined as any famous warrior of the time. When Dōsetsu was ill and lost his other children, he was pleased that Ginchiyo had survived. Despite their suggestion to pass his leadership on to one of his distant relatives, he told his retainers that Ginchiyo would be his heiress after his death. Ginchiyo succeeded her father and led the clan in a period of difficulty at only 16 years old. She inherited her father's interests such as the status of castellan, territory, belongings and the famous sword Raikiri (雷切, Lightning Cutter). She recruited women to become her elite guard and trained all the maidens of the castle in warfare skills to intimidate visitors and to protect it if other clans attacked her domain. Dōsetsu died fighting the Shimazu clan at Neko'o castle on November 2, 1585. His wishes were respected and Ginchiyo became the lord of the Tachibana clan. Five years after her rule, she married Tachibana Muneshige, who had been adopted into the family and continued Dōsetsu's family line after Ginchiyo.