- Samurai women enjoyed relatively high status compared to other women in Japan.
- They were often literate and physically active, trained in martial arts and skilled in riding horses.
- Some women participated in battles alongside their husbands and brothers, while others served as managers and advisors to their family estates.
- As wives and mothers, samurai women were expected to uphold the family honor, protect the family's interests, and raise their children to be strong and virtuous.
14th to 17th Century:
- The position of samurai women declined significantly during this period, due to several factors:
- The rise of warrior culture and male dominance.
- Increased military conflicts, which led to a greater focus on men as warriors and diminished the value of women's contributions.
- Changes in social norms, which emphasized women's roles in domestic duties and childrearing rather than in public or political life.
- Samurai women became increasingly limited to the domestic sphere, expected to embody Confucian ideals of femininity, obedience, and subservience to their husbands.
- They continued to receive education, but their curriculum was mostly limited to household management, arts, and literature, rather than martial skills and political knowledge.
- The practice of female infanticide and the exclusion of women from inheritance rights became more prevalent.
By the 17th century, samurai women had lost much of the autonomy and social standing they had once held, and their roles had become largely confined to serving their fathers and husbands.