Tomoe Gozen

[Jackal57]

Hey guys/girls,
I'm working on designing a project for Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, where you can make maps for other people to play.

Basically I'm after as much information on Tomoe Gozen as I can get hold of, I already have The The Heike Store by Eiji Yoshikawa, trying to search for maps/details on the following is proving difficult however:

-The Battle of Kurikawa
-The Battle of Shinohara

Any ideas for books worth trying? I have some of Steven Turnballs stuff as well if I can dig it out.

Regards,

-will.

[Obenjo Kusanosuke]

Well, for starters, most everything about Tomoe is fictional. There really isn't a lot out there to substantiate any serious non-fiction attempts to piece together a reliable piece of work.

Supposedly Turnbull is working on an Osprey book covering Japanese female warriors, blending myth, legend and whatever kernels of truth are out there.

As for the actual battles you listed, it will be hard to find details. One of the problems with the Heike stories is that they were written in 1300s, quite a long time after the actual events happened. I personally don't have anything that goes into detail about those battles.

Does anyone have anything that can help Will on the battles of Kurikawa and Shinohara?
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[Tatsunoshi]

In English, about all there is would be Turnbull's chapter on Kurikara (I assume that's what you meant) in "Battles Of The Samurai". Everything else would be taken straight out of the Heike Monogatari. There's a little more on her in the Genpei Seisuiki, but there's no English translation.
The problem is, as Obenjo pointed out, that it's generally accepted among historians that Tomoe never existed and most everything written on her sprang up from the fictional Heike account.
Having said that, she's as much a part of the legend of the Genpei war as the also largely fictional Benkei (and it seems Kiso Yoshinaka did have female attendants-just not her), so it wouldn't be out of place to use her.
As far as battle accounts of Kiso Yoshinaka's campaigns and battles, the Heike is also about all you'll find in English. There might be a little about them in something like 'The Founding of The Kamkura Shogunate' or other specialty books, but there's little real information on the battles even in Japanese histories.
I'll post a photo of Turnbull's rudimentary Kurikara battlefield map in the next couple of days.

[Bethetsu]

You can get a map of the location of the battle of Shinohara at
[url]maps.google.co.jp[/url]
Search on 篠原古戦場 (Shinohara Ancient Battlefield)
It is in Kaga City 加賀市in Ishikawa or (now) Fukui.

[Tatsunoshi]

From Turnbull's 'Battles Of The Samurai':

[Tatsunoshi]

While trying to get the map of Shinohara to load (wouldn't on my computer), I did stumble across this absolutely incredible Japanese Archaeology forum.

[Jackal57]

hey guys, thanks for the assistance, you've been more than helpful! Although I have a couple further questions! (sorry )

Couldn't properly locate the map of the area on the Japanese google maps after much searching.

The Battle of Kurikara map is interesting.. but I'm having some trouble following it, presumably the thin 'white string' underneath Yoshinakas advance on the left is a river, which trails into a dotted river.. stream?

Also the large semi circles with the cactus like edges.. are these to represent mountainous regions? Also the Two main yoshinaka advances are from Kurosaka Hill and then all the way around the back, presumably?

[Tatsunoshi]

[Bethetsu]

For the Shinohara map try this link. Sorry for the trouble. The grave of Sanemori is also there.

http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%E7%AF%A0%E5%8E%9F%E5%8F%A4%E6%88%A6%E5%A0%B4&sll=36.5626,136.362305&sspn=28.535235,42.451172&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=36.359297,136.34546&spn=0.003508,0.005182&z=17

[Jackal57]

Thanks a lot guys, you've been greatly helpful

regards,

-will.

[AJBryant]

Jeez, longer link anyone?

That's why we have the URL code in the HTML....
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http://www.sengokudaimyo.com

[kitsuno]

Better yet tinyurl.com.
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[OishiYoshio]

I have a painting of Tomoe Gozen. At least that's what I think it is, judging by the comments.
http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/download/file.php?id=14292

Half-way down the page, and then there is another below that again near the bottom.

[lordameth]

[Tatsunoshi]

[lordameth]

Alright. I shall keep my eyes out, then.
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紫水晶殿 - The Amethyst Lord