15 Oct 2012 A number of legends of female samurai warriors exist
in the history of Japanese armor. While much literature
describes these female warriors who donned armor and fought on
the battlefield, there are very few extant examples. In the late
Muromachi period, do-maru and haramaki armours with large breast
plates and small waists began to appear. These types were
probably made for men of small stature and were shared by both
men and women. These types were called hime yoroi (princess
armor) in the later period. The social restrictions of the
samurai class would have greatly limited a woman's freedom, thus
it must have been extremely rare to produce female armor. The
Oomishima shrine in Japan contains a do-maru yoroi armor as an
Important Cultural Property as it is believed to be the only
existing female do-maru armor in Japan. The shrine's tradition
claims that this do-maru armor was worn by Princess Tsuru in the
battle of Oomishima in the tenth year of Tenmon (1541). Compared
to a haramaki armor which