Browse

Artists
Artworks
Movements
Subjects
Series
Collections
Glossary
Eras
Publishers
Locations
Museums
Marketplace
Blog
Search

Featured Artists

Hiroshi Yoshida
Kawase Hasui
Katsushika Hokusai
Utagawa Hiroshige
Shiro Kasamatsu

Subjects

Abstract
Airport
Animals
Architecture
Autumn Foliage
Bijin-ga

Hanga

A free platform for exploring Japanese woodblock prints from the shin-hanga, sosaku-hanga, and ukiyo-e traditions.

About Hanga
FAQ

© 2026 Hanga

Home
Artists
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
'The female samurai warrior Hangaku'

'The female samurai warrior Hangaku' by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi — Japanese Print

'The female samurai warrior Hangaku'

by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Meiji/Taishō Prints Ukiyo-e

Medium:: Print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Typical Price

Fine impression of warrior subject: $1,000–$5,000
Good condition warrior print: $400–$1,500
Later impression: $200–$600

Description

Hangaku, one of the few women in Japanese history celebrated as a military commander, is shown here in full warrior regalia—armor laced and bow drawn, a figure of defiant power. She served under the Jōkyū uprising of 1221 and became legendary for her fierce resistance before her capture. Yoshitoshi's depiction belongs to his tradition of strong female warriors, rendered with the same heroic intensity he brought to male subjects, her stance communicating both skill and indomitable resolve.

More Prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Shunkan Watching Enviously from Kikai Island as Yasuyori Returns to the Capitol after Being Unexpectedly Pardoned (Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen senbo kito no zu) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Shunkan Watching Enviously from Kikai Island as Yasuyori Returns to the Capitol after Being Unexpectedly Pardoned (Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen senbo kito no zu)

Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (Yūho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (Fūzoku sanjūni sō) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (Yūho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (Fūzoku sanjūni sō)

Slovenly (Shidaranasaso), from the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Women (Fuzoku sanjuniso)" by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Slovenly (Shidaranasaso), from the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Women (Fuzoku sanjuniso)"

1888

Color woodblock print; oban

Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi" by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"

n.d.

Color woodblock print

More Warriors Prints

Benkei Bridge by Toshi Yoshida

Benkei Bridge

Woodblock print

Saishin, from the series "Fashionable Women as the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin (Fuzoku onna Suikoden, ippyakuhachinin no uchi)" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Saishin, from the series "Fashionable Women as the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin (Fuzoku onna Suikoden, ippyakuhachinin no uchi)"

c. 1828/30

Color woodblock print; surimono

Herakles, Shôwa period, dated 1965? by Hideo Hagiwara

Herakles, Shôwa period, dated 1965?

Woodblock print

Chüshingura in Twelve Months by Hasegawa Sadanobu III

Chüshingura in Twelve Months

Woodblock print

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Japanese Ghost and Yōkai Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

'The female samurai warrior Hangaku' was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年).

'The female samurai warrior Hangaku' depicts warriors.