武家の妻と日本の本当の美しさ──神とつながる女性の力
In Japan’s history, true beauty was never limited to youth or outward appearance. From the dignity of kimono to the resolve of samurai wives, women were honored as sacred beings connected to the divine. Their strength shaped families, upheld society, and defined a vision of beauty that deepens with age.
“Scene from the TV series ‘Shogun’: A Japanese lord in formal kimono sits on tatami with a fan in hand, armor displayed behind him, while a woman in a white kimono kneels respectfully at his side.”
Introduction
In today’s world, youth and outward appearance are often emphasized as the primary measures of a woman’s beauty.
Yet we must ask: what is true beauty?
Some may possess striking looks in their youth, only to see them fade with age. Others, seemingly ordinary when young, grow in warmth, dignity, and depth as the years accumulate, achieving a beauty that shines ever brighter with time. Such beauty is nothing less than the reflection of one’s life and character.
Society, too, follows this pattern. The world we inhabit in the future will be shaped by the daily choices we accumulate in the present.
Kimono as a Reflection of Inner Beauty
The Japanese kimono is a unique garment. At times, a woman in her sixties may appear more beautiful in kimono than a woman in her twenties.
The reason is simple: the kimono reflects the inner state of the heart.
This is why, throughout history, the Japanese placed profound importance on cultivating one’s inner character.
Marriage and the Wife’s Responsibility
For centuries, most marriages in Japan were arranged.
The reason was that, upon marriage, the wife assumed responsibility for the management of the entire household’s wealth.
Whether a samurai received stipends or was granted lands to administer, the duty of managing such resources rested fully upon the wife, the okami (literally, “the honored one within the house”).
The Samurai Wife’s Resolve
In physical strength, women could not rival men.
Yet within samurai households, the most formidable weapon—the naginata—was placed in women’s care.
Moreover, samurai wives carried daggers on their person, prepared even to take their own lives if honor demanded it.
The effectiveness of the naginata is not mere legend. In modern demonstrations, even swordsmen of 4th or 5th dan rank in kendo have been consistently defeated by high school girls with only months of naginata training.
Thus, men bore the long sword to strike the enemy, while women held the naginata to defend the household. Both men and women carried smaller blades as symbols of their readiness to sacrifice their own lives for honor. Together, they embodied a shared determination never to yield before injustice.
It was said that even in the bathhouse, one could recognize a woman of the samurai class immediately. True resolve, after all, is visible to the eye.
Why Arranged Marriage Was the Norm
There was also another reason marriages were arranged: they were considered alliances between families, not simply unions of two individuals.
Since wives managed household wealth, any financial ruin caused by extravagance or misjudgment would become the responsibility of the wife’s natal family.
For this reason, brides often came from families of equal or higher standing than the groom’s.
Why Samurai Could Stake Their Lives on the Battlefield
Because wives assumed full responsibility for household management and the raising of children, husbands could march to the battlefield with peace of mind.
They could even face death unflinchingly, knowing:
“My household is safe—my wife protects it.”
This trust formed the very foundation of the samurai’s resolve to lay down his life in battle.
An Ancient Tradition
This tradition reaches back further than the samurai era.
In Japan’s Neolithic age—the Jōmon period—women were revered as beings uniquely connected to the divine.
Women give birth to life itself, a power understood as sacred.
This belief shaped the Imperial institution as well.
The Empress, serving as a vessel of divine will, would rise before dawn to offer prayers and receive the oracle of the gods.
She then conveyed this divine message to the Emperor, who enacted it as policy with the rising sun.
If anyone dared to object to the Emperor’s words, claiming, “Even if it is His Majesty’s command, we cannot obey,” the Emperor could respond:
“It is not I who speak, but the oracle bestowed upon the Empress by the gods.”
No one could resist such authority.
Conclusion
Since ancient times, Japan has regarded women not merely as subordinates, but as sacred beings connected to the divine.
To preserve this dignity, the wives of samurai lived with strength and resolve.
So what is true beauty?
It is not merely youth or outward appearance, but rather the state of the heart and the life one has cultivated.
The same applies to society. Our future will be determined by the accumulation of today’s actions. Even “justice,” if pursued with malice, will produce only a malicious future.
Men and women, growing old beautifully together—that should be the natural foundation of our world.
Perhaps this was the dream the wives of the samurai held for the generations to come.
And so we must ask:
What kind of future do we dream of today, and what kind of present will we build toward it?
