[Zhang Fei]

Females did fight with this halberd-like implement they called a naginata, But that was usually last ditch, in the final moments of a collapse, after which the womenfolk of the defeated clan could expect to be handled roughly.

[OldGoatCPO]

They were not called Samurai, after 1601 women could not carry weapons well not swords or naginata. Women who came from a Buke (Bushi) family were trained very early on in the use of the tanto or dagger. Western writers romanticized the idea of a woman Samurai. There were a few in history, but they were never considered samurai. They served their husbands not the daimyo. The husband was the Bushi. After 1601 being the wife of a samurai meant being one step from the poor house or worse. The naginata evolved into a woman's weapon after 1601, used more as an DO (way) then for combat. It officially became part of women's curriculum in school in the 1860s. I could find no reference of battles where women used the naginata. Not saying they didn't but would be suspect of any legend of that nature. It was a popular weapon with monks and some Samurai used it to unhorse the enemy. For women in buke households the tanto makes more sense than swinging a 5-8 foot long staff at an intruder.

[SunkenCiv]

Thx ZF.