• hopilavayi: an erotic dictionary

memories of my ghost sista

~ the dead are never satisfied

memories of my ghost sista

Tag Archives: Onna bugeisha

onna bugeisha, my daughter [1]

28 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by babylon crashing in Prose

≈ Comments Off on onna bugeisha, my daughter [1]

Tags

fiction, Japanese mythology, Onna bugeisha, prose, short story

 

I.
Once, on a bright morning in the month of March, with branches of blooming cherry trees framing the world, Kumori, a girl of some fifteen-years, sat on a low gunmetal-gray wall, watching party after party of armed men, retainers, their robes showing the crests of a dozen different local lords, riding up to the castle of the recently widowed Lady Kobayashi.

“I would love to know,” the girl mused to herself, lazily waving a sprig of cherry blossoms in the warm air, “just what ill-wind blows those rough-looking bastards here.”

She wasn’t sure what a ‘rough-looking bastard’ actually was, but she had overheard the phrase used in the wine-house that her mother worked in and was dying to try it out. Sunshine, dappled by the swaying branches above her, dazzled her eyes. The girl frowned, staring up at the white wisps of clouds set against the deep blue silk of a sky.

“Or is this about the sacred pledge, I wonder, that my lady made concerning settling, once and for all, her quarrel with Lord Watanabe? Or could she be intending to sweep the woods clean?”

It was hard being only fifteen and having a mother who worked in a wine-house. Most of her friends were already engaged in the Lady’s service. Soon they would be married off to the sons of local lords who remained faithful to the House of Kobayashi. Kumori, though, was considered too rambunctious a girl to learn the tea ceremony and calligraphy and powder her face each morning before the sun rose. However, just because she excelled on horse-back and could hit anything in the air with a bow and arrow didn’t mean that many of the girls who wore fancy kimonos didn’t have secret crushes on Kumori.

“Ah! here comes lovely Fuyu,” Kumori thought to herself, spotting a jovial-looking girl coming down from the direction of the castle. “She might be able to tell me the meaning of this gathering.”

Leaping to her feet, the girl started off at a brisk walk across the field.

“Ah, Mistress Kumori,” Fuyu said as Kumori stopped in front of her. The hand-maiden couldn’t help blush every time the ragamuffin girl was around, despite the expertly applied white powder, “what brings you so near to the castle? It is not often that you favor us with your presence anymore.”

There was reproach in the girl’s voice, though Kumori pretended not to hear.

“I am happier in the woods, as you well know, and was on my way there but now, when I paused at the sight of all these ruffians flocking in to Kobayashi Castle. What undertaking has Lady Kobayashi started upon now?”

“My lady keeps her own counsel,” said girl, “but I think a shrewd guess might be made at the purpose of a gathering. It was but three days since that her grangers were beaten back by all those rude, ruthless, landless men who call you kin; they caught in the very act of cutting up a juicy, fat buck, or so I am told. As you know, my lady, though easy and well-disposed to every girl who comes into her service, is not fond of vagabonds abusing their forest privileges on her land. Just three days ago she swore that she would clear the forest of these poachers. Or, I do not know, it may be, that this gathering of retainers is for the purpose of falling upon that robber and tyrant, Lord Toshio of Watanabe, who has already begun to harass some of our outlying lands. It is a quarrel which will have to be fought out sooner or later, and for my lady it seems the sooner the better.”

“Arigato, Fuyu-chan,” said Kumori. “I must not stand here gossiping with you. The news you have told me, as you know, touches me deeply, for I would make sure that no harm should befall my kin.”

“I plead with you, Kumori-chan, tell no one that the news came from me, for mild as Lady Kobayashi to those who attend on her at her bath, she would, I think, let me starve in the woods if she knew that I might have given a warning through which the brigands might slip through her fingers.”

“Do not worry, Fuyu-chan; I can be as silent as the rot on a tree when the need arises. Can you tell me when her lady’s forces are likely to set out?”

“Soon,” Fuyu replied. “Those who first arrived I left swilling Kobayashi Castle’s rare sake, devouring rice cake upon rice cake. The cooks of the castle have been hard pressed all day, and from what I hear, this band of ruffians will set forth as soon as dusk falls upon the walls of my lady’s keep.”

[to be cont.]

onna bugeisha: daughter mine

19 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by babylon crashing in Disaster –- Pain –- Sorrow, Feminism, Illustration and art, Poetry, sonnet

≈ Comments Off on onna bugeisha: daughter mine

Tags

art, daughter of love, Onna bugeisha, poem, Poetry, sonnet

March 19, 2014 (12)

March 19, 2014 (11)

March 19, 2014 (13)

Around the body, puddled, as you breathe,
I feel your heart beating softer, slower,

drying begins from heated bodies. We
play in puddles, this sweet-scented moisture

that glows, cools, as the friction-induced beads
of sweat evaporates. Sunlight slavers

upon hard muscles, what falls, slashed through, bleeds
through these dappled down drapes —- gypsum lovers,

soft, lithe —- our aftermath. The story we’re
leaving for new generations. Daughter,

learn the sword, battle plans, the dialect
of war, for then you’ll protect the queer,

daft and fabulous. A godling savior
no man has ever been: divine, perfect.

Image

rain in my heart

27 Friday Dec 2013

Tags

art, female samurai, Japanese mythology, Onna bugeisha, rain in my heart

Dec 27, 2013 (1)

an onna-bugeisha on a muddy road …

Posted by babylon crashing | Filed under Illustration and art

≈ Comments Off on rain in my heart

Image

this is what a feminist looks like

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

Tags

art, grrl power, katana, Onna bugeisha, this is what a feminist looks like

Dec 24, 2013 (7)

Posted by babylon crashing | Filed under Feminism, Illustration and art

≈ Comments Off on this is what a feminist looks like

Image

reaching for our ancestors

06 Friday Dec 2013

Tags

art, black and white, killer grandmothers, Onna bugeisha, our ancestors, woman warrior

Dec 06, 2013 (1)

reaching for our ancestors: everyone has a killer grandmother in their family; the sort who would burn down empires just for fun.

Posted by babylon crashing | Filed under Illustration and art

≈ Comments Off on reaching for our ancestors

onna-bugeisha in fox mask holding a naginata

05 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by babylon crashing in Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on onna-bugeisha in fox mask holding a naginata

Tags

art, female warrior, fox mask, Japanese mythology, naginata, Onna bugeisha

Dec 05, 2013 (6)

note:

There is some debate with Japanese historians whether or not the female warrior class of feudal Japan, the Onna-bugeisha, functioned in the way today’s popular culture currently portrays them. The more conservative view is that there might be two or three of isolated occasions when high-born women trained for and participated in warfare, but to say anything more would be pure poppycock dreamed up by wishful thinkers. I don’t personally buy that. The Onna-bugeisha were a real social class, much like their male counterpoint, the samurai, and as such to simply write them off speaks much more about the embedded sexism that is still found in those who call themselves historians than anything else. The Onna-bugeisha in this picture wears a mask of a fox (a trickster) and holds the long blade known as a naginata. Behind her is a folding screen depicting two of her ancestors practicing (or fighting, hard to know) using similar weapons.

Image

death in the keta taisha forest

18 Sunday Aug 2013

Tags

art, blue of night, female warrior, historic heroine, katana, Keta Taisha Forest, Onna bugeisha, the last one standing

Death in the Keta Taisha Forest

Posted by babylon crashing | Filed under Feminism, Illustration and art

≈ Comments Off on death in the keta taisha forest

Image

the way of the sword [in color]

18 Sunday Aug 2013

Tags

art, female samurai, female warrior, lovely colors, Onna bugeisha, psychedelic

female samurai in colors (except when they’re not) …

gold

rainbow

rays

black and white

Posted by babylon crashing | Filed under Feminism, Illustration and art

≈ Comments Off on the way of the sword [in color]

onna-bugeisha

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by babylon crashing in Feminism, Illustration and art

≈ Comments Off on onna-bugeisha

Tags

art, Bushido, Empress Jingu, female samurai, Japanese mythology, kimono, nude, Onna bugeisha, woman warrior

Onna-bugeisha 2

“Any woman can be a hero, but few heroes can be an Onna-bugeisha. To be a true warrior you must follow the qualities Empress Jingu dictated: loyalty to one’s lord or lady, honor unto death and unselfishness, a readiness to sacrifice one’s own for that of others. What samurai is courteous to all? What lord is kind to those weaker than himself? Men are raised at birth to be vainglorious and as a result they will never know the Way, Bushido. Remember that these qualities are the signs of a true Onna-bugeisha as our lady wrote down, a warrior and a hero.”

— from Angelique Ange’s history, “Onna-bugeisha: les mères de bushido.” (translated from French, out of print, Paris, 1977)

Onna-bugeisha 3

Onna-bugeisha 5

 

 

Onna-bugeisha 1

Image

tsukiko, the moon child at midnight

17 Monday Jun 2013

Tags

art, katana, Onna bugeisha, the moon child, Tsukiko, woman warrior

Tsukiko, the moon child

Tsukiko, the moon child, at midnight

Posted by babylon crashing | Filed under Feminism, Illustration and art

≈ Comments Off on tsukiko, the moon child at midnight

← Older posts

age difference anal sex Armenia Armenian Genocide Armenian translation ars poetica art artist unknown Babylon Crashing blow job conversations with imaginary sisters cum cunnilingus drama erotic erotica erotic poem erotic poetry Federico Garcia Lorca fellatio feminism finger fucking free verse ghost ghost girl ghost lover gif Greek myth Gyumri haiku homoerotic homoerotica Humor i'm spilling more thank ink y'all incest Japanese mythology Lilith Love shall make us a threesome masturbation more than just spilled ink more than spilled ink mythology Onna bugeisha orgasm Peace Corps photo poem Poetry Portuguese Portuguese translation prose quote unquote reblog Rumi Sappho Shakespeare sheismadeinpoland sonnet sorrow Spanish Spanish translation story Syssk Tarot Tarot of Syssk thank you threesome Titus Andronicus translation video Walt Whitman war woman warrior xenomorph Xenomorph Prime

erotica [links]

  • poesia erótica (português)
  • armenian erotica and news
  • nifty stories
  • erotica readers and writers association
  • nina hartley
  • the pearl (a magazine of facetiae and volupous reading, 1879-1880)
  • mighty jill off
  • susie "sexpert" bright

electric mayhem [links]

  • cyndi lauper
  • Poetic K [myspace]
  • discos bizarros argentinos
  • sandra bernhard
  • Severus & the Deatheaters [myspace]
  • ida cox
  • clara smith
  • aimee mann

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog Stats

  • 375,304 hits

Categories

ars poetica: the blogs a-b

  • clair becker
  • aliki barnstone
  • black satin
  • maria benet
  • mary biddinger
  • sommer browning
  • sandra beasley
  • margaret bashaar
  • afterglow
  • megan burns
  • wendy babiak
  • brilliant books
  • anny ballardini
  • armenian poetry project
  • alzheimer's poetry project
  • tiel aisha ansari
  • all things said and done
  • lynn behrendt
  • kristy bowen
  • stacy blint
  • cecilia ann
  • emma bolden
  • the art blog
  • sirama bajo
  • american witch
  • the great american poetry show
  • afghan women's writing project

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 46 other subscribers

Archives

ars poetica: the blogs c-d

  • kate durbin
  • CRB
  • lorna dee cervantes
  • juliet cook
  • cleveland poetics
  • jehanne dubrow
  • michelle detorie
  • mackenzie carignan
  • flint area writers
  • jackie clark
  • cheryl clark
  • roberto cavallera
  • maria damon
  • jennifer k. dick
  • abigail child
  • julie carter
  • jessica crispin
  • julia cohen
  • maxine clarke
  • linda lee crosfield
  • natalia cecire
  • eduardo c. corral
  • dog ears books
  • chicago poetry calendar
  • lyle daggett

ars poetica: the blogs e-h

  • human writes
  • nada gordon
  • k. lorraine graham
  • sarah wetzel fishman
  • vickie harris
  • jeannine hall gailey
  • susana gardner
  • pamela hart
  • jane holland
  • joy garnett
  • carrie etter
  • herstoria
  • carol guess
  • maggie may ethridge
  • jessica goodfellow
  • hayaxk (ՀԱՅԱՑՔ)
  • joy harjo
  • maureen hurley
  • julie r. enszer
  • liz henry
  • elixher
  • cindy hunter morgan
  • elizabeth glixman
  • donna fleischer
  • bernardine evaristo
  • elisa gabbert
  • kai fierle-hedrick
  • ghosts of zimbabwe
  • amanda hocking

ars poetica: the blogs i-l

  • language hat
  • las vegas poets organization
  • sheryl luna
  • stephanie lane
  • insani kamil
  • maggie jochild
  • kennifer kilgore-caradec
  • miriam levine
  • gene justice
  • irene latham
  • lesley jenike
  • megan kaminski
  • rebeka lembo
  • meg johnson
  • krystal languell
  • lesbian poetry archieves
  • amy king
  • amy lawless
  • renee liang
  • joy leftow
  • IEPI
  • becca klaver
  • diane lockward
  • charmi keranen
  • donna khun
  • sandy longhorn
  • anne kellas
  • a big jewish blog
  • laila lalami
  • helen losse
  • emily lloyd
  • ikonomenasa
  • dick jones

ars poetica: the blogs m-o

  • wanda o'connor
  • majena mafe
  • michelle mc grane
  • heather o'neill
  • adrienne j. odasso
  • marion mc cready
  • mlive: michigan poetry news
  • sophie mayer
  • january o'neil
  • michigan poetry
  • the malaysian poetic chronicles
  • michigan writers resources
  • rebecca mabanglo-mayor
  • michigan writers network
  • motown writers
  • caryn mirriam-goldberg
  • maud newton
  • Nanny Charlotte
  • new issues poetry & prose
  • iamnasra oman
  • monica mody
  • deborah miranda
  • marianne morris
  • gina myer
  • nzepc
  • ottawa poetry newsletter
  • sharanya manivannan

ars poetica: the blogs p-r

  • split this rock
  • maria padhila
  • kristin prevallet
  • nikki reimer
  • ariana reines
  • nicole peyrafitte
  • helen rickerby
  • red cedar review
  • sophie robinson
  • rachel phillips
  • pearl pirie
  • susan rich
  • sina queyras
  • poetry society of michigan
  • d. a. powell
  • katrina rodabaugh
  • joanna preston
  • chamko rani

ars poetica: the blogs s-z

  • southern michigan poetry
  • switchback books
  • sharon zeugin
  • sexy poets society
  • ron silliman
  • umbrella
  • Stray Lower
  • tim yu
  • temple of sekhmet
  • shin yu pai
  • tamar yoseloff
  • womens quarterly conversation
  • vassilis zambaras
  • tuesday poems
  • scottish poetry library

  • Follow Following
    • memories of my ghost sista
    • Join 44 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • memories of my ghost sista
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...