NAKANO TAKEKO
One of the few onna-bugeisha (essentially, a female samurai, similar to the woman pictured left), Nakano Takeko excelled in martial arts and, in the Boshin War (1868-69), led a female-only group of fighters later known asduring a daring charge at the battle of Aizu, Takeko’s dying command was for her sister to cut off her head so that it would not become a trophy for the enemy.