11 Facts About Nakano Takeko

Nakano Takeko was a Japanese female warrior of the Aizu Domain, who fought and died during the Boshin War.

Nakano Takeko was well-educated and came from a powerful samurai family.

Nakano Takeko was adopted by her own teacher, Akaoka Daisuke, who was the famous instructor of Matsudaira Teru, adoptive younger sister of Matsudaira Katamori, daimyo of Aizu.

Nakano Takeko taught students younger than her, such as her sister, who attended school.

Nakano Takeko's certification was in Hasso-Shoken, a branch of the major Itto-ryu tradition.

Nakano Takeko taught naginata to the lord's wife and served as her secretary.

Nakano Takeko left this position in 1863, when she was adopted by her master, who had been transferred to Osaka for a job of the Aizu domain and had forces deployed in Kyoto for security duties.

Nakano Takeko tried to get her to marry his nephew, but since the nation was shaken by social unrest, she refused and reunited with her Edo family.

Nakano Takeko participated in the Boshin War, the civil conflict between the supporters of the Tokugawa shogunate and those fighting for the restoration of the Meiji emperor.

Rather than letting the enemy take possession of her head as a trophy, Nakano Takeko asked her sister Yuko to behead her in order to prevent her capture, as well as give her an honourable burial.

Nakano Takeko asked for the assistance of Ueno Yoshisaburo, an Aizu soldier, to help with the beheading.