Ishijo, wife of Oboshi Yoshio, making a stroke with a naginata British Museum

A Japanese woman is depicted wielding a naginata in a woodblock print from a Japanese series entitled, "Biographies of Loyal and Righteous Hearts," from 1848.

A Japanese woman is depicted wielding a naginata in a woodblock print from a Japanese series entitled, “Biographies of Loyal and Righteous Hearts,” from 1848. The naginata came to symbolize female virtue after being adopted by women as a self-defense weapon during Japan’s Warring States period. (The British Museum)

The British Museum